When you begin the journey towards a cleaner, greener office environment, you may be amazed by some of the ways in which businesses are working to reduce their carbon footprint and do a good turn for their community, their patrons, and the world at large. Some are ensuring fair trade and green practices along every link in the supply chain while others have found ways to substitute sustainable or recycled materials into their manufactured goods. Some have even gone so far as to build LEED certified structures complete with 100% solar energy, gray water systems for the drought-resistant native landscaping, and rooftop gardens to curb the urban heat island effect. While you may not be able to afford these many eco-upgrades to your office space, that doesn’t mean you can’t find myriad ways to do your part for the environment by cutting consumption, waste, and pollution. And you might be surprised to learn that there are even ways to do so when it comes to your business finances.
For example, many people have already switched to online banking and bill pay when it comes to their personal finances. So why wouldn’t you do the same with your business? Just because operations have been a certain way for time immemorial doesn’t mean you should allow your business to stagnate. If there are more efficient ways to run your business you almost certainly want to utilize them, and online banking is one great way to go paperless in your quest for greater speed and efficiency as well as environmental-friendliness. In addition, some institutions will happily give you a minor discount for going this route, meaning you could save money in addition to the other benefits of adopting a digital policy for your finances.
But it doesn’t end with your banking. You can also manage invoices and payments for employees and vendors via online means. For starters, you can request that vendors provide you with digital invoices via email or some kind cloud sharing software. And you can offer the same to your clients. With a FreshBooks account (or similar program) you can manage many of your businesses finances online and in the cloud, making for easy access to invoices, expense logs, time sheets, and so on. And there are all kinds of apps for smartphones or tablets that allow you to access accounts and cloud storage on the go so that your finances are always at your fingertips. FreshBooks has a mobile application to complement their online software, or you might try a stand-alone freebie like PageOnce that is well-liked by users. All can help you to manage your business accounts sans the use of paper.
And don’t forget that you can go green with payments, as well. Online vendors can be paid via PayPal (which is a faster, safer option than other means) and even payroll can be made paperless with direct deposits instead of standard checks. When it comes to the capital finance of your business there are many ways to make your operation a little greener. And when you look into your many options you’re sure to find one (or several) that will work perfectly for your particular needs.
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