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Think about it. When was the last time you sat down and actually looked at what you’re spending money on every month? Not the big stuff. The little stuff. The subscriptions you forgot you signed up for. The vendor you’ve been using since day one because the price seemed fine at the time. The “standard rate” you were told was the best available.
When you’re running a business, expense review tends to be one of those tasks that’s important but never urgent. There’s always something more pressing. A customer to call. An order to ship. Something that needs you right now.
But here’s what’s worth sitting with: 75% of small businesses say rising costs of goods, services, and wages are their primary financial challenge right now, according to the 2024 Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey. You can’t control inflation. But you can control how closely you’re watching where your money goes.
The Expenses That Hide in Plain Sight
Most small business owners have a solid handle on their big costs. Rent, payroll, raw materials. Those hit your account and you feel them.
It’s the mid-range stuff that tends to slip past.
Software subscriptions that got upgraded and never downgraded. A shipping provider whose rates crept up 8% over two years. Insurance that hasn’t been re-quoted since the original policy. Office supplies from wherever was most convenient, not wherever was most affordable.
The general guideline is to keep overhead costs under 35% of revenue. But in 2024, 23% of small businesses named inflation as their primary overhead driver, up from 17% in 2022. That’s a 35% increase in just two years.
Even businesses with lean operations tend to find something when they do a proper audit. Usually several somethings. Not because anyone was careless, but because prices drift and priorities shift, and nobody builds “review every vendor contract” into their weekly routine.
The 30-Minute Expense Audit
You don’t need a full day for this. Just 30 focused minutes and your last three months of bank statements.
Start with the repeating charges. Pull up your business account and sort by recurring payments. You’re looking for anything that hits every month (or every year, those are the sneaky ones). For each one, ask: Do I still use this? Is there a cheaper alternative? When did I last check the price?
Check your vendor pricing. If you’ve been with a supplier for more than a year and haven’t compared rates, there might be room to improve. Markets shift. Competitors launch. Rates that were competitive 18 months ago might not be anymore.
Look at the stuff you buy every month. Cleaning supplies. Shipping materials. Printer ink. Packaging. The things that feel too small to negotiate on. But at volume, even a 10-15% saving adds up. If you’re spending $2,000 a month on recurring supplies, 15% is $300 back in your pocket. That’s $3,600 a year from paying a little more attention.
Why Now Is the Perfect Time
There’s a practical reason to do this now.
You’ve got a full quarter of data from the new year. You can see patterns. That vendor whose delivery has been late three times since January. That software tool the team stopped using in February but is still charging you. The credit card fee that just went up.
And if you’re thinking about growth for the rest of the year, cutting unnecessary costs now creates room later. The SBE Council found that 31% of business owners who had a strong 2025 credited spending cuts as a key factor. Not dramatic cuts. Just thoughtful trimming.
What You Can Do This Week
Cancel one thing you’re not using. Right now. Open your phone, find the subscription, and cancel it. There’s always at least one.
Request one re-quote. Pick your longest-standing vendor relationship and ask for an updated quote. At worst, they confirm you’re already getting a fair deal. At best, they sharpen their pricing to keep your business.
Set a recurring calendar reminder. Put “expense review” in your calendar once a quarter. 30 minutes, four times a year. That’s two hours total for potentially thousands in savings.
How Group Purchasing Fits Into This
One of the patterns that comes up when businesses do this kind of audit is that they’re paying more than they need to on recurring purchases, not because they picked the wrong vendor, but because a single small business just doesn’t have the buying power to access the best rates.
That’s the problem group purchasing was designed to solve. By pooling thousands of businesses together, organisations like Mighty negotiate pricing across common spending categories that individual businesses wouldn’t be able to reach on their own. Savings typically land in the 10-25% range on supplies, services, and shipping, the stuff that shows up on your statement every month.
It’s the kind of thing that turns a 30-minute expense audit into a really good afternoon.
Your Business Deserves a Fresh Start Too
Spring cleaning your expenses isn’t about being stingy. It’s about being intentional.
Every dollar you save on something that doesn’t need to cost that much is a dollar you can put toward something that actually matters. Better equipment. A team outing. A marketing push. Or just a little more margin so you sleep better at night.
The clutter in your expenses is like the clutter in your garage. You got used to it being there. But once you clear it out, you wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.
Grab your bank statement. Set a timer for 30 minutes. And see what you find.
FAQ
How often should small businesses review their expenses?
At minimum, once a quarter. A 30-minute review four times a year is enough to catch subscriptions you've stopped using, vendor prices that have drifted, and recurring charges that no longer make sense. The businesses that do this consistently tend to find savings every time, not because they were careless, but because prices shift and priorities change faster than anyone's weekly routine.
What expenses do small businesses most commonly overpay on?
The ones that slip through are rarely the big, visible costs. They're the mid-range recurring charges: software subscriptions that were upgraded and never downgraded, shipping rates that crept up quietly over two years, insurance that hasn't been re-quoted since the original policy, and everyday supplies bought on convenience rather than price. None of these feel urgent to review, which is exactly why they add up.
How do I do a quick business expense audit?
Pull up your last three months of bank statements and sort by recurring payments. For each one, ask three questions: do I still use this, is there a cheaper alternative, and when did I last check the price? Then look at your longest-standing vendor relationships and request updated quotes. It takes about 30 minutes and most businesses find at least one meaningful saving every time.
What percentage of revenue should small business overhead be?
The general guideline is to keep overhead costs under 35% of revenue. In practice, 23% of small businesses named inflation as their primary overhead driver in 2024, up from 17% in 2022. That means the pressure is real, and even lean operations tend to find room to trim when they do a proper audit.
Why is spring a good time to review business expenses?
By March you have a full quarter of data from the new year, which makes patterns easier to spot: the vendor whose delivery has been consistently late, the tool the team stopped using in February, the fee that quietly went up. It's also a natural planning point for the rest of the year. Cutting unnecessary costs now creates room for growth later.
What is group purchasing and how can it reduce small business costs?
Group purchasing is when businesses pool their buying power to access supplier pricing that individual businesses can't negotiate on their own. Organisations like Mighty work across thousands of members to pre-negotiate rates on common spending categories, typically delivering 10-25% savings on supplies, shipping, and services. For a business spending $2,000 a month on recurring purchases, that's potentially $3,600 or more back in the business every year.