Your small business checking and savings accounts are a vital part of operating any business. But they can also be a significant risk point for fraud and theft. How can you confidently use your accounts while protecting your organization and yourself? Here are five tips even the smallest company can put into practice on any budget.
1. Separate Personal Accounts. Your business should have its own dedicated and separate bank accounts, even at the smallest size. This helps protect you as the owner from business liability, of course, but it also prevents fraud or theft from draining your personal bank accounts too.
2. Use Two Check Signers. Two-party check signing helps institute what is known as 'checks and balances' in your financial transactions. Because two different individuals must sign each check for it to be valid, there is less chance of either internal fraud (an employee taking funds without authorization) or external fraud by those who might get hold of your company's checks.
3. Utilize Online Bill Pay. Do you take advantage of your banking institution's online customer portal for transactions? Online bill pay services are a great way to use the bank's professional security features and systems without taking on the extra cost or work yourself. And you can minimize the number of paper checks and documents kept in your offices and put into the mail system.
4. Separate the Banking Computer. Avoid accessing banking or credit card information from just any device. One or two devices — perhaps a laptop or desktop computer and one mobile device — should be stored in a safe location and used solely for administrative tasks like banking. Don't use these devices for browsing on the internet, doing any social media work, or using for personal purposes.
5. Audit and Balance Regularly. Balancing your business accounts on a regular basis helps you spot potential problems as soon as they occur — or even before they happen. For instance, some thieves conduct very small transactions to test whether the charge goes through unnoticed. If you balance your books diligently, you'll spot these tiny transactions before someone can sweep away hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Want More Ideas?
Want more free and inexpensive tips for protecting your bank accounts? Make an appointment to meet with your financial institution's business representatives today. They can help you utilize all their own options, such as fraud alerts and holds, as well as learn how you might upgrade your own methods to ensure no one takes advantage of your business. Call today to get started.
For more information about small business checking accounts, contact a local bank, like FNCB Bank.
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