A B2B CFO who wants to save money and reduce expenses faces an uphill battle. Budgets are difficult to cut; people from all over the company will object to the ideas of an established CFO. While true, if a CFO wants to keep his or her job and ensure the firm stays in order, he or she must take action. Here are four money-saving ideas for a B2B CFO.
Employee pay: Let’s face it; a company spends plenty of money on payroll. While a CFO doesn’t need to drop employees, it is wise for him or her to look at this further. Often, when trying to save money, a business will bring in contractors to complete certain tasks. Think about it, a CFO can save his or her company thousands of dollars a year just by bringing in a part-time contractor. Whether looking for someone to program a website or balance the books, a corporation can cut its expenses when hiring an independent contractor. While often an unpopular way to cut expenses, it is a quick way for a business to save money and still enjoy quality work from its staff.
Re-negotiation contracts with local service providers: If you run a mid-sized business, your CFO probably has plenty of contracts with local companies. For example, if you pay a cleaning company, shredding firm, or even a storage facility you may be overpaying. To figure this out, a CFO must contact other providers in the area and ask for a quote. With a short 20-minute phone call, a CFO can find a lower price for vital services. Often, after talking to another service provider, a CFO can coax the current provider to lower their fees slightly. If price negations are unmet to the CFO’s budget needs, then re-evaluating the need for the service at hand in general may be the next step. If the service is still generally a necessity for the vitality of the company, then often times there are situations where the service can be done in-house. For example, instead of outsourcing storage space or services, a business can find resources in bulk to purchase such as metal bins, pods, crates, etc. and keep in-house to manage at their own discretion. Since it only takes a few minutes to follow these steps, a smart CFO should do this every year or so and in the end it will come down to the company’s demands and resources available.
Outsource: A CFO should consider outsourcing. With some tasks, it is not pertinent to use employees from the United States. Whether you want to outsource your call center or tech support, you can do so with ease. Then, the company will save thousands of dollars a month as employees working in areas with lower costs of living will not demand higher pay. If not practical, a CFO should consider a moving some operations to a lower cost-of-living state. For example, credit card companies often host their tech support office in places like Iowa where expenses are lower. Either way, a CFO in a high cost-of-living city should consider outsourcing some non-essential operations to another area with lower expenses.
Online marketing: With SEO, social media and other tricks, a company can attract plenty of followers. In the past, a CFO would need to dole out plenty of cash to the marketing department. However, with a well-managed online presence, an organization will save thousands of dollars. At the same time, if a business runs a formidable campaign, it will bring in plenty of excited customers from all over the place. In the end, if practical, a CFO should divert funds and resources to an online marketing campaign.
With these four simple ideas, a CFO can help his or her company saves plenty of cash. While not always easy, when done in a tactful manner, the business will save cash and increase its profits without creating havoc or causing problems for current employees.