Stop Writing Checks to Pay Your Business Bills
Your team writes its last check at go-live.
You can stop writing business checks by paying vendors electronically: ACH bank transfers for most recurring bills, virtual cards for vendors that accept card, and an outsourced print-and-mail service for the few vendors who still insist on paper. The switch works in five steps: sort your current checks, choose the right payment method for each vendor, enroll vendors securely, set approval controls, and connect payments to your accounting system so reconciliation happens on its own. Most businesses keep their existing accounting system or ERP through the whole process.
By Ken Salazar, Chief Payments Architect and founder of SilverEdge, Loveland, Colorado. Last updated November 2026.
Find Out How Many Checks You Can EliminateHow do businesses move vendors off paper checks?
- Sort the checks you write today. Pull 6 to 12 months of check payments and group them by vendor, frequency and amount. A small number of vendors usually accounts for most of the volume, and that is where to start.
- Match each vendor to a payment method. ACH fits recurring and larger payments. Virtual cards fit vendors that already accept card. Checks stay only for vendors who refuse both.
- Enroll vendors securely. Collect bank details through a secure portal, never by email. Verify every new or changed account with a call to a phone number you already have on file.
- Set approval controls. Decide who can enter a payment, who can approve it, and the dollar threshold that requires a second approver. The person who adds a vendor should not be the person who releases payment to them.
- Connect payments to your accounting system. Payments should post back to QuickBooks, NetSuite, Business Central or your ERP automatically, so month-end reconciliation is a review, not a re-entry.
ACH or virtual card: which fits which vendor?
- ACH: best for recurring bills, larger invoices and vendors who want predictable deposits. Watch for bank detail changes, a common fraud target.
- Virtual card: best for vendors who already accept card. Some vendors decline card or add a surcharge on large invoices.
- Outsourced check: for the few vendors who insist on paper. The check still exists, but no one in your office prints, signs or mails it.
What if some vendors still require checks?
Some will. You can still remove checks from your office. A print-and-mail service sends the check on your behalf from the same approval workflow as your electronic payments. Your team approves once, and the payment method becomes a detail of the vendor record.
Can I earn rebates by paying suppliers with virtual cards?
Often, yes. Many virtual card programs share part of the card fee with the business paying the bill. The amount depends on the program and on which vendors accept card. Rebates are a useful result of a well-designed payables system. They are a poor reason to design one.
Can I pay bills electronically in QuickBooks?
QuickBooks Online includes Bill Pay, which pays vendors by ACH or by paper checks QuickBooks mails for you, and records each payment against the bill in your books. Multi-step approval workflows require the Bill Pay Elite plan or QuickBooks Online Advanced. Growing companies often add partners for virtual cards, vendor enrollment and broader controls, while QuickBooks stays the system of record.
What does eliminating checks actually save?
The cost of a check is more than the stamp. It includes printing, postage, staff time to prepare and sign, time to reconcile, and late fees when a check is delayed. Checks are also the payment method most targeted by fraud, which makes every check you stop writing one less point of exposure.
Eliminating checks is the first decision. Designing how money moves is the bigger one.
If you are ready to stop writing checks, you have already built something worth protecting: enough vendors, enough volume and enough complexity that paper became a burden.
The companies that get the most from this change treat it as a design decision, not a software purchase. The payment method you choose for a vendor affects your cash position, your card program, your approval controls and how cleanly your books close each month.
Money going out is also connected to money coming in. The timing of vendor payments works best when it is designed alongside how and when your customers pay you. We design receivables so cash comes in predictably, and payables so cash goes out with control.
Who this is for, and who it is not
For: growing companies with a meaningful vendor list, more than one person touching payments, and an accounting system or ERP they want to keep.
Not for: if you pay a handful of vendors a month, your accounting system's built-in bill pay or a single payables tool is likely all you need. Start there.
We design how money moves in and out, then stay.
SilverEdge is a payments architecture firm. We are not a payables platform, and we do not ask you to replace the accounting system or ERP you already run.
- One owner for money in and money out. Payables, receivables, card spend and merchant services usually sit with separate vendors and no one accountable for how they work together. We take that seat.
- Independent of any single product. We assemble proven partners around your ERP and choose what fits each part of your business, rather than fitting your business to one tool.
- Accountable after go-live. We stay involved through quarterly reviews and ongoing monitoring, so the system keeps working as your vendors, volume and team change.
Backbone Fiber
Before SilverEdge, Backbone's owner blocked out two hours, twice a month, to sit and sign checks. Payments could not go out unless he was physically in the room.
We redesigned how money leaves the business: electronic payments for vendors who accept them, approvals that do not require anyone in the office, and payments that post back to the books on their own.
Today, Backbone's team does not write checks.
Go deeper: accounts payable design, receivables, expense management, and what payments architecture is.
Frequently asked questions
How do I switch vendors from paper checks to ACH?
Collect each vendor's bank details through a secure enrollment portal, verify them with a call to a phone number you already have on file, and set them up as ACH payees in your payables workflow. Start with your highest-volume vendors.
What if a vendor will only accept checks?
Use an outsourced print-and-mail service. The vendor still receives a check, but your team approves it in the same workflow as electronic payments and never prints, signs or mails it.
Do I have to replace my accounting system to stop writing checks?
No. Most companies keep QuickBooks, NetSuite, Business Central or their existing ERP. Payments connect to it and post back automatically.
Is paying vendors by ACH safer than paying by check?
ACH removes the risks of lost, stolen and altered paper checks. Its main risk is fraudulent bank detail changes, which you control by verifying every change through a known phone number and requiring a second approver.
When will my team stop writing checks?
On the day you go live. From that point SilverEdge handles vendor payments for you: electronic payments for vendors who accept them, and checks printed and mailed on your behalf for the few who still require paper. Your team approves payments. It never writes another check.
What does SilverEdge do that a payables platform does not?
A platform gives you one set of tools. SilverEdge designs how money moves across payables, receivables, card spend and merchant services, chooses the right partners for each, implements them around your existing systems and stays accountable after go-live.
Prefer to start on your own? Take the Payments Health Score.
Find out how many checks you can eliminate.
Start with a conversation about how money moves through your business today. We will look at your vendor payments, your accounting system and your controls, and tell you plainly what to change and what to leave alone. No commitment, and no requirement to replace anything.
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