SMEs 'Can Use Business Cards To Control Costs'
Signing up to corporate business card schemes can allow SMEs to ôachieve the same purchasing power as a large corporate and negotiate discounts with suppliersö, according to Debra Davies, of Amex Card Services UK. Traditionally, SMEs have believed that only large companies need a business card, Davies writes, but in todayÆs competitive environment, business cards are an ideal way for SMEs to manage and control their everyday expenses. Cash flow is a primary concern for SMEs, yet just one-third of SMEs profiled by Amex, use a business card to handle expenses, with 38 per cent using credit/charge cards.Small firms paying expenses with cash (10 per cent) or check (15 per cent) ôare instantly reducing their cash flow situation and incurring unnecessary costs of up to 65 pence (Ç1) per checkö, Davies says. Using a business card for expenses, by contrast, can help SMEs sustain their cash flow by introducing a ægrace periodÆ to delay payment of accumulated expenses until the end of a month. At a time when small companies ôare looking for ways to keep business expenses under control and reduce the time spent on non-core business functionsö, business card use streamlines ad hoc payments and cash management.
With 80 per cent of UK-based small businesses expecting their operational expenses to increase in the next year, according to the Amex survey in 2003, ôcompanies failing to take a serious view of expense management, do so at their perilö, according to Davies. Supplier costs were cited by 13 per cent of firms profiled by Amex, as an increasing focus, and using business cards in this context, can enable SMEs to save hundreds of pounds on everyday purchases such as office facilities, stationery and software. Above all, a monthly audit trail is available for tracking and reconciling business spending on an ongoing basis. Related Links:
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