While business owners may love interacting with customers and finding innovative ways to advertise, not all of them like to deal with the numbers. In fact, some business owners dread managing expenses and become overwhelmed by the administrative tasks. If you feel like managing your bottom line and reducing expenses is a necessary evil at best, our tips will help you make the process a little less painful.

1. Make Travel Less Expensive

Whether you are a business owner who travels frequently or infrequently, one way to immediately cut costs and keep your spending low is to find the cheapest flights. In most cases, it’s about knowing when to buy airline tickets and which days to avoid at all costs. For example, if you are attending a conference and have a few months until your departure date, you should book 56 days before departure to save 28%. 

Waiting until the last minute practically guarantees that you will pay top dollar for your tickets. It’s also best to fly on a Tuesday; travelers who fly on Tuesdays save 11%, while those who fly on Saturdays pay the most for their tickets. Finally, you should schedule evening flights to save 5% and avoid morning flights, which tend to be the most expensive.

If you own a larger corporation, you can better manage the costs associated with employee travel by rewarding employees who adhere to stricter travel spending guidelines. Employees will not rein in their travel expenses if they don’t have to, but many of them do when the company offers rewards for those who save on travel expenses. 

Companies find that giving employees material incentives to spend less on business travel works. For example, Google employees get budgets before their trips, and those who come in under budget earn credits they can redeem for future travel upgrades. 

2. Keep Track of Business Miles

If you are a small business owner, another way to make travel less expensive is to track your business mileage. Business owners who use personal cars or other vehicles for business purposes can take a mileage deduction of 53.5 cents/mile driven for work in 2017. This mileage deduction is a tax write-off that you can claim on your annual return. And, business owners who hate tracking the numbers can make it easier by using an app to track your miles. CNET recommends trying Mileage Expense Log (for iPhones only) or MileIQ or TripLog if you have an Android or iOS device.

There is not a mileage limit, but you do need to follow the rules and create a mileage log. Keep in mind that you cannot deduct mileage to and from work, but you can deduct travel between offices, driving for business-related errands and supplies, trips to meals or entertainment venues when you meet with clients or vendors, miles driven to the airport or train station, drives to side jobs, visits to customers, and drives to temporary job sites. Of course, you won’t save immediately by taking a mileage deduction, but you will reap the rewards of doing so at tax time.

3. Use Accounting Software

One of the best ways business owners can better manage administrative tasks and cut costs is to use accounting software that does most of the work for you. One option is online accounting software that tracks revenue and expenses and delivers insight into your profit margin. 

Other software options include bookkeeping and invoicing software. Money Crashers recommends 11 top online accounting, bookkeeping, and invoicing software solutions for small business owners, including Kashoo, Invoicera, Xero, Quickbooks Online, and Freshbooks, among others.

Some of these software solutions are available for you to purchase and download onsite, and others are available online and require no installation. While the upfront costs may seem a little high, the amount of time (and headaches) these software solutions save makes many business owners claim they are well worth it.

Managing business expenses usually is not at the top of the list of business owners’ favorite things to do. In fact, many dread dealing with the numbers. If you are looking for a way to cut costs and keep track of spending without losing a ton of time (or your sanity), try making travel less expensive, tracking business miles, and using accounting, bookkeeping, and invoicing software solutions. 

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