Companies rely on a myriad of utilities such as water, power, telephones and Internet services. These utilities serve a critical function without which a business cannot run effectively. Many companies have gone bankrupt due to incompetent handling of utility bills so below is a list of six strategies to help you be a better manager of your bills.
- Prioritize Payments Based on Urgency
For a business still trying to get on its feet, it can sometimes be very difficult to stay afloat while paying every utility bill at the same time. An effective way to bring things under control is to assess your cash flow and pay bills based on deadline dates. This way you can ensure you are never late for payment but you avoid stressing your finances too thin. For this strategy to work you must be disciplined enough not to spend money meant for utility bills on other unrelated issues.
- Create Proper Accounting Records
Many businesses have gone under because they couldn’t keep up with how money was flowing within the organization. When you don’t keep proper records then this creates loopholes for theft by unscrupulous employees. It is also very difficult to keep track of whether your company is operating profitably or not.
With Proper financial records, it becomes far easier to plan weeks ahead by simply comparing average revenues against average expenditures. This way you can easily know how much money should be set aside to handle utility bills.
- Confirm Rates Tally With Usage
Not every company you do business with will have honest motives. Some companies inflate your bill while others raise their rates without informing you. The best way to avoid being conned is to manually check your meter reading and checking to see if this is in line with your bill. This is also an effective way to ensure that your next door neighbor is not secretly siphoning off your power or water.
- Negotiate Flexible Payment Schedules and Discounts
Talking to your utility provider is an effective way to get them to offer you a discount which could go a long way lowering your overheads. Getting a more flexible payment plan means that you can pay your bills when things are more financially convenient for you. This can help reduce financial stress and give you some breathing room to handle equally important matters like payroll.
According to the team at UMC Solutions “Many businesses have a lack of both time and skill to process a large number of complex utility bills, in the majority of cases outsourcing this time and skill to a specialized utility management company will provide a positive ROI.”
- Be Frugal and Monitor Resource Utilization
The ability to watch how every penny is spent is what decides which companies succeed and which fail. Frugality is the most efficient way to lower costs and ensure utility bills are not a monthly headache. This means company employees must know not to leave the lights on unnecessarily, use water efficiently and go for energy efficient appliances.
Read: The Importance of Banking & Financial Services to SMEs
- Pay Your Bills on Time For a Good Rapport
When you build a reputation of paying your bills on time then your utility company will treat you as a valued client. This can be very useful if your company is in financial trouble and therefore unable to meet financial obligations. A utility company could give you several months of free usage on the promise that once your finances are in better health you will pay for resources used during that time.
