15 Proven cost reduction strategies that drive real results

Unlike short-term cost cutting measures (temporary savings at the expense of long-term growth), cost reduction is a proactive and strategic process of identifying and eliminating unnecessary business expenses. It's about optimizing your spending to maximize value and efficiency across your entire organization.

Effective cost reduction strategies go beyond simply slashing budgets. They involve a careful analysis of your business operations, spending patterns, and long-term goals to identify areas where you can reduce waste, improve operational efficiency, and reallocate resources more effectively. By implementing comprehensive cost reduction strategies, you can create a leaner, more agile organization that's better positioned for sustainable growth and profitability.

1. Renegotiate vendor contracts

Review and renegotiate your vendor contracts regularly — at least once a year. Take a close look at your agreements with suppliers and service providers to identify opportunities for better pricing and terms.

When approaching these negotiations, consider leveraging your buying power to secure volume discounts or exploring extended payment terms to improve cash flow. Don't be afraid to shop around and get competitive quotes to get the best price possible.

The potential savings from successful contract renegotiation can be significant. According to a World Commerce & Contracting study, companies can save an average of 9.2% on their total contract value through effective negotiation.

2. Consolidate suppliers

As you examine your vendor deals, consider consolidating your purchases with a smaller number of reliable vendors. This could lead to better pricing through increased purchase volume and indirectly reduce business costs with:

• Simplified communication and relationship management

• Streamlined ordering and invoicing processes

• Improved service levels

While supplier consolidation can yield significant savings, it's important to be mindful of potential risks, such as over-dependence on a single supplier. Mitigate these risks by maintaining relationships with backup suppliers, implementing regular supplier performance reviews, and creating contingency plans for supply chain disruptions.

3. Implement e-procurement software

E-procurement software can automate and streamline the purchasing process, from requisition to payment. With an e-procurement software, you can improve spend visibility, reduce maverick spending, and even identify opportunities for supplier consolidation or negotiation.

These tools can provide insights into spending patterns, helping you identify areas of potential cost savings or inefficiencies. For example, you might discover that different departments are purchasing the same items at different prices, presenting an opportunity for consolidation and bulk discounting.

Plus, e-procurement software often come with built-in market intelligence features that can provide insights into market prices. These softwares aggregate pricing data from multiple suppliers in real time, allowing you to make more informed purchasing decisions. If you’re about to place a large order of office supplies, the e-procurement software might detect that you're being quoted above-market prices. Then, you can leverage that information to negotiate better terms or move on to a different supplier.

4. Embrace a remote work model

The shift towards remote work has opened up new opportunities for cost reduction. By embracing a remote or hybrid work model, your business can significantly reduce expenses related to office space, utilities, and overhead costs.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 35% of Americans in management, professional, and related occupations are hybrid or exclusively working from home. And, as it turns out, they’re more productive — one recent study found that employees were 24% more productive after switching from office to fully remote work.

If you’re switching to a remote model, you may want to invest in communication hubs like Slack and project management tools like Asana or Trello to keep tasks organized. While there may be some upfront costs associated with the transition, the long-term savings and productivity gains can be substantial.

5. Review and renegotiate office leases

This one is crucial if your business is maintaining a physical office — especially when the commercial real estate market is more favorable to tenants.

When approaching lease negotiations, consider leveraging current market conditions to secure more favorable terms. You can also see significant cost savings by reducing your total square footage.

You might also negotiate for improvements or renovations as part of your lease renewal, effectively getting more value for your rent.

6. Leverage accounting automation

Accounting automation can transform your financial processes, saving both time and money. Modern automation tools can categorize expenses instantly based on vendor information, eliminating the need for manual data entry. They can also use optical character recognition (OCR) technology to extract data from receipts and invoices, reducing processing time from minutes to seconds per document.

Plus, with bill pay automation, you can prevent runaway spend on things like unnecessary SaaS subscriptions. Don’t want to pay for that software license next year? Set your deactivation date in advance so it doesn’t renew. You can also keep vendor spend in check by blocking unwanted spend categories and restricting spend to specific merchants.

The time saved through accounting automation also allows you to focus on big-picture tasks, which can drive better business decisions and new cost reduction opportunities. This shift from data entry to data analysis can drive better business decisions and uncover new cost reduction opportunities.

The potential return on investment is substantial. According to a meta-analysis conducted by the London School of Economics, accounting automations can yield an ROI of up to 200% in the first year.

7. Review and reduce subscriptions

Businesses tend to accumulate lots of software subscriptions and services. Many are essential but some of your SaaS may be underutilized or redundant.

When it comes to cost reduction strategies, it doesn’t get any more effective, simple, or painless than auditing your recurring subscriptions.

Beyond auditing, companies can save up to 30% by optimizing their software configurations, and recycling licenses when possible, according to Gartner.

You can also leverage AI-powered expense management tools to automatically identify underutilization or redundancy in your SaaS spend.

8. Consolidate expense management

In a recent survey conducted by Brex and Forrester, 58% of decision-makers responsible for expense management technology said their firm's spend management challenges caused an increase in operational costs.

Poor tracking and management of employee and company expenses inevitably leads to dollars falling through the cracks.

Implementing a centralized process for expense tracking and reporting is a cost reduction strategy in and of itself. By consolidating your expense management, you can:

• Gain better visibility into spending patterns across your organization

• Streamline approval processes and reduce processing time

• Easily identify areas for cost reduction

• Reduce the risk of duplicate or fraudulent expenses

A full-stack, all-in-one expense management software can provide real-time insights into your business spending, allowing you to make more informed decisions and implement cost reduction strategies more effectively.

9. Reduce inventory waste

Efficient inventory management is critical for businesses that deal with physical goods. Excess inventory doesn’t just tie up working capital — it can lead to significant waste through spoilage or damage.

Use forecasting and demand planning tools to optimize your inventory levels. Consider adopting just-in-time (JIT) inventory practices where feasible to minimize carrying costs.

You can also look into vendor-managed inventory (VMI) arrangements with key suppliers, where they take responsibility for maintaining optimal stock levels of their products in your warehouse. This can reduce your inventory management burden while ensuring steady supply.

10. Negotiate payment terms with vendors

Negotiating extended payment terms with your vendors can significantly improve cash flow and free up working capital for other strategic initiatives.

For example, extending your payment terms from 30 to 60 days can effectively give you an interest-free loan for that additional 30-day period. This can be particularly beneficial for businesses with seasonal cash flow fluctuations.

Some vendors may offer early payment discounts. While these can be attractive, be sure to weigh the benefits against your cash flow needs. In some cases, the value of maintaining your working capital may outweigh the discount offered.

11. Promote a cost-conscious culture

Foster a company culture that encourages employees to adhere to your cost reduction strategies. This involves:

• Assigning budgets to department leaders, empowering them to make smart trade-offs and encouraging an ownership mindset throughout the organization.

• Communicating the importance of cost management to all employees. Be transparent about the company's financial goals and challenges, helping employees understand the "why" behind cost-saving initiatives.

• Providing training on cost-saving practices relevant to each department. This could include workshops on efficient resource use or seminars on identifying wasteful spending within specific roles.

• Implementing employee recognition programs that reward cost-saving initiatives. Celebrate and share success stories of employees who have significantly contributed to cost reduction efforts.

• Encouraging innovation in finding new ways to reduce costs or improve efficiency. Create channels for employees to submit ideas and suggestions for cost savings.

• Holding regular "office hours" or Q&A sessions where employees can discuss financial matters and economic impacts on the company. This fosters an environment of open communication and financial literacy.

• Using analogies and accessible language when discussing financial concepts, making them more relatable and understandable to all employees. “It’s not a topic that is as natural to pick up as, say, something like marketing where everybody can enjoy an ad,” says Brex board member Michael Tannenbaum. “Not everyone tends to enjoy an income statement in the same way.”

By promoting a culture of financial discipline, you can harness the collective creativity and effort of your entire workforce in your cost reduction efforts.

12. Reduce business travel expenses

Business travel can be a significant expense for many organizations. Implementing a strategic approach to managing travel expenses is an important cost reduction strategy. Consider:

• Using a business travel platform that offers competitive rates and discounts

• Implementing clear travel policies with spending limits for different types of expenses

• Using virtual cards with preset spending limits for specific trips

• Leveraging technology for real-time expense tracking and automated receipt capture

Pro tip: Brex travel offers competitive rates and discounts on flights, hotels, and car rentals, ensuring you're always getting the best value for your travel spend.

Beyond that, Brex enables you to control travel spend via virtual cards with preset spending limits for specific trips and real-time expense tracking. Plus, with automated expense reporting and receipt capture, you can say goodbye to lost receipts and tedious manual entry.

“With completely integrated spend management and travel, we were able to cut T&E costs by 50% with only a 15% reduction in travel,” said Teddy Collins, Vice President of Finance at SeatGeek. “And we redeployed those funds to actually double the size of our hiring funnel at that time."

13. Ditch legacy software

Outdated legacy software can be a significant drain on your IT budget. And they can hurt your operational efficiency. These softwares often require expensive maintenance, frequent patches, and specialized knowledge to operate. They may also lack compatibility with modern software, creating bottlenecks in your workflows and hindering productivity.

Migrating to modern, cloud-based solutions is a cost reduction strategy that can also help you improve your data security and enable smoother integrations with your other softwares. Cloud-based solutions often come with regular, automatic updates, reducing the burden on your IT team. They typically offer better scalability, allowing you to adjust your resources based on actual needs rather than maintaining excess capacity.

Consider a phased approach to migration instead of a "big bang" switchover. This, along with change management, can help mitigate risks and enable a smooth transition.

14. Reduce unnecessary meetings

Excessive meetings are a costly time suck that ultimately impact your bottom line. Want to save time and money? Tell your teams to:

• Establish clear meeting agendas and stick to them

• Encourage focused discussions and limit meeting times

• Use the "two-pizza rule" - if two pizzas can't feed the entire group, the meeting is too large

One recent study found that the average 5,000-person organization spends $320 million per year on meetings — with a potential wasted investment of $101 million per year.

15. Use a corporate credit card that rewards you for spending

Most business credit cards have rewards programs, but the best corporate credit cards offer multipliers on your largest and most frequent expenses.

The Brex Corporate Card, for example, offers 2x points for software, 3x on restaurants, 4x on travel, and 7x on rideshares like Uber and Lyft. These points can be redeemed for statement credit, travel, and gift cards, effectively reducing your overall expenses. And, when the time is right, you can redeem your points for rewards that can grow your business, like custom billboards and executive coaching.Brex also offers discounts to help you grow your business, including $5K in AWS credits, 3x back on Apple products, and up to 50% off UPS shipping. All together, you can use the full catalog of perks to reduce business expenses by $180K+.

Effective cost reduction is not about indiscriminate budget cuts. It's about making smarter decisions about how and where you spend your money. By adopting a proactive approach to cost management, you can create a leaner, more efficient organization that's better positioned for long-term success.

From rethinking traditional work models to leveraging technology, cost reduction strategies can help you reduce business expenses, improve cash flow, and free up resources for strategic investments.

Brex can be a valuable partner in your cost reduction efforts. Brex cards are designed to help you control and optimize your business spending through comprehensive spend management. Real-time expense tracking allows you to monitor transactions as they happen, giving you unprecedented visibility into your cash flow. You can also set custom spending limits for different employees or departments, ensuring that expenses stay within budget without the need for constant oversight.

Moreover, Brex offers seamless integration with popular accounting software like QuickBooks and NetSuite, streamlining your financial operations and reducing the time and resources needed for reconciliation. This integration, combined with detailed spending analytics, can help you identify areas for further cost reduction and optimization.

By using a Brex corporate card, you're not just managing expenses – you're turning your necessary business spending into an opportunity for savings and rewards. It's a smart way to maximize the value of every dollar your business spends, making it an essential part of any comprehensive cost reduction strategy.

Ready to combine these powerful tools with a strategic approach to cost management? Get a demo to see how Brex can help you reach your next stage of growth.