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Welcome to 2022! Hopefully, you have some big, exciting goals to tackle this year. But before we get started on those, let’s make sure that you are taking advantage of easy, quick wins for your business.
These are 5 tips that we recommend to every business owner, regardless of the size of their
business. Even if you are already doing some of these things, it is a great time to double check that there are no additional savings to be had, either in money or in time.
Our Top 5 Money-Saving Tips Are:
1) Get rewards with a business credit card.
We recommend that business owners put almost all of their expenses on a business credit card and then pay off that card in full each month.
Why? Two key benefits:
1. Credit Card Rewards
Whether it is airlines miles, hotel points, or just cashback, you are leaving money on
the table if you are not earning rewards on your normal monthly business expenses.
Participating in a reward program requires a bit of active management. Do your
points expire? How do you claim them? But it is well-worth the extra effort.
At BlueSpark, we use Capital One, and almost every month we are able to knock a few hundred dollars off our credit card bill with cashback rewards.
2. All Expenses in One Place
The second major benefit of using a business card is that you can see all of your
expenses in one place. This makes it easy to see trends in spending, reconcile your
books at the end of the month, and avoid late payments.
2) Review your software subscriptions for savings.
Our second big tip is to review all of your software subscriptions each year.
Make a list of all of the software services you use (Email, Microsoft Office, Zoom,
accounting software, web hosting, project management software, etc.) Then, one by
one, log in to these services and review your most recent invoices.
Are you using all the licenses on your account? Are you even using the full-service? Is
there a cheaper option that you could downgrade to?
Many businesses end up paying for licenses and extra features long after they stop
using them. Take this time to do a thorough review of all of your subscriptions and make
sure no hidden expenses slip through the cracks.
3) Track your receipts.
This might sound obvious, but keeping track of your receipts is a super-easy way to save money on taxes. All expenses that are related to your business can be deducted from your tax liability, so the more receipts you have, the fewer taxes you have to pay.
Which expenses you can deduct will vary based on your business, but tracking all business
purchases is a must.
Few people track all of their business expense receipts because it can be a pain. Luckily,
QuickBooks Online has a receipt scanning app that makes it easy to quickly scan and log receipts right from your phone. No more messy envelopes of tiny gas receipts.
Let us know if you would like help setting up receipt tracking in your QuickBooks Online
account.
4) Track your mileage.
Similar to receipt tracking, keeping track of your miles is an easy way to add business
deductions at the end of the year.
Remember that only miles driven for business can be deducted from taxes. But depending on your line of work, that still leaves a lot of room to reduce your overall business tax burden.
There are many apps to help track your mileage, including one from QuickBooks Online.
Let us know if you need help tracking mileage in your QuickBooks Online account.
5) Review your payroll and insurance costs.
Finally, now is a good time to review your payroll and insurance costs.
Payroll companies typically charge a fee for processing each payroll. How much are you paying for payroll each year? Is it worth it?
Depending on the complexity of your payroll, you might be able to save money by switching to a system such as QuickBooks Online Payroll. If you are using QuickBooks Online, combing your accounting software with payroll can also cut down on extra admin work.
Now is also a great time to review your annual insurance costs. Are you getting the best health insurance rates? Are employees using and enjoying their plans? Are your workers comp and liability plans covering your needs? Talk to your broker to see if you can get a better deal or change to a plan that most closely matches your projected needs for the next year.
For easy, all-in-one payroll and health insurance, we recommend JustWorks, a PEO that enables small businesses to get access to big company health insurance rates. Feel free to schedule a call with us if you would like to discuss the benefits of JustWorks.
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