Businesses, large and small, across the country all have to contend with a surprisingly difficult task: counting money. Of course, the entire point of business is to make money and provide products and service but many people don’t stop to think about what happens after the transaction happens. Who counts the money? How? How do you stake out counterfeit currency and remove any room for error? To help businesses with these struggles, cash management accounting systems are used by businesses, banks, and the government to make the process a whole lot easier and quicker.

Currency counter machines accomplish in a matter of minutes what would take hours — or even days — for humans. The first fully automated currency counter came out in 1980 and the financial world has not been the same since. Cash management accounting machines and software save considerable time, effort, and resources in counting money. Because they are automated, the chance for error is significantly lower than human counter’s. Best of all, they can root out counterfeit bills and coins that otherwise may have slipped past the human eye. For more than 30 years, high speed scanners and the like have saved businesses and banks countless hours labor (which, when added up, amounts to days and even years). They have also bolstered confidence in the authenticity of many kinds of currency around the world, and are used by governments, including Canada’s, to enforce counterfeit laws and procedures.

Cash management solutions for counterfeit money cannot be overstated. Throughout history, fake money has been a serious issue for governments, businesses, and banks alike. During the 19th century in particular, governments devoted considerable time and resources to investigating counterfeiters. In fact, one of the United States’ most famous government organizations, the Secret Service, has its origins in counterfeiting efforts. Now tasked with protecting the American president and other government officials, the Secret Service was created in 1865 — curiously, a few months after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln — primarily to go after counterfeiting operations. Their purpose has since expanded but they still conduct counterfeiting investigations to this day.

The Secret Service, like many organizations in the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere, has its hands full in dealing with counterfeit currency. However, cash management accounting machines provide protection for those of us who aren’t Secret Service agents.