Those institutions with the lowest ratio of operating expenses to assets are consistently the most profitable. Expense control is the first step to successful cost management.

Moebs Services has worked with institutions of all sizes in markets large and small. We have found that there are three keys to successful expense control:

• There is no expense too insignificant to monitor.
• You cannot control expenses with a poor chart of accounts.
• Expense control is for everybody—the more entrepreneurial your organization, the lower your expenses are.

But we've also found expense control to be fraught with myths:
Myth 1: Expense-to-income ratios are the best for expense control.
Myth 2: Institutions on the brink of disaster control expenses well.
Myth 3: High fees offset high expenses to increase net income.
Myth 4: Transaction accounts are “free” low-cost funds.
Myth 5: It’s more efficient to service business customers than individuals.

Moebs Services can help you take control of your expenses and guide your institution to a more profitable future. We provide solid strategies and real-world expense control actions through:

• Pricing Institute™ symposia
• In-house or web-based training
• Moebs Services custom consulting
• Our publication Expense Control: Book of Numbers

Following are some of the areas we cover:

• The current state of expense control
• Practical techniques for containing costs
• Dealing with the burden of compliance
• Price actions for expense control
• The 11 steps to implementing effective expense control
• Review of benchmarks for expense levels for institutions by industry, asset size and region