Stale-Dated and Postdated Checks: the Six-Month Rule, Why Your Bank Can Still Pay, and What to Do Next
A check goes stale six months after its date, but your bank may still pay it in good faith — act before the bank chooses for you.
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Payments
Manage payment processing, tracking, and reconciliation efficiently
Negotiable Instruments, Explained: What Makes a Check, Note, or Draft Negotiable Under UCC Article 3
A check or note is negotiable when it passes UCC Article 3's six tests — and clean paper lets a buyer collect free of the original deal's disputes.
Positive Pay, Explained: How Banks Match Every Check You Issue — and Why the Details Decide Whether It Saves You
Positive Pay matches every check against your issue file and holds mismatches for a same-day pay-or-return decision — add payee matching and cover ACH too.
Square vs. Stripe for Small Businesses: Processing Fees, Payout Speed, Hardware, and Which One Reconciles Cleaner
Stripe is cheaper online (2.9% + 30¢); Square wins in person (2.6% + 15¢) with next-day payouts, free POS, and no dispute fee.
Blank vs. Restrictive vs. Special Check Endorsements: What Your Signature on the Back Actually Authorizes
A blank signature turns your check into bearer paper anyone can cash — write For deposit only above your signature instead.
Stripe vs. Square vs. PayPal for Small Businesses: Fees, Payouts, Hardware, and the Effective-Rate Math
Stripe is cheapest online at 2.9% + 30¢, Square wins in person with free POS and next-day payouts, and PayPal costs most but converts best.
Letters of Credit, Explained: How Small Importers Use Confirmed and Standby LCs to Pay Overseas Suppliers
A confirmed LC adds a second bank's payment promise; a standby LC guarantees open-account terms instead. Choose by order size, route risk, and tenor.
Remittance Advice, Explained: The Payment Slip That Tells Your Supplier Which Invoices You Paid
Remittance advice tells your supplier which invoices a payment covers — invoice numbers, discounts, and credits included — so cash applies cleanly.
Authorization Holds, Explained: How Long Each Card Network Lets You Hold Funds — and When to Reverse Instead of Capture
Visa gives card-present holds 5 days and card-not-present 10; Mastercard 7; Amex 7; Discover 10 — capture or reverse before the clock runs out.
Interchange Downgrades, Explained: Why Your B2B Card Fees Jumped After Visa's Level 2 Sunset
Since Visa's Level 2 sunset, only verified Level 3 line-item data earns preferred B2B rates — everything else clears at higher standard commercial interchange.
How to Reconcile Stripe Billing, Subscriptions, and Invoicing Without Double-Counting Revenue for SaaS Companies
Book each Stripe dollar once as gross revenue when earned; route fees and refunds through a clearing account and treat payouts as transfers, never income.
How to Reconcile Stripe Payouts When You Bill Annually but Recognize Monthly
Stripe payouts are net cash transfers, not revenue — book annual prepayments to deferred revenue and recognize one-twelfth monthly.