Cascadia Dollars exist to support local businesses just like yours. Cascadia Dollars do this by increasing local trade and money circulation. This keeps more money circulating locally rather than being spent in big national stores. Local businesses benefit because customers with Cascadia Dollars can only spend them locally. Additionally, our organization helps promote your business as a special part of the Cascadia Dollars community.
Local businesses are essential to a healthy economy. Large national and multi-national companies, on the other hand, tend to pull money from the local economy. Local businesses contribute to the community through local taxes and provide better quality and more stable employment opportunities. Businesses such as yours have a vital part to play in sustaining and improving the economy of the Cascadia Region.
Why should your business accept Cascadia Dollars?
Businesses that accept Cascadia Dollars distinguish themselves in the eyes of consumers as locally owned and community-minded.
Businesses benefit from:
Businesses that accept Cascadia Dollars are helping to establish markets for locally made products. They also provide an incentive for growing locally based industries, and help create quality employment opportunities in the region.
Legality
Complimentary local currencies have a long rich history in the United States. Local currencies were used during the American Revolution when gold was not widely available. Also during the Great Depression a number of alternative currencies sprung up.
Local complimentary currencies are completely legal so long as their design is not too similar to that of the US dollar. Additionally, anything you would have to pay taxes on, when using legal tender, you still have to pay taxes on even if you use Cascadia Dollars. Taxes must also be paid in legal tender, not Cascadia Dollars. As long as these requirements are met, complimentary local currencies are completely legal.
As evidence of the legality of complimentary currencies we can look to the many local currencies already operating. It should also be noted the coupons and gift certificates are forms of local currency.
List of Community Currencies in the Unites States
Cascadia Dollars does its part in using designs for our currency that are easily distinguished from legal tender.
Accounting
Cascadia Dollars are cash and can be handled in basically the same way. We suggest devoting a separate slot in the cash drawer to hold Cascadia Dollars. One big difference between Cascadia Dollars and legal tender is that there is no coinage for change. For amounts under a dollar you can give change in legal tender coins. If you owe more than a dollar in change it's best to have enough small Cascadia Dollar bills on hand to give change for a Cascadia Dollars transaction. You may also offer Cascadia Dollars in change for legal tender transactions.
Have a supply of Cascadia Dollars flyers on hand to give to customers. The more people know about Cascadia Dollars and where to spend them the better the circulation will be.
There are many ways to use the Cascadia Dollars received for business expenses. Remember, you don't give a 5% discount for a Cascadia Dollars transaction unless or until you exchange Cascadia Dollars back for legal tender, so look for a way to spend them! You can spend them at other businesses that provide services you need.
We welcome feedback. Please contact us at info@cascadiadollars.org with any questions or comments.
Accounting Practices:
1. Setting up your accounting system for Cascadia Dollars:
- Set up a separate current asset "Cascadia Dollars cash account" (like a petty cash account) in your QuickBooks or other accounting program.
- Set up an expense line titled "Cascadia Dollars discount." (like accounting for credit card fees).
- Cascadia Dollars are cash, so it is also important to establish a secure place for Cascadia Dollars-on-hand.
- Prepare a "Paid in Cascadia Dollars" envelope for receipts, much as you have for petty cash
2. Receiving Payment in Cascadia Dollars
- Remember that Cascadia Dollars are cash and customers will want a receipt on payment.
- Record the payment as a deposit to the "Cascadia Dollars cash account" at the full amount received in Cascadia Dollars.
- We recommend calculating and collecting sales tax at the full dollar amount of sale. Sales tax can be collected in Cascadia Dollars or in legal tender.
- Credit the appropriate inventory line for the full amount of the sale as you would when recording payments with checks.
- The total number of "Cascadia Dollars-on-hand" in a secure place should always equal the total amount in the "Cascadia Dollars cash account."
3. Paying invoices with Cascadia Dollars
- Cascadia Dollars are cash. Payments should be made in person. Though digital payments in Cascadia Dollars can be made through our mobile app.
- Remember to have a copy of the invoice so that you can have the vendor verify payment and date. This signed receipt will go in your "Paid in Cascadia Dollars" envelope for backup purposes.
- Credit the "Cascadia Dollars cash account" for the full amount of the payment.
- Debit the appropriate expense line with the same amount as you would with purchases made with checks. This practice ensures all normal inventory controls are in place.
4. Depositing or Exchanging Cascadia Dollars
If you find that you have more Cascadia Dollars than can be spent with vendors, given in change to customers, or paid to employees as a percent of salaries, then Cascadia Dollars may be deposited into your online account.
- Ensure your online account is set up.
- Prepare a deposit slip for your Cascadia Dollars deposit and send the deposit slip along with your Cascadia Dollar bills to: *** address ***
- Your Cascadia Dollars will be added to your online account. Alternatively, if you are exchanging Cascadia Dollars for legal tender, you will receive legal tender into your Paypal account at a rate of $0.95 USD for every ¢$1.00 CSD.
- For your accounting purposes, if the amount of Cascadia Dollars is ¢$100, credit the "Cascadia Dollars cash account" with ¢$100; debit your business checking account for $95, and debit the "Cascadia Dollars discount" expense line for $5.
- The "Cascadia Dollars discount" is shown as a business expense (much like a credit card fee or stock broker's fee) and the total taken from profit at the end of the year in determining your federal and state income taxes.
- The intent of the program is that more business transactions will take place as a result of Cascadia Dollars promotion of local businesses, which can help make up for the discount if you're unable to re-spend all you receive.
5. Withdrawing or Exchanging Legal Tender for Cascadia Dollars:
If you are using more Cascadia Dollars than you're taking in then you may need to withdraw Cascadia Dollars or exchanging legal tender.
- To withdraw Cascadia Dollars from your online account use the "Pay the System" feature of your online account. Set the "Amount" to the whole Cascadia Dollar amount you would like to withdraw. Type "Withdraw" in the "description" box. Then click submit. Cascadia Dollars will then be removed from your account and physical bills will be sent to you.
- To exchange legal tender for Cascadia Dollars use this page to acquire the number of Cascadia Dollars you need.
- If you purchased physical bills you will receive the Cascadia Dollars in the mail.
- When you receive your Cascadia Dollars place them in the secure place you have already established, waiting to pay bills!
6. Recommendations:
- Issue a specific amount in Cascadia Dollars each day so change can be given in Cascadia Dollars.
- Encourage people to accept change from legal tender transactions in Cascadia Dollars (many customers like to trade in Cascadia Dollars).
- Keep enough Cascadia Dollars on hand in a secure location to pay bills.
- Reference the published list of businesses accepting Cascadia Dollars to be creative about where to recirculate them.
- Ask if a business will accept full or partial payment in Cascadia Dollars, even if not listed in the Cascadia Dollars directory. Encourage other businesses to sign up, and explain that you're more likely to do business with them if they accept Cascadia Dollars, too.
- Do not hesitate to place restrictions on acceptance if you need to. For example if you're unable to recirculate them and the five percent discount is higher than your business margin can accommodate, limit payment in Cascadia Dollars to 50% of sales price thus creating a 2.5% discount instead of 5%. Or only accept Cascadia Dollars on certain items.
- Support branding of Cascadia Dollars by adding "We Accept Cascadia Dollars" in your advertising. Add a Cascadia Dollars link to your website. Ask customers if they have or know about Cascadia Dollars.
If you are a business owner in the Cascadia region and would like to accept Cascadia Dollar and receive a free listing in our online directory, then just fill out the form below. It's simple and free!
When you register your business you will receive a listing in the Cascadia Dollars Directory. The Cascadia Dollars Directory is available to view online and exists to help people, who want to spend Cascadia Dollars, find your business. This is FREE advertising for your business in all of the Cascadia Region.
Your business must be located within the Cascadia Region in order to register. By registering you agree that your business will accept Cascadia Dollars at full face value. However, you may restrict the use of Cascadia Dollars to any portion of a purchase you see fit.
All the information you provide will be included in the directory unless you specify otherwise. You should provide as much information as possible so that potential customers will be able to find your business.
Please enter your information exactly as you want it to appear in the business directory. For information that you don't want to appear in the directory please check the "Do Not List" box next to that information.
Here is a sample listing:
ABC Inc.
P.O. Box 123, Somewhere City, OR, 12345
(123) 456-7890
Contact: ABC PR Division
Email: abcinc@email.com
Website: www.abcwebsite.com
Manufacturer of ABC product. We also provide support for XYZ.
If you have any questions or you would like to skip this form and register through email please contact us at info@cascadiadollars.org. Confirmation of the listing will be sent be email.
registration form
We have assembled this tool kit in order to help your business accept Cascadia Dollars. It includes:
- 1 "Cascadia Dollars Accepted Here" window sticker *****size******
- 2 Denomination spotter cards. These can be placed in convenient locations to help customers and employees identify Cascadia Dollars
- 100 informational flyers about Cascadia Dollars. When customers see that sticker in your window they are bound to have questions. These attractive flyers layout Cascadia Dollars in a way that is easy to understand.
- Cascadia Dollars. One ¢$10 bill, one ¢$5 bill, two ¢$2 bills, six ¢$1 bills. Use these Cascadia Dollars to get you started.
- Print outs from select portions of our website.
To purchase our business tool kit use the button below.