James D. Peros C.A. C.P.A

Cost-Cutting Ideas A careful review of your costs should reveal many opportunities for savings. Even though Benjamin Franklin’s oft-quoted phrase “A penny saved is a penny earned” can no longer be taken literally now that the Royal Canadian Mint has removed pennies from circulation, nevertheless saving money by cutting costs is simply good business. When budgeting for 2014, the thrifty owner-manager may want to consider the following ideas. Staff Costs  Review the employee medical benefit package: Can deductibles be raised and luxury benefits such as massage therapy eliminated? Get new quotes. Ask employees whether they are willing to supplement medical coverage with payroll deductions for extended coverage. Review employee hours : Check the overtime hours for any seasonal or other pattern that would permit the use of less expensive temporary or contract workers. Consider the possibility of outsourcing sales: Independent sales representatives may be willing ...

Three, Two, One  Backing up your files is a good habit to get into. We have been inundated in the last decade with a plethora of devices to back up data. Most owner-managed businesses will have some form of relatively recent hardware for backups, whether it is burnable DVDs, ultra-portable USB flash drives or high-capacity hard drives (e.g., redundant, external, or network drives). Most recently, off-site backup services have become increasingly available via “The Cloud,” with convenience extolled as a key selling feature. So, what is the best backup solution for your business? The answer depends largely on the size of your business and the number of computers you need to back up. Regardless of how many employees or computers you have, one maxim holds true: at least three backups are required to protect business data. In addition, multiple physical locations should be used to store backup data. The Cloud for Storage Cloud data storage solutions have some inhere...