Money Smart Week, celebrated each year in April, was started by the federal reserve bank in 2002 as a way to help people form smart plans to manage their money well.
While the focus is on personal finance, I believe that many of the same principles can be applied to business finance as well. Managing, saving, and investing money well is good for personal and business finances.
There are many financial programs and advisors who push saving money and paying off or reducing debt. This is sound advice but is only a piece of financial management.
The one thing that often gets overlooked or not given due consideration is the maintenance of assets that you own, such as your HVACR or air-conditioning system. Whether it is a home or a business, these systems typically account for more than half of your electricity bill every month. Lack of maintenance causes these systems to use more energy and fail prematurely, and they have to be replaced at a cost of $2,000 to $3,000 per ton of air-conditioning.
Many business finance managers and homeowners view maintenance costs as an unnecessary expense in the budget, without considering the long-term effect on capital replacement budgets or rising expense budgets every month, due to the systems no longer being efficient or performing as designed.
Especially after going through COVID for over two years, most budgets are very tight, which is understandable. Proper maintenance is an investment in reducing monthly expenses and reducing future capital replacement costs.
Yes, maintenance may cost a few hundred dollars, depending on equipment size, age, etc. The return on investment can be far greater than the expense, in monthly energy savings of 5-10% and extending the life of the air-conditioning equipment by 25-50%.
As an HVACR professional with over 45 years of experience, I have seen the effect of good maintenance versus not doing maintenance, and the cost of maintenance pays back very well every time.
As you look at your finances during this time period, do not overlook the things that can silently ruin your budgets both today and in the future. Saving pennies or a few dollars today that can cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars in the future is not smart money management.
Good investments will bring future financial gains, so invest in yourself and your facility's maintenance.
- Russell McNeice, CEO
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