Top 5 Green Accounting Tips for Your Business

The modern business owner has an awful lot on her mind. The stagnant economy means fewer safety nets and no guarantees of success, even if you have the best product or service on the market. Rent, utilities and all the other basic costs of running your business continue to rise, with no real end in sight. Advertising and marketing are as expensive as ever, but the crowded media world, massive explosion in television networks and overwhelming noise of the internet mean those expensive services are nowhere near as effective as they once were. It can all add up to a ball of stress and confusion. And most important is your commitment to the environment, and the feeling that it is your responsibility to think about the future of the planet just as often as you contemplate the present of your business. Sometimes the little things make all the difference, and if you can find a way to make your accounting practices more environmentally sustainable, you can probably greenify anything you do with your company. Here are five of the top green accounting tips for your business.

First off, try to minimize the amount of paper you use. Accounting is a document-heavy enterprise. Not only can it take reams of paper to generate your current accounting statements, but you also end up having to store records from prior years. That's an awful lot of paper that could be used for other matters, or better yet, trees that could be left alone to help oxygenate the atmosphere. Make your current accounting paperless by doing everything on an accounting program instead of by hand. And when you need to share information, use a document transfer service instead of the regular mail.

Next, take advantage of cloud computing to save resources. Want to avoid the waste of all of those aforementioned files? Explore the world of cloud storage. You can upload all of your accounting data to a password-protected, fully encrypted digital drive, and you and your team will be able to access the data from any internet-connected device. The best part is, you won't only be saving paper. You'll no longer need those plastic or metal filing cabinets, which means they can be recycled for another use, or never even purchased in the first place.

If you absolutely must print accounting information on actual sheets of paper, then at least take a more sustainable approach. Print double-sided, to cut your paper requirement in half. And always use recycled paper, so you can rest assured no new trees had to be chopped down for your accounting needs. And when you're done with the records, shred them for your privacy and then send the paper to be recycled again.

Think about the partners you bring on board to handle your accounting, and try to only connect with like-minded companies. Green businesses tend to be drawn together by a mutual passion, and it's no different in accounting. Find an accounting service that employs sustainable methods, or even pays into a carbon offset program to lower their environmental footprint. And make sure they also keep tabs on the amount of paper they use, and work with cloud computing whenever possible.

Finally, think about the technology you are using for the work. Just as someone might choose to pursue an online bachelor degree in accounting to save time, resources and money, choosing the right computers, printers and fax machines will help greenify your business. Make sure every new purchase you make is energy-efficient, and certified by Energy Star if at all possible. Go with LCD monitors, which use around half the energy of traditional monitors. And plug everything into energy saving power strips. so your hardware will be completely shut down when not in use. Each of these makes a small difference, but when added up it all creates a huge impact.