Why work harder, when you can work smarter using technology? Here are the 3 easy ways to use technology in your business to reduce expenses, increase your cash flow and boost your productivity.

1 | Review Your Top 4 Office Expenses

The next time you read your financial statements, review the four largest office expenses on your profit and loss statement to determine which ones you can eliminate and/or automate with cloud technology.

Postage and printing are the common largest office expenses I see on the books of my clients all the time. Why? Because some businesses still operate in a paper system and in most cases have a fear of cloud technology or don't have any backup and disaster recovery plan.

Why not work smarter using technology? Invest in a secure cloud data storage system to run your business and eliminate the paper system.

Using secure cloud data storage, you can run your business from anywhere with an internet connection without being restricted to your office space, stop worrying about computer data loss, and stop paying for postage.

2 | Automate Your Billing and Payment Systems

The second area I see most business owners struggling with is failing to automate their billing and payment system. Use credit cards and bank transfers (ACH) to pay for expenses is the new norm.

You can avoid chasing customers for payments when you use an invoicing system that has clickable "pay now" options for customers to pay you from their computers and mobile devices.

QuickBooks Online and Xero accounting software have this capability with built-in email payment confirmations and tracking. You save money in lost checks, eliminate insufficient funds fees, reduce your collection period, and increase your available cash flow by getting paid faster.

3 | Find One System To Boost Your Productivity

The ultimate goal when using technology is to streamline your workflow and increase your productivity. You only have 24 hours a day to get work done, have some downtime to spend with family and friends, sleep, relax and repeat everything all over the next day.

So if you can't cut back on office expenses, you can implement an accounting system to track your business finances on the go. I help my clients reduce the stress of worrying about their finances and operations by implementing cool secure cloud technology tools like:

• QuickBooks Online to keep track of income and expenses on the go.

• Hubdoc to retrieve documents from multiple online systems saving time on logging into each separate platform.

• Expensify to keep track of receipts for IRS audits.

• Tsheets to help employees and managers track timesheets on the go to maintain compliance with ERISA law.

Cloud technology is a great asset to use in running your business and it should be part of the investment goal of your business plan.

Comment below and let me know what is your favorite technology tool you use to save money in running your business.