Overheads have a habit of creeping over time. Contracts auto-renew, add-ons slip in, and ways of working change while pricing doesn’t. A periodic review can surface savings, remove clutter, and make your costs better match the way you operate today.

Why overheads deserve your attention

Overheads compound quietly. A few percentage points across freight, electricity, insurance, software, or merchant fees can erode margin just as surely as a single large expense - only it’s harder to spot. The flipside is encouraging: unlike market demand or input prices, many overheads are controllable. You can renegotiate, right-size, or switch. Tightening these areas doesn’t only lower spend; it also builds resilience so you’re steadier in slower months and sharper in busy ones.

Good places to look (examples)

Start with the everyday costs that sit behind your operations. Freight and logistics, electricity and utilities, and insurance programs are common candidates because usage and risk profiles shift over time while the settings stay put. Merchant fees and payment processing are another quiet leak if you haven’t reviewed your pricing model recently. The same is true of software subscriptions and telecoms - licenses and plans tend to linger after projects end or teams change. Waste, packaging, and consumables also drift, particularly as product mixes evolve. You don’t need to tackle everything; choosing one or two areas each quarter keeps the work manageable and the wins visible.

What “good” looks like

A useful review is less about cutting for cutting’s sake and more about realignment. Costs should reflect how you operate now - your current volumes, locations, seasonality, and service levels. Suppliers and plans should fit how you actually work rather than how you worked two years ago. And you should have one or two simple measures that show whether the change has stuck. For example, tracking freight per order, insurance as a percentage of revenue, electricity per $1,000 of sales, software per FTE, or merchant fees as a percentage of takings makes improvement visible and comparable month to month.

How to get started

Begin with a calm, high-level scan and pick one overhead that matters and is easy to influence. Compare the last 6–12 months of invoices with how you operate today and ask, “If we were setting this up now, would we choose the same plan, supplier, or settings?” Make one or two sensible changes - nothing heroic - and watch the result for a month. If the metric improves, formalise the change in your processes and budget so the saving doesn’t evaporate. Then move on to the next area.

Pitfalls to avoid

Trying to fix everything at once is the fastest way to stall. Focus beats frenzy. Another trap is chasing price only; some savings come from how you work - packaging, schedules, load profiles - not just what you pay. And finally, even good wins can disappear if you don’t embed them. If you leave budgets, system settings, and buying rules unchanged, old habits return and with them, old costs.

Where your accountant adds value

A diligent accountant turns this into an easy, repeatable habit. They’ll build clean baselines from reconciled data and help design fair metrics you can actually track. They can benchmark your numbers against prior periods or peers so targets are realistic, and model scenarios - new carrier tiers, tariff options, deductible levels, fee structures - before you commit. Most importantly, they’ll ensure improvements are captured in forecasts and monthly reporting so the gains last.

Bottom line: A periodic, focused look at your overheads is one of the most reliable ways to improve your P&L. Start small, choose one area, realign it with how you operate today, and keep what works. Over a year, those quiet gains add up to stronger, more resilient profit.



To find out more about how we can help you, please contact one of our team at admin@wrightsca.com.au.

**Important notice:** This article provides information rather than financial advice. The content of this article, including any information contained in it, has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. You should consider the appropriateness of the information, taking these matters into account, before you act on any information.