Know Your Numbers – Recurring Charges

When September began I had numerous subscriptions and annual expenses (like insurance) come across my desk.  As I was already spending time decluttering filing cabinets and electronic files,  I thought it would be a good time to really take stock of my own business so that I could tweak my goals as I enter the final half of my fiscal year.  I  regularly lead clients through this process but, like any specialist, I don’t always set aside the time to do the same for myself.

This lead me to thinking about my chapter of the best selling book “The Winning Way“.  In my chapter I share three key attributes to ignite the leader within. One of those attributes is the ability to know your numbers.

 “When you know your numbers, you have a unique method of measuring your own success, and the effectiveness of the methodologies you have in place.  Key performance indicators (KPI’s) allow you to better understand how well the systems deliver the results you want to achieve. ” 

As a business leader, whether you are a business owner or executive, manager or a project leader, you probably have to manage a budget, a team (in-house or out-sourced), suppliers, inventory and more. To effectively do your job, you need to know your numbers at different points in a week, month, year, or in the project. My question to you – how well do you know your numbers?

Over the next week, I will share with your my deep dive into my own numbers and saved myself thousands of dollars!   Asking yourself these questions could save you too!

 What are your recurring expenses?  What value do they bring to your business?

Every year I sign up for different programs, journals, magazines, which incur recurring charges – either monthly or yearly.  These expenses are automatically billed to a credit card and I acknowledge them when they are on my statement, but frequently forget about them in the months between.

I have now taken stock of all of the subscriptions and other recurring expenses I incur each month.  Mapping it out provided me with a visual map of when the expenses occur and how much they are.  I was then able to review each expense and evaluated whether I used it, how often etc.  I also looked at other options.  Frequently other companies may have introduced some new features to their product line which better fit your needs.

In my review I realized I wasn’t using 3 of the services I pay for each month.  I had the subscriptions for “just-in-case” situations.  I realized it was better to pay the slightly higher cost for one-time use rather than having a low recurring expense and therefore I cancelled the three services – saving me $500/year.  Another recurring expense is an annual fee with no refund potential.  Again, I realized it was costing me  more than I realized and the quality and options I could now get in that package were no longer worth that pricetag.   I have now calendarized the renewal date so that I can cancel this subscription.  This will save me another $500/yr.

Download my Recurring Expense Tracker to review your recurring expenses.  How much can you save your business?