Cheques are often thought to be an outdated method of payment, but for many small businesses, they are still a significant part of their everyday experience. As such, it’s important to know a few things about managing them.

For one, most cheques must be deposited within six months of the date on the cheque. If you try to deposit the cheque after that time, it will not be honoured, as it has become “stale-dated”. This is done as an anti-fraud measure, and to encourage cheque recipients to keep things moving in the payments system.

Secondly, it’s important that cheques and cash be deposited in your bank at the earliest opportunity. This is to reduce the possibility of these payments being lost or stolen, as well as eliminating the chance of a cheque going stale-dated.

Having said that, I would encourage small business owners who still rely on cheques to consider alternative payment methods. As we’ve seen with labour actions with Canada Post, depending on the mail to send and receive money can be a dangerous game to play.