With St.
Patrick’s Day and spring arriving, March is a great month to have “green” on
the mind. There are green
shamrocks, green beer, the green of new vegetation, and there’s even green
accounting too. Here are five ways
to make your accounting a little more green.
Business Receipts
When you spend
money on your business, ask for an emailed receipt rather than a paper one if
you have an option. More and more vendors are providing this option. Then when the receipt comes in your email, you can forward it
to your bookkeeper and/or upload it to your accounting system.
Smile for the Camera
If the
vendor does not offer an emailed receipt, do the next best thing: take a picture of the receipt with your
cell phone. Some accounting
systems allow you to upload the receipt right from your phone, and if you don’t
have that feature, you can always email it or upload it to your PC.
PDF Invoices
If you
invoice customers, send a PDF invoice via email. More and more businesses are abandoning the snail mail and
getting it to customers faster via email. They’re getting paid faster, and speeding up your green is
usually a good thing.
Online Banking
Many
people adopted online banking about a decade ago. If you’re still getting paper statements, you can get
those stopped and download your statements once a month from your online
account. It’s better not
to get your statement in the mail anymore; it reduces your risk of identity
theft from stolen mail.
Software and Supplies
When
possible, purchase your software online and download it rather than making a
gas-guzzling trip to the store and purchasing a box. You can also order your office supplies online and have them
delivered. As long as you
buy local, it should be a green purchase, and it will save you tons of time
too.
These five
ideas will help your accounting become a little more green.
