Dustin Staiger

Your office moving budget comes down to more than just rentals and packing supplies. According to Geoff Williams at US News, the average mover tends to underestimate the cost of their move. By building a budget based on cheaper vendors rather than the best service, many companies assume they’ll recover from any downtime without a significant dip in revenue. But our many years of experience with office relocations has caused us to know better when it comes to making a move affordable.

Here are 4 tips to help you build a better budget to ensure your office move really is affordable.

1. Use a Comprehensive Checklist

One helpful formatting tip from Hivyapp’s office management blog is to divide your checklist into 3 separate portions. By segmenting your office moving process into before the move/during the move/after the move phases, your task lists will be more succinct and easier to understand.

2. Have Your Checklist and Office Moving Costs Estimated On-Site by Experts

According to moving industry professional Joshua Green, having expert office movers on-site to estimate your costs is the best way keep your budget as accurate as possible. “Do not agree to moving estimates made over the phone or online,” Green says, “they often end up being vastly inaccurate and misleading.”

Imagine being quoted a price over the phone, only to see that price multiplied several times on your invoice due to misunderstandings and different definitions of what constitutes as a “single office.” For this reason, make sure you partner with office moving experts who can help evaluate your costs to help you save.

3. Decide Between Office Movers or DIY

One area of cost estimation you should sit down to research long before your office moving date is that of comparing office movers with the possibility of moving your company on your own. If you’re leaning toward “saving money” by doing everything internally, consider these questions:

“Who will do all our heavy lifting? Our employees?”

“If so, Will my employees be able to move everything safely and without doing harm to our equipment/themselves?”

“If an employee damages our furniture or equipment by accident during the move, who is responsible for replacing or repairing that item?”

“How long would it take us to move ourselves and get our company back up-and-running compared to professional office movers?”

Once you’ve procured the answers to these questions, you may realize why Chipman Relo’s office moving experts suggest partnering with an all-inclusive team of office moving experts. Even if you just need someone to do your heavy lifting, you’ll find that hiring professionals will alleviate you of any insurance or safety issues.

4. Find Tax Deductions for Your Moving Expenses

According to Lifehacker’s Shirley Pulawski, certain moving expenses may be tax deductible for your company. Travel costs, packing materials and shipping, utility fees and other costs could very well become tax savings for your company in your new location.

“The cost of moving business equipment, supplies, and inventory from one business location to another is a deductible business expense, as are costs associated with the purchase or renting of a new location,” says Jean Murray of financial advisory website, The Balance, “Be sure to keep good records to substantiate all costs associated with this business move.”

Office moving is a hopeful yet hectic time for any company. Making sure your office relocation plan and budget are both solid is a must before you attempt to execute your office move. With McCoy-Rockford’s expertise and these 5 tips, however, your budget and plan can pay dividends long after you’ve moved into your new space.

Key Takeaways

Build a comprehensive checklist.
Have your checklist(s) and cost estimates reviewed by office moving experts.
Decide to hire an office moving team and collaborate with them as early as possible.
Find Tax Deductions for Your Moving Expenses