One of the most popular ways for people to pay you when you own a small business is with a check. It's certainly worth your while to accept checks, since they have lower fees than credit cards and can't be charged back.

But there are potential dangers to accepting checks, including the possibility of fraud or someone writing a bad check. Bad checks, in turn, can come about because there aren't enough funds in an account, because the account has been closed or because the individual has put a stop payment order on the check.

While dealing with bad checks can be a pain, there are technological advancements that can make it easier for you to weed out the bad checks before they happen.

The easiest thing you can do that might prevent some bad checks is to accept debit cards. Debit cards look like credit cards, but they pull directly from the person's account. If they don't have enough money to cover the payment, you'll know it because the payment won't go through.

Accepting debit cards is also a great option because there's very little danger of a debit card transaction being fraudulent since the person using the card has to know the PIN number for the bank account.

Offering the option of paying with debit cards won't take care of all your bad check writers, however.

Another option is hooking up with a payment processing provider who can guarantee your company protection from bounced checks. A check guarantee program allows you to accept checks from anywhere in the United States and Canada with confidence.

This system lowers you risk of having to pay fees or lose money because of bounced checks or insufficient funds in an account. You can sign up for a program like this and forget your worries about bad checks almost overnight.

Having someone else to take care of the hurdles involved in getting payment for a bad check makes your life a lot easier and allows you to focus on the more important aspects of running your business.

As a business owner, you want to trust your customers and assume that they are going to pay you what you are owed, but the truth is that fees and lost payments for bad checks are a big expense for many business owners, and trying to chase down a payment you should already have received takes a lot of time and effort on your part.

What's worse, if this happens regularly it messes up your cash flow and can keep you from growing your business as quickly as you like. With a check guarantee program you can rest easy knowing that bad checks aren't going to affect your business any more.