5 Ways to Save Your Business Money

Monday, October 20, 2008

Improving the bottom line is a major goal for every company. Taking just a few steps can save money and have a big impact. Figuring out which steps to take can be a daunting task. Fortunately, we’ve done some of the legwork already. Here are some surefire ideas:

Use Open Office – Why pay hundreds of dollars in licensing fees for Microsoft Office when there’s a free alternative? Creating documents, spreadsheets, and presentations is just as easy and are completely compatible with Microsoft, at a fraction of the price. http://www.openoffice.org/

Automated Payments – Monthly bills need to be paid every month, so plan for it. Set up automated payments if possible and decide on the best day to pay. You won’t accrue late fees, you’ll have fewer checks to cut, and you can streamline the billing process.

Ask for a Deal – If you provide steady business, a vendor might be willing to offer a special price, a bundled package, or some other additional perk that offers value to your company. While you may not always get a break, always ask; you never know.

Turn Off Electronics – Just by making it a policy to turn off (and perhaps unplug) electronics at the end of each day, you can shave a surprising amount of money off the electric bill. In addition to costing money, leaving computers on at night can be a security risk.

Minimize use of cash and checks in your business - Using a purchasing or commercial card, can reduce the internal cost of processing transactions by 70%. The less time A/P staff and bookkeepers spend cutting, mailing and reconciling checks, the less it will cost your business. To better understand the difference between card products in the market, have a look at (link to our post about: Prepaid, Credit and Debit Cards). How many transactions do you do in a month? The savings would add up quickly.

Labels: Budgeting, Cash Flow, Finance Tips