7 tips for reducing business expenses

For example, in the summer, electricity bills tend to skyrocket as air conditioners run all day. At the end of the month, you’re stuck with a utility bill that is higher than the month before, throwing your budget out of whack. Variable costs are expenses that increase or decrease according to the number of items produced. For example, to produce 100 rocking chairs, a company may need to purchase $2,000 worth of lumber.

• For those who are new to the cloud, keep in mind that adopting a cloud infrastructure is not for the faint of heart.
• They are difficult to predict because, as their name suggests, they are rarely the same, even month-to-month.
• The thing about variable costs is that over a long enough period of time, they often aren’t truly random.
• While most suppliers are honorable and increase variable rates for their goods or services only when necessary, it’s good for businesses to still periodically review who they’re doing business with.

Also, ensure the platform is user-friendly and integrates seamlessly with other tools or systems you currently use or want to use, like clocking-in software with geofencing. You can create fully customized courses and materials on any topic, and your employees can complete training and review materials on the go from their mobile devices. Regular check-ins and feedback sessions can make employees feel heard and understood, boosting their engagement and, therefore, their productivity. They also allow you to share guidance on how employees can improve their performance.

Fixed vs. variable labor costs

LOCs have higher credit limits than credit cards and allow you to withdraw cash, giving you the freedom to pay for major expenses without delay. Make people accountable for costs and establish appropriate rewards for employees who find ways to reduce expenses. It also helps motivate staff members charged with implementing expense-reduction initiatives to stay on task and be creative. Explore new technologies that may help your business improve efficiency, increase productivity and reduce costs. For example, many companies are now using cloud computing systems as opposed to in-house hardware that can be relatively expensive to buy and maintain.

• But, cloud infrastructure costs can be adjusted based on your company’s needs.
• Marginal costs can include variable costs because they are part of the production process and expense.
• Employees who have paid time off (PTO) to ​​rest, recharge, and care for their physical and mental well-being are less likely to experience burnout.
• You could address this by redistributing tasks or offering resources to help workers complete the tasks more efficiently.
• No matter how confident you feel in your business’s budget, it never hurts to have another set of eyes.

The question for CIOs is how to cut costs while inflicting the least damage on the mid- and long-term health of the business. Using the calculation above, we’ve determined that you’re making $21.90 on each pair of shoes sold. If you sell directly, you’ll be incurring the cost of shipping to your customers, while if you’re shipping in bulk to a store or distributor, you’ll be paying freight costs.

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But you should periodically test the market to see if you can get a better deal from competing suppliers. “Scrutinize the company and employee tasks, and allow those who can telecommute to work from home,” said Sahin Boydas, founder and CEO at RemoteTeam.com. There are some costs that fall between fixed and variable costs, which are categorized into semi-variable costs (also known as semi-fixed coss or mixed costs). Once you’ve done everything you can to tighten up variable costs for your business, there are other ways to lower the cost of doing business.

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Some software, like Connecteam, can even send automated alerts when an employee approaches overtime limits so you can determine the next steps. Reducing time theft is a great way to cut down labor costs, and you can do this by using geofencing technology and biometric verification. In this article, I share 6 effective strategies that can help you reduce labor costs without compromising your team or business. Many employee cost-reduction strategies can lead to unhappy workers and lower-quality products or services, which can harm your bottom line. People tend to become complacent about fixed costs because they are generally recurrent and often reflect long-standing relationships with suppliers.

Fixed costs remain the same regardless of whether goods or services are produced or not. As such, a company’s fixed costs don’t vary with the volume of production and are indirect, meaning they generally don’t apply to the production process—unlike variable costs. The most common examples of fixed costs include lease and rent payments, property tax, certain salaries, insurance, depreciation, and interest payments. These costs can be more manageable to reduce, but may have an effect on quality or customer satisfaction. To lower variable costs, you could look into alternative sources of materials or suppliers that offer better prices or quality.

Calculating variable cost per unit

Google, the giant of search engine advertising, has some protections in place for CPC campaigns, helping businesses to not burn through their budgets all at once. Companies can also look to bid on less competitive and more longtail keyword phrasings, with other tips available. AAA noted that as of June 2, 2022, the average gallon of gasoline in the United States cost $4.72, with prices over $6 a gallon in some parts of the country. Specific taxes (which vary throughout the life of your company) or new fees that did not exist when you created your business.

How can variable costs be reduced or managed?

A simple method of lowering variable packaging costs is to use aftermarket printing supplies vs. Original equipment manufacturers (OEM). Aftermarket ink suppliers like InkJet, Inc. specialize in creating formulas that not only cost less than their OEM counterparts, but they deliver consistently high-quality results as well. For instance, let’s say you make and sell hand-painted “World’s Best Boss” mugs. Another thing to consider is that for businesses using AP automation or spend management platforms, they don’t necessarily have to write out a budget. Don’t cut costs just to shore up a faltering business and then stop monitoring it once you meet your short-term objectives. Always keep track of your finances and always find ways to cut costs.

It’s a great start for controlling and reducing variable costs and heading toward a brighter business spending future. For businesses ready to take control and move variable expense management to the next level, here are a few ways Stampli Card, our virtual payment solution, can help. It’s why virtual cards like Stampli Card are an outstanding way for businesses to protect against wildly fluctuating variable costs. When you start a small business with little money, harsh circumstances teach you to be frugal with business expenses. You should always keep in mind that for your business to be successful, a thrifty mind-set is essential to increase profits.

Additional employees may also be added to the production line when production levels are up, or subsequently furloughed when production levels drop. While not all wages are affected by production, the wages of direct employees are. To figure out variable costs for your product, you’ll need to do a little math. While this represents a high point in recent years, it’s not unusual for gas prices to fluctuate. And when gasoline costs more than normal, the price can be passed along to companies from their vendors and suppliers who must pay more at the pump.

While commissions are not included in the cost of goods sold, they are a variable cost that increases or decreases based on production levels. The higher your production levels, the more commissions you should be paying, or your sales staff is not doing its job. Calculating variable costs can be done by multiplying the quantity of output by the variable cost per unit of output.

You should also look at all other aspects of business operations to identify functions contributing to variable costs. Fixed costs are expenses that remain constant, regardless of what is overhead activity or volume, such as office rent, subscriptions and payroll. Variable costs change with activity or volume, for example, telecommunications, contractors and consumables.