If you thought that everything would be smooth sailing for your business with GST in place, you were wrong; primarily if you use stationery and computers.
Stationery and computers are essential tools for work and form a significant part of the operating cost of your business. Hence, it is very important for you to reduce the cost of office stationery and computers, thereby increasing the overall profit of your business.
If you’re on edge about rising office supply costs, follow these tips to keep your expenses in check.
GST And Stationery
Although commonly taken for granted, stationery plays a crucial role in successfully running a business. There are two tax slab categories viz. 12% and 18% under which the stationery products fall.
The tax rates for most stationery items are different, as mentioned in the gst rates list. Due to very high GST rates, the availability and volumes of office supplies are low, and the prices are high.
Computers And GST
In today’s digital era of globalisation, computers and laptops have become indispensable for any business to start and grow smoothly.
But with the GST regime, CGST and SGST of 9% each will be levied on laptops and computers, which makes the total GST 18%. This has made the costs of computers, laptops, pen drives, and other gadgets very high.
Methods To Save On Stationery Costs
To save on stationery, you can follow certain tips to save up on its costs in your business.
Buy In Bulk
When you buy in bulk, you save for future needs. This way, you don’t need to make multiple trips to the stationery store whenever you’re in need of a small item. You can also tie-up with a vendor who provides the best products for reasonable prices and discounts.
Use One Supplier
Order all office stationery needs with the same supplier. Placing orders with different vendors will need you to maintain separate records and will also cost you more. The same vendor will give you big discounts if you place a large order.
Save Money By Saving Paper
Paper is one of the topmost office consumables. You should make it a cardinal rule for everyone to always check for mistakes before printing anything. This will not only save the paper but ink as well. If there is a waste paper with a blank side, you can use it to write notes.
Sharing Is Caring
Inculcate the habit of sharing amongst your staff members. Designate one place (for example, a cupboard) for all the sharable stationery supplies. This way, you can avoid the purchase of the same item again.
Tips To Save Money On Computers
As per the cgst act and SGST Act, 2017, computers and laptops fall in the 18% slab. In order to save costs, you can make computers, keyboards, pen drives, etc. shareable amongst the office employees.
You can also go for cloud storage to store important office data. This method will provide you with increased accessibility and decreased costs of hard drives. If you use cloud computing, there is no need to purchase and maintain a lot of computers.
Here are a few benefits of cloud storage:
- Storage: You can maintain the servers onsite and pay only for software upgrades. Your cloud provider will give you access to the latest versions of business applications. You can even purchase an increased bandwidth and storage by just opting for an upgraded plan with your cloud service provider.
- Retrieval: You won’t have to worry about computer crashes, viruses, or recovery issues as your data and files will always be readily available on the cloud. This will give you the benefit of accessing your business data and keeping track of all records.
- Accessibility: With cloud storage, you can access your data from anywhere, be it the office or your home. You can also use your mobile phone or tablet if you’re on the go. This will not only save the computer costs but will also ease the collaboration between your employees and boost teamwork.
Conclusion
With these tips, you can considerably bring down your stationery and computer costs as a business without compromising on the nitty-gritty and tasks of your business. In fact, you can use the saved up money into parts of your business that give you higher returns.
