Arrest the Drain on Your Cashflow With a Digital Expenses Audit

Taking charge of your digital expenses and ownership of digital assets is a highly neglected area and is a must for finance brokers.

Auditing digital expenses isn’t just about cutting costs - it’s also about instilling crucial best practices that foster business growth.

But first, why should ownership of digital assets matter?

Ownership of digital assets is crucial for any business. Often, providers don’t transfer the ownership of vital assets, like domain names and website access, to their rightful owners, making it difficult to change providers or take charge in emergencies.

Recently, a mortgage broker had a small provider who closed down, and the broker lost their entire website. Even worse, since the provider also managed their email accounts and hosting, the broker’s business was severely impacted by a week-long email outage, causing significant reputational damage.

To mitigate risks, the best practice to avert such an issue is for the broker’s website to have a backup and for the email to not be with the same provider. Additionally, review expenses, as many brokers overspend on hosting services, paying $100 to $800 per month when it should be an annual cost of around $150-350 for smaller websites.

Beyond ownership, it’s crucial to manage your spending across different providers. This helps optimise your investments and get the best return on investment (ROI). Consolidating services and cutting unnecessary expenses, enhance efficiency and increase cash flow. Analysing digital spending can reveal several areas for cost reduction; SEO and similar services are major offenders here.

How a digital expenses audit can help

An audit examines your digital expenses, covering everything from domain registrations and website hosting to email services and SEO. Identifying areas for improvement and offering actionable recommendations to maximise the value of your investments.

A good digital audit should:

• Ensure full control of digital assets, including domain, hosting, email services, and social media.

• Identify redundant expenses and consolidate services to streamline spending.

• Optimise operational efficiency and drive cost savings through asset management.

The importance of digital expense management

Maintaining control over your digital assets and implementing proper security measures is key to mitigating risks and safeguarding your online presence. Regular monitoring and proactive management of these assets are vital to securing and resiliency of your digital infrastructure.

Here are some essential assets and their associated management tasks that you need to stay on top of:

• Configuration settings for email accounts

Domain

• Access to domain management panel (e.g. GoDaddy)

Website hosting

• Access to hosting control panel (e.g. cPanel)

• Hosting provider account login credentials

Email hosting

• Configuration settings for email accounts

• Knowledge of spam filtering and security settings

SSL Certificate

• Knowledge of the SSL certificate installation process

• Regular renewal and monitoring of SSL certificate validity

Website Content Management System (CMS)

• CMS admin panel login credentials (e.g. WordPress)

• Knowledge of CMS settings and configurations

Social media accounts:

• Ensure ownership and administrative access to profiles/pages

• Login credentials for social media platforms

Conclusion

Effectively managing your digital assets is crucial for protecting your online presence and driving success. Take control of essential assets, implement solid security measures, and ensure regular monitoring to maintain a secure and resilient digital infrastructure. For further information or help in auditing your digital expense, get in touch with a netStripes specialist.

Author Bio:

Dinesh is the CEO & Founder of netStripes, a digital and marketing solutions business in Sydney. He is a leading authority on small and medium business digital innovation and is regularly called upon to share his insights as a thought leader.