Budget time is upon us.
Are you in the process of creating and finalizing your firm’s 2011 budget like so many other law firms?
In today’s uncertain economic climate, budgeting expenses is particularly challenging for most law firms. There is no doubt that you are under pressure to control costs and eliminate wasteful spending.
Want to ease your budgeting process?
Conducting a thorough review of your office supplies spend can help you identify:
– The products your firm is ordering
– The products your firm is actually using and at what rates
– The quantities being ordered
– The prices your firm is paying for each item
– Whether or not your firm’s ordering patterns are optimal given past usage history
Having this information at your fingertips during your budgeting process will not only help you make necessary budget cuts and adjustments to your investment, but will also highlight potential process improvements and supplier changes that can ultimately result in significant time and dollar savings.
In addition to the office supply review, you should also be looking for other cost savings opportunities for your firm. Some examples include:
1. Working to consolidate your firm’s purchasing with a single vendor and standardizing product usage in order to fully leverage your firm’s purchasing volume to achieve cost savings (this is true whether your firm has a single location or multiple offices).
2. Working with a supplier that offers quick delivery, which can enable you order in large enough quantities to keep your inventory levels lower to ensure your firm is not over purchasing.
3. Working with a supplier that offers free or reduced shipping, and makes sure you do not incur handling fees will not only save you on those order, but will also eliminate costly one-off trips to office supply stores.
Remember. . .
While challenging, there are some simple steps that you can take in order to ease the pain of budgeting while ensuring that you have what you need to run your law firm in 2011.
Need HELP? ASL is committed to helping your firm save time and money.
ASL’s website can provide easy-to-read reports with detailed information regarding the items you purchase from us. We can also make recommendations for products that have been proven to increase efficiency, thereby saving time and increasing your available billable hours.
Call your account manager today at 800.222.0510 to find out more about what ASL can do to help ease your budgeting process and help you save time and money.
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