Monthly Archives: May 2014

5 Reasons Why Offering Credit Card Processing is a Worthwhile Investment

Accepting credit cards legitimizes your business

By displaying signs and logos that you accept credit cards, you grab a customer’s attention and create a sense of trust in your business. Customers trust credit card companies enough to carry them in their wallets, and that trust is extended to merchants who accept those cards. Customers who trust you are more likely to buy from you.

Convenience for the customer

Less people are carrying cash with them because they expect businesses of all sizes to accept credit card payments. Although many businesses cite credit card processing fees as a reason to only accept cash, these businesses will lose money due to lost sales. Although there are costs for credit card processing, it’s more convenient for the customer. The customer is ultimately who buys your product or service, so it’s important that you offer options that are convenient for them.

Accepting credit cards can improve cash flow

Credit card transactions are processed electronically, and funds are typically deposited into your bank account by your processor within a couple of days. This means you don’t need to wait for checks to clear and there’s less cash to handle from your customers.

If you do business online, accepting credit cards is practically a requirement

The majority of transactions done online are paid for with credit cards. If you’re an e-commerce merchant, or if your store has an online shop as well, asking people to order online and pay in store or over the phone isn’t a common business practice anymore.

Security for your business

Your credit card processing system will do all of the work for you – from making sure the customer’s card is valid to making sure there are enough funds on the customer’s card. The credit card processing system also checks for security measures such as making sure the customer’s card data is correct. Although fraudulent payments do happen, a good credit card processing system will help ensure that it doesn’t happen often. In addition, if a customer is able to prove that your business incorrectly charged them, your credit card processing system will take care of the accidental transaction. Although you will be charged a fee for this, it’s easier and better than losing the customer.

4 Payroll Tips for Business Owners

Congratulations on having so much growth in your business that it’s time to hire an employee or a dozen to help you! Unless you’re an accountant by trade, figuring out exactly how payroll should work for your new employees can be complicated for businesses to figure out. Here are few things you should know as you prepare to being processing payroll for your new employees:

Properly Classify Your Workers

Do you know the difference between a W2 employee and a 1099 contract? An employee is someone whom you, or someone in your office, manages. They generally work onsite, is provided training to do their job, and you ultimately dictate what they produce. They are eligible to receive any company benefits available. You also must deduct taxes from their paychecks as well as pay payroll taxes on their income.

A contractor, on the other hand, is someone who is fully equipped to provide a service for you. They usually have their own tools, work off-site, can work for multiple companies at the same time, and are hired to complete a set of tasks. You do not have to withhold taxes from their checks, nor do you pay payroll taxes on their wages.

The distinction may not seem important, but the IRS is hammering down on businesses that misclassify their employees to save costs on payroll expenses.

Get an EIN Number

If you’re in a partnership or corporation business entity, you already have an EIN number. The EIN is an employer identification number provided by the IRS. As a sole proprietor, you’ll need to contact the IRS to be issued an EIN before you can begin to process payroll for your employees. You can access one online and www.irs.gov.

Set Your Budget to Include Not Only Wages, But Payroll Taxes

In addition to making sure that you can afford to pay your employee the wages you offered them, it’s vital that you also budget for the payroll taxes that must be paid to both the federal and state governments. This includes matching the Social Security and Medicare tax amounts that is withheld from your employee’s pay. This amounts to 7.65% of their gross pay. You are also required to fund the federal unemployment fund by paying GUTA tax.

Ask Your Payroll Processing Company to Automatically Deposit Federal & State Taxes

If you decide that keeping up on the regulations in your state and by the federal government isn’t something that you want to be responsible for, hiring a payroll processing company is a great way to make sure that you’re in compliance. If you hire a payroll company, request that they automatically make the federal and state tax deposits for you. Falling behind in payroll tax deposits can get expensive very quickly and you can be levied a 100% penalty for failing to turn over withholdings by their due dates.

By following these tips and making sure you have a EIN, classifying your new hires correctly, budgeting for the true cost of your payroll, and having your payroll processing company make automatic deposits of your tax liabilities, you will save yourself many headaches and possibly thousands of dollars in fines.

3 Tips on Collecting Business Debt

As a business owner, there is nothing more disheartening and frustrating than when you provide a service or product to a customer only to have them not pay. Running a business costs you money and if you don’t collect on overdue invoices, you can quickly see your cash flow slow to a trickle. As tempting as it is to continue to call your customer and demand they pay, there are rules and regulations in place that protect their rights over an owned debt. If you are finding yourself with an ever growing “past due” invoice list, it’s time to put into place a few processes that’ll help you recover your past due debt, as well as, prevent it in the future:

Avoid Bad Debt

While you can’t control every person or companies accounting practices, you can and should put billing practices in place that could help deter overdue and unpaid invoices. Be sure to put a clear due date on every bill you send – due on receipt leaves it very open ended. Have a friendly follow up procedure for reminding your customers as their bills become due.

Communicate with your Debtors

If an invoice has moved past it’s due date, grace period, and it’s becoming clear that payment is not on it’s way, do your best to communicate with your customers. By being understanding and offering to find a solution that works for both parties, you allow them to feel more comfortable and communicate back to you why exactly they haven’t sent payment.

Be sure to document every contact you’ve made with your customer, whether by mail, email or phone.

Hire a professional debt collection service

If all else fails, hire a professional debt collection service to assist you in collecting on delinquent accounts. Each state has their own set of rules, regulations and legislature on what is and is not allowed when it comes to collection on debt. It’s better for you to hire a service that is familiar and follows these regulations rather than finding yourself accidentally violating your customers’ rights under the debt collection law and in legal trouble for it.

Thankfully, the majority of your customers and clients are quick to pay their invoices on time and without hassle. But, as your company continues to expand, you’ll undoubtedly find yourself in the position of having to collect on an unpaid debt. By setting up a few best billing practices, you can attempt to deter the situation from happening at all. If even against all your attempts, the bill remains unpaid, contact the accounting department or client personally to see if you can settle the payment together. If these steps are unsuccessful, protect yourself by hiring a professional debt collection service to assist you.

Why You Shouldn’t Put a Purchase Minimum on Your Credit Card Transactions

You know you have to spend money to make money and nowhere does that seem truer than when it comes to the cost of processing credit card payments. You’ve done your research and found the right processing company for your business needs, but it’s still hard to swallow the percentages of each sale that you’re basically paying to get paid.

Trimming the Budget

If you find yourself looking for ways to trim your operating budget, reducing your fees seems like an easy way to do that. After paying the transaction fee and percentage of the total sale, you realize that the smaller the sale total, the more the cost of processing the payment eats directly into your profit margin. Many small businesses try to reduce this loss by placing Minimum Purchase limit signs on their counters.

Review Your Contract

Seems straight forward enough – if a sale under $5.00 doesn’t allow you to make a profit, simply do not process sales for that amount or less. Aside from aggravating your customers, the vast majority of contacts with credit card companies state that you are not allowed to place minimum restrictions on purchases you process through their system. That’s right – the majority of storeowners who have this rule in place are actually breeching their contract and are liable for immediate termination of the contract if a customer were to call and complain.

Customer Experience

Most consumers are unaware that credit card processing companies themselves generally do not support the purchase minimum limitations, so most storeowners are safe from being reported. But, regardless of it being against contract or not, consumers are frustrated with purchase minimums. They understand that you have to pay to process their credit card, but they see it as the cost of doing business. Losing a $5.00 sale to a disgruntled customer may not seem like a big loss, but even one a day adds up quickly.

How many cash customers your business sees everyday? Not many? Most customers paying with their credit/debit card do not have any cash on their person at all. If they are unaware of your limit until they’re ready to pay, chances are they are not going to go find an ATM to withdrawal cash (which may result in additional ATM fees for them). The other alternative is to purchase additional items to raise their total, which they do not appreciate having to do.

Offsetting the Cost of Processing

One way to offset the fees of processing credit card payments is to offer a discount to cash customers. 10% off for any customer who pays with check or cash. Also consider building the cost of your payment fees into the price of your products or services. Your customers would appreciate a slightly higher price to begin with as opposed to a surprise, “We can’t process your credit card payment” as they’re ready to check out.

The best practice is to follow all the rules, regulations, and guidelines set forth in the contract you make with your credit card processing company. This includes not placing minimum purchase amounts on credit card transactions.

4 Tips to Creating a Brand Your Customers Will Love

Starting a business is a lot of work. There are mountains of paperwork to fill out, forms to sign, and you’re pretty sure that one of these days they’re going to require that you hand over your firstborn. Once you make it past the legwork of actually opening your company, it’s time for you to focus on creating a brand! Your brand is the visual representation of your company. Your business name, logo, signs and marketing materials all stem from the brand that you’re creating.

If you’re not a visual person or graphically inclined, finding a graphic designer or branding company will help you take the vision of your company and design a brand that speaks to your consumers, while reflecting exactly who you are. As you begin to think about what your brand should be, here are 4 tips to making sure the brand you create will be one that your consumers will love:

Make it Visual

Like we said, a brand is a visual representation of your company. You can’t give your customers a peek inside your heart or brain to show them everything you want your company to be. However, you can use visual clues like your logo, the colors you choose, the symbols you use, and the ways you display them to represent what you’re company is all about.

Make it Stand Out

Sure, you can jump on a stock photo site, grab a $10.00 clip art graphic, slap your business name underneath it and call it a day, but how much impact do you think that’s going to have on your prospects and customers? Using stock imagery as your company brand is one guaranteed way to NOT stand out – which is the exact opposite of what you want. While you don’t necessarily want to punch people in the face with your brand, you want it to stand out and to catch their attention.

Make it Mean Something

The world’s most successful brands (think Apple, and Android) all have one thing in common: their brand stands for something. If you’re a huge fan of Apple, chances are it’s not because of the huge screen offered by the iPhone. Instead, you understand that Apple stands for innovation. Those who love the Android brand like the freedom to change and create their personal devices. Both of these companies do the exact same thing – create and sell phones and electronics – but what draws a person to each particular one is what they stand for.

Make it Something They Want to Share

When you make your brand significant, your consumers will identify with that and if they agree with what your company stands for, it now becomes a reflection of who they are. If you give a real meaning behind why your brand exists, like-minded consumers will be automatically drawn to you. Not only will they come to you, but they will share you because your message is now their message.

How to Avoid Getting Declined for a Merchant Account

Looking for a merchant service account can be intimating, especially if it’s your first time doing so. With terms, contracts, fees, and lingo you’ve never heard before, it can be difficult to understand exactly what’s going on. Once you’ve read our Small Business Owner’s Guide to Merchant Accounts, you have a better understanding of how it all works and now it’s time to choose one and apply. It’s important for you to know all the expectations for yourself and the merchant before you apply. Take the time to research their policies and do as much educating before you reach out to them. In addition, it’s also vital that you keep in mind reasons you may be denied a merchant account. This will help you make sure that you’re an ideal candidate for the company you choose and to save you frustration from a surprise denial half way through your process. Here are three of the top reasons that businesses get declined for a merchant service account:

Personal Credit

While you are trying to secure merchant services for your business, most companies will run the credit of the signer on the application. They may also require that the person who is signing for the account be someone with at least some ownership in the business or major title if the company is a LLC. If you yourself do not have healthy credit, consider a business partner who does. Allow them to sign for the merchant account.

Current Tax Liens

If you have any personal or business related tax liens open at the time of your application, it’s very likely that they will not continue to process your application further. Having tax liens places you in a “high-risk” category and banks/merchant service provides must weigh the risks and benefits of opening your account. Being in that category will make them less likely to approve your application.

You’re on the MATCH List

Think of the TMF Match List like the “blacklist” of merchant processors. Business and business owners can find themselves placed on this list when another bank or merchant service provider has ended their services with you and flagged you in the system as being a credit risk.

As with any business lending situations, it’s frustrating to know that the past really does impact whether or not you can qualify for loans, credit cards, or even merchant services. Knowing what your credit score is, whether you have any current tax liens, and if you have any poor history with another merchant servicer before you being the application process, will allow you to choose the best path in moving forward.

Top 5 Mistakes Small Businesses Make on Their Payroll

A smooth-running payroll system is vital to the success of any small business.  Many business owners who elect to run payroll in-house don’t consider all of the difficulties associated with payroll processing.  Staff payment problems can lead to low morale, poor productivity and even a government audit.  Mistakes can cost you thousands of dollars in IRS penalties and hours of time correcting it.  Payroll errors are common and costly.  Here are the top five mistakes that small businesses make on their payroll:

Setting up Payroll Incorrectly

The biggest mistake that small businesses make is setting up payroll incorrectly.  You can calculate wages perfectly and get payroll done on time for each pay period, but if you didn’t register your business, set up federal, state and local tax withholdings or classify employees correctly, your payroll will be incorrect.  In order to file the proper amount of taxes, you’ll need to study the law and understand how much will be withheld from employees.  Plus, it’s important to understand how much you, as an employer, will pay in taxes.

Employee Misclassification

Workers are generally classified as either employees or independent contractors.  Getting this classification correct is a big deal.  Depending on the classification, how compensation gets reported to the IRS is different (Form W-2 vs. Form 1099).  Misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor will eliminate certain taxes, but the mistake is serious, and you may be held liable for employment taxes for that worker.  The main factor in determining how you classify workers is the degree of control the business has over the worker.  The more control a business has over the worker, the more likely it is that the worker is an employee rather than an independent contractor.

Missing Tax Deposit and Filing Deadlines

There are serious penalties for missing the deadlines for depositing your payroll taxes and filing the required reports.  It’s important to keep in mind the deadlines for federal, state and local tax deposits and tax filing deadlines for the entire year.  Make sure to report the earnings and withholdings for each employee, total withholdings amounts and payments to contract workers.

Not Displaying Wage Posters

Wage posters are not just for factories anymore.  The federal government takes its requirement very seriously that you display the posters publicizing the federal minimum wage and overtime pay standards.  Even if your small office, it’s important that these posters are displayed somewhere that all employees have access to.

Breaches in Confidentiality

Large companies have full-time professionals using automated systems that have high levels of security.  Smaller businesses that do payroll themselves may not have the same systems in place.  Make sure to design your payroll system with complete confidentiality in mind.  Remember: no one talks about their salary in public, therefore no one should find out someone else’s salary in private.
The most dangerous mistake of all is claiming ignorance.  Whether you do payroll yourself or use an outside service, reporting and paying all payroll taxes correctly is your responsibility.

3 of the Coolest & Most Effective Promotional Products

Quick…think of three promotional products!

Did you think of pens, notepads, and hats? If you did, you’re not alone. The majority of business owners and consumers alike have come to expect that brand promotional products should be uniform, unoriginal, and quite frankly, boring. We all have a penholder on our desk filled with pens from companies that we’ve come in contact with, but how many of us actually go to that penholder when we need to find a service? Having your logo on a hat, shirt, pen, or even bag is awesome – but before you send off for 500 pens, think about other promotional products you can use that would represent your brand and make your company stick in the minds of your prospects and customers.

We’ve gathered a list of three of the most coolest and effective promotional products we can find. The items that made this list, all did for different reasons, check it out:

Tablet Stand

Remember back to the last few in-person business meetings you had with your colleagues, vendors, customers, or prospects. How many of the attendees had a tablet with them? If your meeting was a conference call, take a guess as to how many of those involved were either on a tablet or looking at one during the meeting? Tablets are everywhere! Whether they’re used for business or personal uses, these handheld computers are considered essential by many. What better way to position your company as helpful, than providing your customers and prospects a product that not only looks cool, but is extremely valuable to them. They’ll love being able to stand their tablets up while drinking coffee in the morning, having a place to rest their screen during a presentation, and a permanent place to store their tablet on their desk. We love this promotional product, because it’s relevant, different and useful to the user.

Solar Chargers

This is one promotional product that you may keep a few for yourself. Knowing your clients and prospects’ needs and offering them a quick solution is a great way to make your company stand apart – even if the solution has nothing to do with your industry. Nearly everyone today has a smartphone and these phones get a lot of use: emails, social media, phone calls, photo storage, web browsing, etc.  With all the tools that consumers are using their phones for throughout the day, it’s not surprising that they need to be recharged frequently. If you’ve ever walked out the door one morning without your charger, you know how frustrating it can be at the end of the day to have a dead phone. Brand these awesome solar charges with your logo and pass them out! We think these chargers are a great way to give your consumers a product that they will actually use, while keeping your logo and branding in their minds.

Neoprene Auto Emergency Kit

Just like electronics, the majority of your consumers will own an automobile. This emergency kit Contains key light, distress flag, tire pressure gauge, one pair nitrile gloves, four wash-up towelettes, four latex-free adhesive bandages, two antiseptic towelettes, two triple antibiotic packets, and a first aid card. While you never want customers to find themselves in an emergency, show them that your company values them beyond their business – give them a way to be prepared for even the most minor of situations. This may not be a product that your consumer will see everyday, but when it’s counts – they’ll see your brand and be grateful that you care.

There are thousands of unique and fun promotional products you can find to represent your company, delight your consumer, and ensure that your company stays an integral part of their daily lives.

3 Questions to Ask Before Signing Up with Credit Card Processors

You’ve opened your business, set up your local office, ordered all your office supplies, found vendors for your products, hired a great team to help you succeed, and are about to launch the best e-commerce site you’ve ever seen…it’s okay, you’re allowed to be biased. With your newly minted operation just steps away from being a full-fledged operational business, the only piece to the puzzle you’re missing, is how to get paid.

Everyone accepts cash, but not every consumer pays with cash. The majority of retail transactions across the United States are done with debit/credit cards. This means that you MUST offer credit card processing if you want to attract and maintain your client base.

Now that ecommerce has become commonplace online, it’s not as expensive or difficult to get set up as it once was. With all the inexpensive and easy solutions being offered, it’s important that, as a business owner, you’re knowledgeable about what you’re agreeing to when you sign the dotted line (or type your name in the signature bar). Here are three questions you should ask potential credit card processors BEFORE you sign a contract:

What Are the Rates/Fees?

For the majority of business owners, the deciding factor in selecting a credit card company boils down to the cost. Being a start-up, cash flow doesn’t always flow right away and while you know that you need to spend money to make money, every penny matters to your bottom line. As with every industry, the jargon used by merchant services and credit card processing companies might as well be a foreign language to the business owners who have no experience in that field. For example, the rates and fees that you should expect to pay for your credit card transactions are largely influenced by something called interchange. Before you find yourself speaking with the sales department of any merchant services company, do some research about how the interchange works and what it means to your business. Armed with a bit of knowledge, you’ll be able to have a better understanding of the fees that you’re committing to.

Do You Have a Volume Commitment?

Something that might not be brought to your attention during the sales process is that some merchant services companies have minimum volume commitments in their contracts. This means that you are agreeing to processes X amount of sales each month through their services, and if you fail to do so, this could easily result in a higher transaction fee. Be sure to be clear about any commitments you would be making by signing the contract.

Are There Any Early Cancellation Penalties?

Much like signing a contract with your cell phone carrier, landlord, or cable company, the majority of the contracts offered by merchant services companies will have provisions for early cancellation fees. Should you decide that this company isn’t a perfect fit for your needs, or no longer need to process credit card transactions, you could find yourself with a hefty debt to pay. Read through the terms of your contract and make sure you’re comfortable with the time commitment you’ll be making.

Take the time to educate yourself on the credit card processors industry and make sure that you fully understand the terms, conditions, fees, and regulations that you’re agreeing to follow when contracting with each particular company.

Once you’ve selected a company that best fits your needs, it’s time to launch your shiny new ecommerce site or open up your store!

A Startup’s Quick Guide to Your First New Hire

As a business owner, is there anything more nerve wrecking than hiring your first few employees? You’ve put your heart, soul, sweat, tears, and life savings into starting and keeping your new business running. You know you have the passion and drive it takes to do whatever needs to be done to succeed, but you alone are the one that carries the risks. Bringing a new person into to your start-up can be exciting – you’re growing – but also very intimating. Can you give up some control of your brainchild to someone who may or may not care as much as you do? How can you tell that you’ve found the “right one”? Or what do you do after you’ve found them? Here’s a quick guide to hiring for a start-up:

Find the Right Fit

If you’ve ever purchased a pair of new shoes without trying them on and found out a few days later that they don’t quite fit, you’ll understand how uncomfortable hiring the right person for the wrong job can be. It’s important to understand
, with those first few new hires, that you are setting the foundation of your company’s culture for years to come. Each person you bring on to your team will have strengths and weakness that they will lend to your company. Look for someone who:

• Is Passionate: Find people who are passionate. Passionate about life, themselves, the world around them, and most importantly, your industry. A passionate employee comes to work for more than just a paycheck – they come to make a difference.
• Has Expertise: Don’t make the mistake of hiring the person strictly on their impressive education.  Don’t discount the value of having a employee who is well versed in your industry and the responsibilities that their new position will entail.
• Just Fits: While you’re still building your culture, it’s imperative that you have a big-picture idea of what you want the internal workings of your company to look like. Find people who just “fit” into your goals, office, and way of running your business.

Employment Contract

No one likes contracts – except maybe lawyers. They feel stuffy, impersonal, and make a lot of people uncomfortable. But, we agree with the lawyers one this one. Having an employment contract and even an employee handbook isn’t about being a dictator or making a set of rules that everyone MUST follow, but instead to ensure that all parties have a clear understanding of what is expected.  In a perfect world, nothing unfavorable would ever happen.  In reality, it’s better to protect both yourself and your new hire with a written document, outlining what you expect from them and what they can expect from you.

File All Appropriate Documents

There are federal and state regulations regarding what you, as an employer, needs to do after hiring a new employee. Reaching out to your local business development center is a great resource to help you navigate the exact steps you need to take, in order to comply with all the laws applicable to your situation. Payroll taxes and providing workers’ compensation insurance are just two of the areas that you’ll need to make sure you’re compliant in.

Hire a Payroll Service

The right person, the right contract, the right forms have been filled out – now what? You must pay them! Depending on whether you’ve hired a W-2 or 1099 contract, there are laws and regulations you must follow as a business owner when paying your employees. Finding the right payroll service can mean that you don’t have to worry about whether or not your new hire is classified incorrectly, resulting in hefty fines from the IRS. Payroll service companies can handle all the new hire regulations, as well as, managing the responsibilities your company has to withhold taxes from each paycheck, and providing the proper forms at tax time. This is one expense that most certainly pays for itself!

Don’t be intimidated by growth – you know that you can’t possibly sustain your entire business by yourself. Take some time to find the right team to help you achieve your goals. Don’t rush and hire the first person who applies, as exciting as it may be. Devote enough time to fully understand yourself, what you’re looking for in an employee, what you will expect from them, what kind of culture you want to create for the future of your business, and put the processes in place to ensure that you’re following all the state and federal laws when you do find that perfect fit.

4 Proven Ways To Save Money On Ink And Toner Costs

Whether running a small business, or simply trying to keep up with your home printing demands, we all want to save money on ink and toner costs. Making our print jobs as efficient as possible cannot only keep money in our wallets, but it can also offer some important environmental benefits as well. By using less ink and toner, we can all minimize our overall carbon footprint by having to get rid of fewer empty cartridges over the lifetime of our printers. When looking to save costs on ink and toner for your printer, consider these three proven tips:

Use an Environmentally Conscious Font

Recent news reports have shown that the type of font you use when printing can truly make a difference in the amount of ink and toner you will have to use when printing each document in your queue. Some fonts use small holes within each of the letters and can prove far less expensive to print than some of their non-holed font counterparts. In some cases, simply changing your font type to a more eco-friendly option can actually reduce toner usage by up to 25%! Do a little research and pinpoint which font types will not only work best with your specific print job objectives, but will also help you save money on ink and toner costs.

Keep Start and Stop Cycles to a Minimum

Laser printer users often notice that their device “whirls” both before and after every printed page gets process. Essentially, the laser printers start, prints and then subsequently slows down every time it prints a page. While it may seem like an innocuous process, that additional starting and stopping can actually incur extensive wear and tear on the toner cartridges, resulting in lower grade print jobs as well as possible future defects. Overtime, every time the start/stop process occurs, unused toner can actually build up in the drum and eventually end up in the cartridge’s waste bin. Naturally, there will be times when you only have to print a single page, making the start/stop cycle unavoidable. However, for larger jobs, minimize this cycle by going into your computer Printer Properties / Advanced Tab and indicate that you want to begin your printing on multiple page jobs after the last job is spooled.

Reduce Output resolution

This tip is specifically for owners of laser/inkjet printers that have a resolution setting found on the device itself. The lower the designated resolution, the less overall toner particles needed to finish the print job. Yes, the images may not appear as dark as they will with higher resolutions but, for jobs that don’t require such dark images, minimizing the resolution will expend less toner on every page and can also make your printer work faster.

Look for the Best Pricing Possible

A fourth tip for saving money on your ink and toner costs: Know the best places to shop to ensure you’re always getting the best deals possible! Partnering with vendors who offer group discount pricing for added value can truly save you significantly throughout the lifetime of your printer.