Why You Should Track Your Print Costs

Keeping track of supply costs and staying within a budget are crucial for the financial health of a business. One area where costs are often overlooked is printing supplies. This can be a big mistake because typically, businesses often overspend on these supplies without knowing it. Employees could be ordering the wrong supplies, unnecessary supplies or supplies that you already have in stock. They might even be eating up your supplies by excessively using your printers for personal use. Here is why you should be tracking your print costs to keep your costs in check.

Common for Businesses to Not Track Printing Supplies

Too often, printing supplies slip under the radar of tracked office supply expenses. But it puts you at a disadvantage with knowing how your money is being spent.

The main reasons why many businesses don’t track their supply expenses include:

• It’s assumed the costs are low and don’t justify having to seek approval.
• Supplies need to be replenished frequently and in large quantities.
• Printing supplies are used throughout the business in all departments.
• Multiple people within the business are authorized to order supplies.
• It’s too challenging to manage and monitor printing supplies because the list of office supplies is overwhelming.
• Some printing supply expenses can be hidden under office supply expenses.

It is estimated that the average American office worker can use up to 10,000 sheets of paper each year to the tune of an average cost of $725 a year.

Monitoring Use of Printing Supplies Saves Money

To see where and how your money is being spent, it is wise to monitor your printing office supplies. While there is likely nothing nefarious going on, simple things like employees not shopping around for the best price could cause you to pay more for printing supplies. Understanding how your supplies are being used can help prevent waste and costs related to personal use.

It’s Worth Conducting a Print Assessment

Conducting a print assessment can help you create an accurate office printing supply budget. It will require you to do some digging for historical data like several months to a year of office supply invoices. By analyzing these invoices, you can determine what your total monthly printing supply expenses are. But don’t stop there! If you want to save on your printing supply costs, you need to continue to monitor and analyze your usage and costs.

If the thought of conducting a print assessment seems daunting, a Managed Print Services provider can help. We specialize in this type of analysis and can help you save on your monthly printing costs.

About PrimeEdge Technology

PrimeEdge is a premier office technology solutions and services provider based in Winchester, VA. Services include Managed IT, Managed Print, Voice, Unified Communications and XaaS. Products include a wide variety of HP Printers, Scanners, MFPs, Computers and Workstations.

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