If your organization is considering MICR printing solutions for MAS 500 Accounts Payable, my recommendation would be to investigate PrintBoss from Wellspring Software (http://www.wellspringsoftware.com). There are several reasons I like this solution above some of the alternatives:

  1. PrintBoss is somewhat lower in cost than many of its competing products.
  2. PrintBoss is pretty much agnostic as to which accounting system is being used to generate the checks.
  3. The PrintBoss check format is unique and can (potentially) save your organization a lot of paper and filing efforts. The check prints on only one format (i.e., stub-stub-check), but the check stub that you retain in-house is unique from comparable systems in that it contains a miniaturized image of the actual check that was issued. You have, therefore, both the remittance advice and a copy of the check without printing them separately.
  4. PrintBoss will actually generate a user-configurable Positive Pay file for you at the time of check printing.

The only downside to PrintBoss is that, since it must image each check twice (i.e., one pass to generate the image that will be printed on the stub, and a second pass to actually send the image to the printer), printing very large batches of checks may need to be done on a separate desktop computer so as not to keep someone from other work for extended periods of time while the checks are being imaged and printed.

PrintBoss also handles the imaging of signatures. If you buy the product, Wellspring Software will coordinate getting your signatures imaged (with security) in preparation for MICR printing with signature(s). A combination of software and hardware-based security limits access to the imaged signatures.

One more money-saving feature of this software: Wellspring Software provides online training and support. There are online training sessions to which you will have access as many times as you may need them in order to train appropriate personnel.

If you contact Wellspring Software, please extend the courtesy of letting them know that I referred you to them.

Other solutions

PrintBoss has only the two dimensions I have heretofore discussed – namely, MICR printing and Positive Pay file production.

Altec’s AP MICR (http://www.altec-inc.com/products/micr/index.html), another MICR printing solution option, is one product from a company that offers many other automated document management system (ADMS) capabilities. Altec’s Doc-Link (http://www.altec-inc.com/products/doc-link/index.html) software would allows organizations move forward toward automated workflows and a virtually “paperless” office. Another ADMS solution that one might consider is DocAssist (http://www.docassist.com). Either of these solutions could bring significant cost-savings to your enterprise.

What is ADMS and Workflow?

Consider, if you will, a scenario where you have all of your accounts payable bills sent directly to your corporate headquarters. There, in your mailroom or elsewhere, a user scans in each of the vendor invoices and electronically routes them to the appropriate personnel anywhere on your network. These electronic documents would be placed in digital work queues and the appropriate persons would be notified that there are “approvals” to be processed. Multiple levels of “approvers” may then apply electronically indelible approvals, assign GL accounts, and so forth as these electronic documents are routed through workflows that you have previously defined. Meanwhile, the paper copies that used to float around in folders or on desks or get transmitted via “snail-mail” for review and approval are now immediately filed in their final destination folders in your paper filing system. No rehandling!

The final step in the AP invoice workflow is for the approved and marked-up electronic copies of vendor invoices to arrive in a MAS 500 Accounts Payable users work queue. Using the ADMS, the user will review the electronic vendor invoice and create a new Voucher in MAS 500. These two screens will appear side-by-side on the users desktop – a MAS 500 Voucher and an electronically routed vendor invoice. When the Voucher is saved, the ADMS will seamlessly link the image of the vendor invoice with the MAS 500 Voucher. Now, as long as the MAS 500 history and the document images are retained, any time one wishes to review the Voucher, the document image may presented immediately alongside it on the computer desktop. This could save thousands of dollars in document retrieval costs at audit time alone!

Eliminate the cost printing of MAS 500 posting registers

In addition, either Altec or DocAssist may allow you to eliminate the printing of posting registers to paper. These ADMS solutions will allow you to direct posting journals straight to imaging where these document images will be permanently stored (electronically) and indexed for nearly instantaneous retrieval at a later date (even for printing, if necessary). The result: “the paperless office” environment at your fingertips.

Again, if you contact Altec or DocAssist directly, please do us the courtesy of letting them know that I sent you.