Tips to Manage Business Expenses

Every business, whether small or large, new or seasoned, needs to closely monitor revenue, expenses and finances, and most have very little leeway when it comes to cash flow. Unfortunately, in most businesses, a lot more time is spent on sales and marketing than poring over finances and expense management. It is essential to understand proper expense management to prevent unnecessary spending and to keep from losing track of money that is already in short supply. After all, a business could devote all of its efforts to growth, but if they are hemorrhaging cash in the process due to poor expense management, their earnings will do them very little good.

Small business owners can effectively manage their expenses by following some simple guidelines:

• Integrate business systems and processes – This requires businesses to document business processes and streamline them with the use of automated systems whenever possible. Procedures should be clearly designated so everyone understands how to adhere to them.
• Create a list of preferred vendors and suppliers – Vendors and suppliers are the lifeblood of any manufacturing firm. Service industries may be less dependent on them, but their credibility is still important both for product quality and financing purposes. This is a long-term business relationship that can support the company’s growth.
• Use electronic payments for easy reference of employee reimbursements – Electronic payments not only allow for faster transactions, but they are also self-documenting. This creates a document trail as protection for both parties. Keeping track of hundreds of transactions is hard without automated documentation.
• Use corporate credit cards whenever possible – This is another auto-documenting process. Credit cards also have their own built-in security feature, which allows the company to limit expenses.
• Automate and centralize the expense management processes for mobile employees – Mobile and remote employees are increasing in number, and it is important to keep them updated on the expense management processes. Make sure that the process is automated and centralized by using cloud-based computing services which allow them to continue working without any need to travel back to the office to report on expenses.

Establish and document your business expense policy – Audits require that a certain role owns certain processes. This ensures that there is someone responsible for all actions. Documented business policies not only make sure that there is a process and that somebody is responsible for it, but also that there are rules and guidelines for instances when the process cannot be followed.

Have clear policies and procedures for reporting, inventory, and audit standards – These policies should include the frequency of reporting, as well as the communication flow for the reports. Internal audit standards should follow accepted audit procedures.

These guidelines can aid a business in having full control over business expenses, and they allow administrators to monitor exactly where the money is going. One of the best ways for you to streamline your business and keep track of expenses is to automate with brightfin. brightfin takes a comprehensive and customized approach to TEM services and can help you find those little ways to save your business big money.

brightfin provides services such as telecom management operation and contract auditing. This ensures that you are receiving only the services that you need without paying for things that you don’t use. Our powerful auditing processes also carry out vital tasks to help you keep track of your business expenses. Our systems review unused or inactive programs that may be a drain on your pocketbook. We easily catalog your devices to make sure that all of your hardware and software remain compatible and up-to-date, which saves your IT department significant time and energy. Our invoice auditing is another excellent way for you to make sure that your receipts and expenses are logged and available for future review.

The above guidelines combined with brightfin’s TEM services are the perfect pair to save you valuable time and money. Managing expenses is an essential aspect of your business’s success, and brightfin can help you have your most profitable year yet.