How to Budget for Your Return to Office

Is your business planning a return to office in the coming months? One of the first things to do is create a budget to capture the expenses you will incur for preparations to the office and for holding the reopening. Here are some of the main cost areas to include in your budget.

Furniture

If you need to make adjustments to staff work areas to adapt to social distancing or create better work barriers, include an expense item for furniture. This could include replacement or supplemental furniture items, separation panels, or other types of protection barriers. If you are reconfiguring some or all of your space to a hoteling environment, then you will likely have expenses related to adapting the workstations or offices to general use areas.

Technology & Equipment

Determine whether you will have expenses for upgrades or changes to your technology equipment and services. Consider your computer stations and printers to accommodate the returning staff or the purchase of phone headsets as an alternative to the desktop handsets. Consider costs related to any changes to the audio visual equipment in meeting rooms, such as adding remote operating controls.

PPE + Other Health and Safety Supplies

Make a list of the PPE (personal protective equipment) items and other health and safety supplies that you will need to have onsite at the office for staff and guests. A sampling of items includes hand sanitizer and automatic dispensers, face masks, disposable thermometers, cleaners and disinfectants, tissues and disposable work mats.

Automatic Controls & Other Office Updates

Assess the high-touch areas in your office, such as equipment, doors and cabinets, and determine where to incorporate no-touch levers. Consider automatic door openers, drawer pulls and an automatic controls for copiers and other equipment throughout the office. Capture any of these updates in your budget.

Signs

Onsite signage should inform or remind staff and visitors of your company’s onsite health and safety protocols. Signs might announce the room maximums, a mask-wearing requirement, or a mandate for frequent hand washing or sanitizing. Make your onsite protocols clear with signage in your office.

*Note that the Office Relocation Center offers a bundle of pre-made, downloadable COVID safety signs.

Office Clean-up and Document Digitization

Reduce touch-points in the office by scanning files and materials, which will also make them more accessible to onsite and remote workers. Create a budget line item for document downsizing or an office clean-up to reduce the amount of items at the office. Some expenses might include document shredding and digitization service, purge bins for surplus items, and e-waste to get rid of excess technology equipment.

Reopening Expenses

Budget for any costs you anticipate that will be related to welcoming your staff back to the office and educating them on the new onsite rules and protocols. Such expenses for the first day back at the office might include staff goodie bags, decorations to celebrate the occasion, a catered breakfast, individual safety packs with a small container of hand sanitizer, disposable masks and disinfectant packets.

Other Expenses

Depending on your situation, some other expenses to consider are: supplemental office cleaning and disinfection service, air quality improvements, moving service if reconfiguring staff seating, additional business administration expenses due to COVID for HR, insurances, or restarting your supply chain for office-based supplies and services.

Having a Return to Office Budget lets you strategically plan for the reopening so that there are no surprises and also functions as a guide for you throughout the project to contain costs.

**Make the budgeting process easier with our Return to Office Budget Template or grab the comprehensive Return to Office Toolkit HERE that contains all the planning tools, schedules, checklists and downloadable PDF’s to make your return to office a success. 

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