Cost Recovery
A Sensible Place to Start

While it’s not enough as a long-term solution to business stagnation, the fastest route to improving your profits is to focus on costs.

That’s because 100 cents of every dollar saved falls straight to your bottom line.

More sales, on the other hand, produce only your profit margin on the bottom line – and if they’re realized via another “Sale!”, you may be lucky to even have a profit margin given the hike in volume you’ll need to offset the discounts.

OK, so cost savings should come first. But that’s never easy, is it? Maybe that’s why so many businesses resort instead to another “Sale” – they’re just easier to pull off.

They’re also perpetuating the endless price wars that are a race to the bottom with your competition. The goal should be to never have – and never need – another “sale”.

Of course, you can’t save your way to growth. There’s only so much you can eliminate by way of waste and avoidable costs.

But it is the fastest way to make a significant impact on your bottom line.

And the EASIEST Place to Start

Some cost savings, however, are easier than others.

And if it’s done right, recapturing vendor overpayments may be easiest of all.

You will have to help assemble the documentation needed to prove you’ve overpaid, of course. But that’s a one-time project that’s not especially onerous.

There’s also the cost for the various studies by outside auditing experts specializing in specific vendor payments, but even that can be mitigated with proven providers that only receive payment if and when they produce savings for your business. No savings, no cost.

So of all the ways available to make a significant six-figure impact on your cash flow and bottom line, none is as easily achieved as a professional cost recovery campaign.

And there’s no better place to start than with prior vendor overpayments.

Three Bites at the Apple

Most businesses – more than two-out-of-three – qualify for one or more of three vendor savings opportunities.

There are actually a few others some businesses will qualify for, but the three that the vast majority of businesses qualify for – and are missing out on – are…

1.  Credit Card Processing Fee Refunds – Merchant fees fall into two categories – negotiable and non-negotiable. The non-negotiable ones are often bloated with confusing and inflated charges that can be substantially reduced with a detailed audit of a few of your monthly payment records. Virtually 100% of businesses we audit realize savings on these fees, including refunds of prior overpayments.

The experience advocating for such clients has been an average 21% recurring savings in merchant account payments. A minimum of $300,000 in annual processing fees is required to justify the expense of auditing and negotiating with merchant service processors on your behalf;

2. Workers’ Comp Premiums – The workers’ compensation system is riddled with confusion, fragmentation, and poor oversight. As a result, employees are often misclassified, experience ratings are often mistaken, and billing errors are pervasive. This explains why workers’ comp costs are the third biggest expense for most businesses – right behind payroll and health insurance.

Our auditors have over 25 years experience specializing in workers’ comp auditing and have saved businesses tens of millions of dollars in workers’ comp premium payments. This often includes recovery of overpayments even with previously issued policies. With the exception of businesses with largely clerical or outside sales personnel, the majority of businesses will qualify for significant savings – with roughly 70% of such businesses averaging savings of 10-15% of annual premiums; and

3. Shipping Costs  – Overpayments for shipping and freight costs are also routinely overstated due to billing complexities, errors, and overlooked discounts. Our auditors specializing in these charges average 10% savings in charges – 3% as refunds and 7% as recurring savings.

Each of these can prove significant in their own right. But many businesses can realize savings on all three for a compounded savings benefit reaching well into the six figures and more.

And all of these are or can effectively be turned into recurring revenue streams for your business. And, most importantly,  they don’t require you to change your business operations, trim staff, or launch an expensive advertising campaign.

In fact, you can explore all of them for absolutely no up-front cost, all on a contingency basis.

Multiple Paths to
Payment Recoveries

Many businesses are eligible for recovery of overpayments for these routine operating costs. The more such recovery efforts for which you qualify, obviously, the more cash back your business will receive.

It’s not uncommon for businesses to recover payments and credits from three or more sources that can climb well into the six figures and more.

Which makes this a bit of a no-brainer to at least explore. don’t you think?

To get your Free & No-Obligation
Vendor Savings Estimate, contact us.

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