Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to the questions business owners ask most before starting an audit.

1. Why do I need a cost reduction audit? +

We will start by saying there is a 10% chance you do not. We find savings at 90% of the clients we work with. So, there is a 90% chance that we will either find you meaningful savings, or you will receive a free review by experts.

If you are in the 10% where we do not find savings, we simply say thank you for the opportunity and you can rest well knowing that experts, who solely make their living doing this, could not find anything.

Conversely, we will deliver found money to your bottom line. We believe both of those are great outcomes for our clients.

Especially considering the return on investment is infinite (no upfront costs) and the ROI on time is incredible as well (approximately 3 hours of total client time needed per engagement).

2. How much does a cost reduction audit cost? +

We only bill a client if we save them money. If we are unsuccessful in saving money, there is no fee. If we do find savings, we simply share them 50/50 for a finite period of time (from 12-60 months, depending on the level of service our clients desire).

So, our clients receive 50% of our work product right from the start, with no upfront investment. And then, after a finite period of time, they benefit from 100% of our work for the lifetime of their business. We think that’s a pretty good deal.

The worst-case scenario is that we do not find any savings and you’ve had an expert review by analysts whose sole responsibility is to identify savings. While we certainly prefer to find savings and make money with our clients, we don’t feel that is a terrible outcome either.

3. Are there any upfront costs associated with a cost reduction audit? +

There are no upfront costs whatsoever. You will only pay us if we find savings for you, if you agree to them, and if they positively impact your bottom line.

We understand that this may lead some potential clients to believe that our service is “too good to be true.” But the fact of the matter is, we find savings 90% of the time. When bring forward good savings opportunities and improve our clients’ bottom line, we make money with them. Our motives are 100% aligned with our clients.

4. How do you determine potential cost-saving opportunities during the audit? +

Potential cost-saving opportunities are identified by comparing your historical costs with what we achieve for you.

While the data, expertise, and P3 man-hours needed to bring these savings forward is immense, the math needed to understand the savings is not.

Pricing improvements, fee reductions, tax removals, error corrections, refunds, etc., are all straightforward to calculate and are black and white. We invite you to explore our services pages, whitepapers, and case studies to see the myriad of examples of errors and overcharges that can occur, which we fix for our clients.

For the skeptics, there are a couple of important things to keep in mind:

1. Our clients must ultimately approve our recommendations. Our recommendations are approved well over 95% of the time. We are not going to invest all our time and energy in conducting an audit only to come back with recommendations that do not make sense for our clients. That would be a waste of everyone’s time, and certainly our time, since we do not bill any upfront costs. Our recommendations require almost zero work from our clients, are financial in nature, and are almost always approved as a result.

2. We spend countless hours auditing your invoices to identify cost-saving opportunities. We certainly would not do that and then turn around and expect our clients to pay our invoice if they do not understand it. Our invoices include a detailed analysis that clearly indicates where the savings are, down to the line item level. Furthermore, you can see on the invoices themselves where the cost savings are evident.

5. Will you switch my vendors? +

Generally speaking, we prefer to keep our clients with the same vendors for the sake of operational simplicity. Making a change can be a headache. But it’s something we are certainly willing to do, and we do it as needed, to ensure that our clients receive the highest level of service at the most competitive price.

So, the short answer is ‘no’. The longer answer is “we can, if you would like us to.” The longest answer is that there is a lot of nuance in cost reduction consulting. In some categories, it’s easier to terminate vendor agreements than in others.

Furthermore, geographic location can play a huge part in the market. Almost all of the cost reduction categories we work in have local market nuances due to regulations, varying levels of competition, and a variety of other factors.

To put a very rough number on it approximately 90% of the time it will make the most financial and operational sense to stay with your current vendors. But we won’t know for sure until we understand your unique needs and situation. And ultimately the decision is yours.

Do you have more questions?

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6. What makes you all the experts on this? +

Nothing but a lot of focused time, energy, and data. Our analysts have worked for your vendors in many cases (and in some cases even managed them).

We know all the ins and outs of the industry and have tens of thousands of data points to compare. So, we know exactly what the vendors do, the errors that can occur, and how to achieve the best possible outcomes for our clients.

It is no different from the expertise you have. You are experts in your business. We wouldn’t pretend to know how to run a manufacturing facility, school, hospital, restaurant, or any other type of business you are in.

But when it comes to understanding your vendors and every intricate detail of these expense categories, we are certainly experts at that.

7. Yes, but I already have a team of people who handle this. +

If you or your team does all four of the following, we would agree that it may not be worth the minimal time investment to allow us to review. But even then, we always ask, “Why not?”‘.

We are confident enough in our abilities that we would be happy to invest dozens to hundreds of hours to double-check.

Is the person managing the XYZ expense category solely responsible for managing that expense, or do they have other duties as well?
Are they incentivized to save every dollar based on a performance basis in that specific expense category?
Do they have over 10 years (minimum) of sole focus on this particular expense category, doing nothing else each day?
Do they have access to thousands of other comparable data points across industries, organizations, and peers outlining comparable costs (at a line-item level) of this specific expense category?

8. My team doesn't have time for another project. How long does this take? +

We hear this one often. In fact, it’s one of our top 5 biggest misconceptions. The fact of the matter is that this will take about 3 total man-hours of your team’s time. We estimate the following:

Step 1. 15-30 minutes – Pre-sales call with executives (typically CEO, CFO, President, or Owner)
Step 2 (provided the client engages with P3) 60-120 minutes – The client provides P3 with either copies of necessary invoices/contracts or access to online logins. P3 then pulls the data for the client.
Step 3. 15-30 minutes – Findings review calls. P3 reviews findings line by line with the client. Upon client approval of the findings, P3 proceeds with the implementation. Implementation is done 100% by P3’s team of analysts.

9. How do you ensure that cost reduction measures do not compromise the quality of products or services? +

Your vendors will still be making a profit. They have to be; otherwise, they would turn off your phone lines, utilities, or any other service they are providing.

Our goal is just to ensure that you receive the service you need at the best possible cost. The only way to effectively do this is to have these expenses audited.

Unfortunately (or fortunately for our business), the fact of the matter is vendors make mistakes. They make mistakes, and they are going to try to maximize profit at every opportunity.

It’s our job to use our expertise and data to keep that “in check”.

But the vendors will continue to service your account happily (and if there are any operational concerns you’d been experiencing, we can certainly help address those as well). Our goal is to ensure that our clients are not the vendor’s highest margin customers and that they are billed accurately or are refunded for any errors.

The vendors have plenty of customers out there happily overpaying, just not the ones that work with us.

10. How do you handle sensitive financial information during the audit process? +

We utilize the Microsoft ecosystem for our data storage and sharing. This was created by one of the biggest organizations in the world and trusted by millions of others.

Furthermore, the documents shared are typically not highly sensitive in nature. We do not handle bank account information or sensitive patient data (assuming a healthcare client). We are simply reviewing invoices and contracts for overhead expenses.

That being said, we treat all our client data with the utmost care.

11. What industries benefit most from cost reduction audits? +

While we work with businesses across all industries, we see especially strong results in manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, retail, and multi-location businesses. That being said, any business that spends above our category minimums is client we can work with and help. You can see those minimums here.

12. What types of expenses can you audit? +

Utility bills, telecom, waste & recycling, merchant processing, shipping, property tax, uniforms & linens, managed print, etc.

13. How does P3 Cost Analysts get paid? +

We only get paid if we find you savings, if you approve those savings, and after we get those savings implemented and delivered to your bottom line. There are no upfront fees, and we only share in the savings. We have several different engagement options, depending on the level of service the clients desire.

14. What if you don’t find any savings? +

It’s simple, there is no fee. We are confident enough in what we do, and the value we provide that we work solely on contingency.

15. How is P3 Cost Analysts different from other cost reduction consultants? +

Having been in business since 1991, and working with tens of thousands of client locations, we like to think we’re pretty good at this niche. Our analysts have worked for, and in some cases ran, the vendors you use. We have the data and knowledge to deliver you savings, and the track record and testimonials to prove it. And, at the end of the day, if we can’t help you, there is no fee and you can rest easy knowing your expenses in these categories are accurate and cost efficient.

16. Can small businesses benefit, or is this only for large companies? +

We work with any business that spends above our category minimums. It doesn’t matter if you are a Fortune 500 company or a small business, we still find savings 90% of the time.

17. How much money can I expect to save with a cost reduction audit? +

We find savings at 90% of the clients we work with. The total depend completely on the size of the organization, spend levels, and categories we audit. But have ranged from tens of thousands, up to millions in savings.

18. Do you only work in the U.S.? +

We work with any client locations in the U.S. and Canada.

19. Is the audit process confidential? +

Your data and results are kept completely confidential. Of course we like it when clients share their results in testimonials or reference letters, but that is of course optional.

20. Can I see examples of savings you’ve found for other businesses? +

You can find several case studies here and view first hand feedback from our ever growing list of satisfied clients.

Ready to Uncover Hidden Savings?

Our team of experts has saved clients millions by identifying cost reduction opportunities across multiple expense categories. The best part is that if we don’t save you money, you don’t pay.