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It's tax time now and there's never been a better opportunity to really look at your itemized deductions. Line by line they will reveal exactly where your hard-earned money was spent last year. After taxes are done and while the receipts are still handy and the deductions clear, take a moment to review your expenses and see where cost savings can be made.

We believe you will be amazed at just how much you spend on various expenses. Yes, you have to continue to market, but can you cut back.

You definitely need to still buy office supplies and pay those office expenses, but are there ways you can cut back and not feel the effects? With every penny counting these days, it's time to look at saving money in every way possible.

One area to pay special attention to is your bank charges and merchant accounts fees. We all realize that to make money today its imperative that you offer every form of payment option to your customers, especially credit cards. People want and need the ability to pay for purchases via credit.

However, often times the fees associated with those transactions add up substantially. By looking over last year's fees, you can see how much you spent on your credit card processing plan. Take the time now to review how much you paid out in merchant fees. Are you surprised at the high amount?

Do you think you can do better?
Cutting credit card transactions fees is possible and definitely recommended. Look for companies that don't have hidden fees or minimum monthly requirements. Those extra fees can add on substantially to your monthly charges. Find a company that offers bundled services at a set price. This ensures that there are not numerous itemized expenses that add up at month's end. Finally, find a company that is reputable and works with small businesses to help them succeed.

Now that you've saved money, it's also important to look at how you can make extra money too. At tax time more than ever, it's crystal clear just how much you made last year. Often times it can be a sad awakening. Small businesses took a hard hit and it's evident that a majority did lose money.

However, there are ways to take back the power this year and turn things around.

There are several ways to do this. One way, as we've already mentioned, is to offer clients more payment options. It's absolutely essential to provide your clients the ability to pay with their credit cards.

We all know that in today's economy, cash flow isn't as prevalent as in years past and more and more people are reaching for plastic when it comes time to pay. In fact, you can actually lose money when you don't.

For example, let's say a massage therapist charges $80.00 an hour and does not accept credit cards. Let's say she misses out on three customers a year because she only took cash. Now let's break that down into dollar amounts.

$80.00/hr. for three clients that she sees every other month or 6 times a year.

6 x 3 = 18 x $80.00 = $1440

That's almost $1500 lost and that's only three clients. Who knows how many clients she actually lost. It could have been a lot more.

Now, how much would the credit card have cost? Let's go with one programme that we are familiar with.
9.99/month x 12 = 119.88

$119.88 + $55.44 (transaction fees) = $175.32 total cost of processing for the year