Check This Out Collecting payments from customers is the last thing you want to worry about. With check acceptance software, now you don't have to.

Chances are your homebased business requires monetarytransactions. Maybe you have a credit-card merchant account or sendbills through the mail. But upkeep on a merchant account can becostly and mail can be slow. AdvanceMeant's Draft Creator checkacceptance software makes for some nice middle ground. Availableonly over the Internet at www.advancemeants.com, it allowsyou to accept checks by phone, fax machine, e-mail and theInternet.

After a simple setup, it's ready to create bank drafts fromthe information your customers provide: their account number andbank routing number from the bottom of a regular check, checknumber, bank name and phone number, and personal contactinformation. You then fill the information into the Draft Creatorinterface as if you were filling in a check onscreen. The draft youprint of their check contains the message, "Payment authorizedby accountholder. Indemnification agreement provided by: [yourcompany name.]" This allows you to deposit the draft into yourbusiness account as you would any regular check.

After the $49.95 registration fee, the only ongoing costs arefor check stock for your printer (about $.04 per check). DraftCreator also maintains a searchable database of all printed checksand drafts for reference and reprinting if necessary. You can evenprint checks for your own business bank account. The softwarerequires Windows 95/98/NT2000, 10MB available hard-drive space, anda laser or inkjet printer. Unlimited e-mail technical support isincluded.