BC Business
Simple administrative tasks may lessen small businesses' productivity
Twenty years ago, a best-selling book—and heavy promotion by TV titan Oprah Winfrey—told us Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff. It would appear that the small stuff might actually be costing a lot of undue work, a substantial amount of resources and, ultimately, money, according to United Kingdom-based Sage Group plc, an integrated accounting, payroll and payment software provider.
According to a recent report, Sage estimates small-to-medium businesses are throwing away valuable productivity by busying employees with administrative tasks, and it’s costly to the bottom line, to the tune of CDN$728 billion or an average of 120 working days a year for most organizations.
Over 3,000 firms in more than 10 countries were surveyed for the report and, in the end, accounting was the task that weighed on businesses the most, comprising more than 20 per cent of administrative duties. (Invoicing and taxation came in second and third, respectively.)
Sage Canada, of course, believes its systems can offer a solution. “We are committed to making such possibilities obtainable for small to medium businesses by providing access to solutions that help them manage everything from money to people digitally, in real time and in the cloud,” explained EVP and managing director Paul Struthers. The company offers cloud-assisted software and education to over three million customers around the globe.