There’s no doubt about it: administrative work swallows up a lot of a business’s time. From responding to emails, filing paperwork and chasing the status of tasks, right the way through to planning performance and monitoring sick days and vacation time, there’s a lot to do. Here’s are some key things you need to know about simplifying the amount of administrative work you’re doing for your business…

You should go paperless where possible

Keeping on top of paperwork can be a huge drain on your time and resources, as well as a challenge when it comes to physically storing it too. So, wherever possible, go ‘offline’ with your paperwork. From detailing your customers’ information to storing your invoices and receipts, handle it all on a piece of software or in the cloud.

Of course, you’ll need good security processes in place if you’re planning on going paperless, and there will always be some tasks that you might feel better about doing with a physical piece of paper in your hands. For instance, you can buy good quality deposit slips so that you can be sure your money won’t go ‘missing’ at the bank, and if you choose deposit slips like these, you’ll be able to make carbonless duplicates and avoid the need for double entries – saving time and materials.

Managing your meetings will pay off

Another form of administrative work that needs streamlining are the number of meetings that are happening in your business. Reduce them if you can by committing to holding meetings for things that truly need an in-depth discussion. Other issues may be able to be resolved at desks in a matter of minutes. However, don’t just stop there. Cut back on the amount of admin associated with meetings, such as agendas, minutes and follow-up actions wherever possible too.

It’s worth getting to know your bank

Get to know your bank a little bit better and see what they can do for you. For example, you can request bank analysis statements to find out what you’re being charged for in your monthly statements. It’s likely you’re paying service charges of some sort, especially if you have a business bank account, so figure out what those charges are and have a conversation about streamlining them to see how you could better spend that money.

You should consider merging your insurance renewal deadlines

Your business will have a number of different insurances attached to it, so take the time to sit down and have them renew on the same date. That way, you can sit down once a year to secure the best insurance deals for your business, rather than being confronted with the challenge of doing it three of four times a year. Better still, doing it all on the same day can mean you might be able to negotiate a more favorable deal than you otherwise would have as you may be able to take advantage of package offer.

You should manage your workers’ time and tasks

If you’re operating solo, you might be able to stay on top of your various tasks and projects using nothing but a spreadsheet. However, as your business grows (or if you already have a team working with you), you’ll find that you’re spending more and more time manually assigning tasks and chasing up their statuses. Simplify all of this using a task management tool such as Trello – a tool like this will let you create tasks (and subtasks), assign them to the relevant individual, and keep track of the completion status and any associated notes. It could save you an awful lot of time in administrative work, that’s for sure.

Of course, there are so many more helpful tips for simplifying your business admin. See what you can find online, and act on the advice that seems the most helpful for your business and the way you operate.