Spending long hours in the office under fluorescent lighting, the heater on full blast in one corner, and the printer running away in the other. As an accountant, you’re probably a bit too familiar with just how costly energy bills can be. Energy Saving Week provides an opportunity to reflect on your energy usage so you can keep a lid on power usage in your workplace, as well as reducing your costs. Here are three tips that you can implement whether you work from home or in the office.
1. Adjust your lighting
We’re all used to fluorescent lighting, but these bulbs can eat up a considerable amount of energy. So, consider switching to the likes of LED light bulbs instead, as they’re much more energy-efficient and last a lot longer. Also, try to maximise natural light in your office by opening the blinds and turning off lights when they’re not necessary (especially in the likes of storage or conference rooms). You could even install sensors to control lighting in busy areas to cut down your electricity bills.
2. Opt for energy-saving devices
Invest in devices and appliances with energy-saving options. Nowadays, dishwashers, laptops and other office appliances come with energy-saving settings, which means that while that setting is in use, the device consumes less energy and requires less maintenance.
Also, laptops use much less energy than their clunkier desktop counterparts, so adjust your PC where possible to minimise power usage. Make sure to unplug devices when you’re not using them, and put computers in sleep mode when you’re taking breaks.
3. Go paperless
While printing out payslips, reports and financial statements for clients may seem necessary, it’s actually an easily avoidable expense. By using the likes of e-signing, GDPR-compliant client portals, and online storage systems, you can cut down entirely on your paper usage. Not only will this help cut down on your energy bills, but it’ll help declutter your workspace too.
To kick off your paperless journey, we recommend getting stuck into a tailored practice management software for accountants. Our own practice management software, BrightManager, was created for accountants, by accountants, and comes with a GDPR-compliant client portal, e-signing and online storage. With these features, you can easily share and store client documents, get them to sign forms through the software, and best of all, all client activity gets tracked and timestamped.
You could even switch to e-payslips using our payroll software, BrightPay, alongside its cloud-extension, BrightPay Connect. Once the payroll’s been finalised, payslips can be automatically distributed to an secure app on your clients’ employees’ smartphones. This means no more paper or ink costs to account for, just one smooth and seamless system that runs in the background for you.
Change your energy habits today
You and your team’s energy consumption habits are instrumental to saving energy so involve your team as much as you can in energy-saving initiatives. Consider making an energy-saving infographic to display in the office, letting the team know in a weekly meeting, or setting a six-month energy-saving goal, and if you reach it then the team receives an award (e.g. a night out, gift card, etc.). Keep in mind that small changes like turning off lights, using energy-saving settings on your appliances and switching to e-payslips can make a big difference for the planet, and more substantial changes like installing sensors and implementing new software can have an even more considerable effect.
Here at Bright, we create software for tax, compliance, practice management and payroll, and are on a mission to make a happy and efficient working life a reality for accountants through reliable software and amazing support.
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