Most companies require office supplies to function, some more than others. A lot can be said for a company by how they manage these common business expenses. A few boxes of pens and paperclips may not seem like much, but across a growing company, these simple necessities can snowball into a hefty sum. Going paperless, or Scan to Zero, provides companies a break from the increasing costs of office supplies.
Estimating the cost per employee is a good way to begin calculating the cost of overall supplies. Some try to keep supplies around $200 per person per year, while medical offices and law firms can reach beyond $1000 per person per year. If a small business spends $300 on supplies per person per year and employs only twenty people, that still comes out to $6000 every year. For businesses with ten or even one hundred times as many employees, it’s important to pay close attention to the expenses.
Over one billion copies are made every single day, and paper usage is still increasing by 25% annually. Printer paper can cost from $9 to $65 for 500 sheets. Black printer ink costs from $20 to $40 per cartridge. Factoring in maintenance and supplies, the average cost of print supplies per employee exceeds $1300.
Pens bought in bulk still reach about twenty-five cents per pen. The average three-ring binder costs about $1. Boxes of staples and paperclips can cost around $2 each, even when bought in bulk. Individually these are small costs, but it’s not uncommon to find desk drawers full of these items sitting without use.
The most common factor revolving around so many of these office supply expenses is paper. Going paperless is one of the best decisions an office can make to combat these outdated costs. Paperclips aren’t necessary when documents are shared with cloud computing. Replace filing systems full of three-ring binders with a digital archive. Savings on printer ink and toner are substantial. Reducing waste and increasing productivity can be considered bonus features of going paperless for those simply looking to reduce costs.
