Printing is an essential part of many businesses, but if you’re not paying attention, it can quietly drain your budget. From unnecessary prints to inefficient workflows, your office printing costs may be much higher than they should be. The worst part? You might not even realize where the money is going.
But there’s good news—modern managed print solutions like PaperCut can help businesses take control of their printing, reduce waste, and cut unnecessary expenses. Whether in education, healthcare, or legal services, streamlining your printing can lead to major cost savings.
Let’s break down the common reasons behind high printing costs and, more importantly, how to fix them.
1. Untracked and Unrestricted Printing
Many businesses don’t have clear visibility into their printing habits. Employees print documents freely without accountability, leading to unnecessary waste. Without a tracking system, it’s hard to know which departments are printing the most—or if some prints are unnecessary.
How to fix it:
Implement Print Tracking Software – Managed print solutions like PaperCut help you monitor print usage and set limits based on department, project, or user.
Enforce Print Policies – Set rules like duplex (double-sided) printing or black-and-white defaults to reduce costs.
Encourage Responsible Printing – Inform employees about the financial and environmental costs of excessive printing.
2. High Paper and Ink Consumption
Printing in colour when it’s not needed, single-sided documents, and frequent reprints due to errors all contribute to waste. In industries like law firms and healthcare, where documentation is critical, small inefficiencies add up fast.
Here’s what you can do:
Use Print Rules – Configure settings to allow colour printing only when necessary.
Reduce Paper Waste – Encourage double-sided printing and digital documentation where possible.
Digitize Workflows – Consider moving toward paperless solutions for reports, contracts, and internal communications.
3. Inefficient Printer Usage
If your office has multiple printers but lacks an efficient print queue system, employees might send jobs to a high-cost printer without realizing it. Some printers are more expensive to operate than others, and without proper management, businesses may overuse costly devices.
Here are some easy fixes:
Use Print Queues – Managed print solutions like PaperCut can automatically route jobs to the most cost-effective printer.
Set Print Permissions – Limit high-cost printers to specific tasks that require higher-quality output.
Optimize Printer Fleet – Ensure your office has the right balance of high- and low-volume printers for different needs.
4. Security Risks and Unauthorized Printing
Unattended print jobs can lead to wasted paper, security risks, and even compliance violations—especially in industries like healthcare, where patient data must remain confidential. If an employee forgets to pick up a printed document, it may need to be reprinted, leading to waste.
Here’s how you can fix this:
Secure Print Release – Require employees to authenticate at the printer before jobs are released.
User-Based Access Control – Restrict access to specific printers or features based on department or role.
Digital Document Management – Reduce the need for printing sensitive documents by using secure digital storage.
5. Lack of Sustainability Initiatives
Many organizations print more than they need simply because they don’t have a sustainability plan. Unchecked printing habits increase costs and harm the environment. Educational institutions, legal offices, and corporate businesses can make a big impact by adopting greener practices.
How to fix it:
Set Print Quotas – Limit the number of prints employees or departments can make per week or month.
Encourage Digital Collaboration – Use cloud-based tools to reduce the need for printed copies.
Monitor Environmental Impact – Managed print solutions like PaperCut provide reports on paper savings and carbon footprint reduction.
Take Control of Your Printing Costs
If your office printing costs more than it should, it’s time to take action. You can cut expenses, improve efficiency, and support sustainability efforts—all without disrupting workflow – by implementing smart print policies, reducing waste, and securing your print environment.
Reach out now to learn how they can transform your print management!
