PC-generated checks: it's almost like printing more money.

The availability of high-resolution graphics printers, such as lasers, has put a large dent in the custom forms market. Programs like QuickBooks let you design and customize invoices, statements, and other business forms, and print them on blank paper. Microsoft Word and Publisher let you create your own custom office stationery, complete with color logos.

The one area where forms vendors still make a huge profit, though, is in providing computer checks used for payroll and accounts payable. If your office uses several different bank accounts for different types of checks, forms can run a lot of money. It's also a pain to store an inventory of different blank check stock, and to switch them during print runs.

Large corporations have been avoiding this problem for decades. By using blank safety paper, and printing the entire check, including bank routing number and account number information on the bottom line of the check, they reduce the need for multiple cartons of preprinted blank checks. The secret has been that the checks require the printing of a MICR line, and in the past have required a special laser printer toner.

MICR, pronounced as Mick-R, is an acronym that the banking industry came up with for magnetic ink character recognition. Developed during the 1960s, this line at the bottom of every check is printed in special magnetic ink and with a special character font so that the information on check routing and bank account could be read by a special magnetic reader.This allowed the check to be handled much more efficiently by both the banks that it cleared through as well as the Federal Reserve Bank System that maW checks also pass through.

While originally MICR was limited to magnetic ink used in the large printing presses that printed personal and business checks, as laser printers became popular, it was just a matter of time before MICR laser toner was developed. Laser toner is usually a mixture of iron oxide pigment in a plastic binder. By adjusting the amount and granule size of the iron oxide particles, printer manufacturers could assure that the printed characters were magnetic enough to be read reliably by even poorly adjusted check readers.

When personal laser printers were developed by Canon, Xerox, and others during the mid-1980s, it wasn't long before MICR toner cartridges for these printers became available. For the last 15 years or so, maW smaller organizations have been able to buy software that produced the formatted MICR line on blank safety stock. With a MICR toner cartridge in the laser printer, an organization could print whatever checks they needed, on the spot and without having to keep an inventory of anything more than blank stock and an extra cartridge.

Easy enough, even for an expert

MICR check printing was an application looking for a market for many years. While laser printing eventually filtered down from big business to even home use, using these personal laser printers to print MICR checks has been slow to catch on except in larger companies.

The lack of use is a shame because there are inexpensive software programs that take information from accounting software like QuickBooks or Peachtree Accounting, and generate checks complete with logos and even digitized signatures.The $100 or $200 cost of these programs is quickly realized in savings by not having to buy printed check stock.

In many cases, you can also get by without having to purchase special MICR laser toner. Most larger bank chains have moved over to optical check readers, which don't care if the toner is magnetic or not. You can find out if your bank is one of these by simply talking to the bank manager. The check may still need to be handled by hand or have a MICR strip attached to it if it passes through a bank that relies on magnetic ink readers, but you won't be charged for this if your bank uses optical check readers.

If your bank does require MICR toner, it isn't hard to find. Many office supply stores can order a MICR toner cartridge for a number of popular laser printers. If your printer isn't one with readily available MICR toner cartridges available, give www.tonerrefillkits.com a try. Past columns have detailed refilling your own laser toner cartridges, and this vendor has MICR toner available for a large number of printers, as well as used-once empty toner cartridges in case you don't have an empty handy to refill with magnetic toner.

Those with inkjet printers are not left out. Checks printed on an inkjet can be optically read, and at least one company, www.g7ps.com, markets a magnetic inkjet toner under the VersaInk label.

You need software

MICR software is the last piece of the puzzle. This is necessary to provide the correct machine-readable font which includes special characters, as well as correctly align and position the MICR line so that it can be read reliably.

The Internet provides numerous sources. Four that have been tested are: Greatland Software's Check-Launch (www.greatland.com), which appears to be a custom version of CheckSoft; Avanquest's CheckSoft 2006 (www.avanquestusa.com); G7PS's VersaCheck (www.g7ps.com); and, CheckMaster from CheckMaster Software (www.checkmaster.com). Of the four, CheckSoft 2006, and VersaCheck are retail products, though they can also be purchased online. VersaCheck blank check stock can be purchased in many CompUSA and Office Depot stores.

All of these packages can be set up to work automatically with QuickBooks, Peachtree Accounting, and Microsoft Money, so that you specify checks to be cut in the accounting package, hit the "Print Checks" button, and the MICR application will take over and print the checks on blank stock. This isn't difficult to set up, and usually just requires that you specify the check printing software's printer driver as the printer to be used when you print checks from the accounting software.

There are two things that not every MICR software or toner vendor tells you. The first is that regardless of whether you are using magnetic toner or regular toner, when you are printing checks, adjust the printer driver for best quality printing. This puts down the most toner when printing and helps assure that the MICR line will be nice and dark for optical reading, or that there's plenty of magnetic toner deposited if you are using this type of toner. When you're done printing checks, you can reset the printer driver back to normal or draft mode to save toner.

The second thing that's one of the "secrets" of MICR check printing is that you are best off ordering both three-up and one-up checks. Use the three checks on a page when you are doing a large batch check print session. You may be left with one or two unprinted checks at the end of the run which will need to be discarded (you can't print on less than a full sheet of stock), but you'll finish the print run faster, and go through only a third as much stock as you would using one-up check stock.

For printing on-demand checks, switch the software to use one-up stock. If you are only printing one check at a time, and are using three-up blank stock, you will wind up throwing away two blank checks every time that you print a check. Having the two types of blank stock on hand will offer you the best economy and savings from printing your own.

Ted Needleman is the former associate publisher and editor-in-chief of Accounting Technology magazine. He is now a technology consultant and writer based in Stony Point, N.Y. His email address is [e-mail]

NPT DIGIBOX

If you're reading a digital version of The NonProfit Times, the following are live links.

* Greatland Software's CheckLaunch www.greatland.com

* Avanquest's CheckSoft 2006 www.avanquestusa.com

* G7PS's VersaCheck www.g7ps.com

* CheckMaster Software's CheckMaster www.checkmaster.com

* Toner Refill Kits www.tonerrefillkits.com