As for the money order getting lost, maybe I am misunderstanding how this works. You pay the post office cash for a money order, and then mail the money order, and the recipient can cash it like a regular check, only the post office pays the bank? Is that close? If the money order gets lost in the mail, you have proof you gave money to the post office, but will they give you the money back if the check is never cashed because it goes missing?

What about if you pay for something and it's never received, or something's wrong with it? With a credit card, you can have them issue a chargeback and then you don't have to actually pay, but is there a way to get your money back if a the recipient of your money order is dishonest?

You must have to be very organized to live without a car at your disposal. This has been very enlightening--we have very different lives, so much so that I feel like we're having a cultural exchange. :-) I'm guessing your life is much more like my NYC friends, where one can shop for groceries or get to a doctor or whatever without having to drive many miles. I've never lived in a city where one could hail a taxi--I've always lived in suburbs where you'd have to call and order the taxi and wait for it to show up. Not counting the schoolbus (long, long ago), I've never been on a bus, though I've been on subways in big cities like Boston and DC.

As for your question, in seven years, I've never had anyone ask about or mention a money order, and until talking with you, I hadn't enountered someone who (as far as I was aware) wasn't using a bank account...since that TV employee 15 years ago. I had two residential clients want to pay me partly by check and partly in cash (to keep spouses in the dark as to how much they were spending on my services), but this was many years ago. I can't remember anyone ever wanting to pay in cash besides those two. And, of course, my business clients can't pay by cash, as they'd need the financial tracking for the IRS and internal audits.

From a security perspective, I'd never feel safe carrying the cash equivalent of what I make in a four-hour session. A check can have payment stopped, but cash, once gone, is lost forever. From an IRS audit perspective, I deposit each check in my business account the day I work with the client. The IRS can match every appointment with every transaction, if ever needed.

Legally, I'm not sure I could refuse payment by cash, but I can't envision a situation where I would have to choose between accepting cash or not, as I wouldn't have a client who couldn't pay by check, only one who might not want to. 99% of my residential clients are homeowners, with a few renters in the mix--they'd all have to have bank accounts. My bigger issue is usually explaining why I don't accept credit cards. When they realize eliminating credit card merchant fees keeps my overhead, and therefore their costs, low, they seem quite pleased.

So, while I wouldn't be in a position where a client would have no choice, if I were faced with a client who refused to pay except by cash, I'd probably not engage that client. I'm selective about my clientele with respect to a variety of variables, so I guess that would just be another.

Thanks for giving us something so interesting to think about.

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Julie Bestry, Certified Professional Organizer®
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