Office manager : Manage your stock and office supplies without Excel

Posted on January 20 2023

Reading time: 5 minutes

The office manager is a fast-growing profession that is mainly found in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This versatile person is responsible for ensuring the smooth running of the company by performing a wide variety of tasks: accounting, human resources, administration, management of office supplies, etc.

Manager office supplies desk computer

Role and responsibilities of the office manager

The functions of the office manager may differ depending on the size and sector of the company. However, his main missions are more or less the same: 

Office and material management 

  • Mail and messaging management
  • Budget management 
  • Supply management (office supplies e.g. stationery)
  • Office maintenance management (cleanliness, efficiency, etc.)
  • Management and maintenance of office equipment (printers, photocopiers, computers, etc.)

Human resources

  • Manage and organize work in the office
  • Plan and monitor work flow
  • Implements procedures in the company
  • Ensures the well-being of the staff 
equipment management schedule

Free 15 day trial

Hector at the service of your company

Think of Hector to manage your equipment

Hector is an inventory management software that is easy to use with a barcode/QR code scanner or through its mobile application. Improve your inventory management!

Try it now

Tools that facilitate the work of the office manager 

The office manager must perform a wide variety of tasks and deal with daily emergencies. He/she must work quickly and efficiently to ensure the smooth running of the company. The office manager is often overworked, which is why he or she must be equipped with tools.

Excel as a management tool 

The use of Excel spreadsheets seems to be a logical choice to deal with supply management since it is an accessible, easy-to-use and inexpensive tool. It allows you to create tables, produce calendars, dashboards, schedules, etc. 

However, with the complexity and diversity of the tasks to be performed, Excel files are no longer sufficient. Manual data entry is time consuming and can lead to errors. This is why it can be relevant to use innovative and more efficient solutions.

Improve inventory and supply tracking

Management software to manage office supplies

Using professional tools can save you a lot of time. They can help you track and centralize your work. The two tasks that are most likely to lead to errors if managed in an Excel spreadsheet are equipment maintenance and tracking and room management and booking.

Maintenance and monitoring of equipment 

As an office manager, you have to make sure that the staff never runs out of anything; paper, pencil, stapler, everything has to be there. So you need to keep an eye on the materials to place orders and receive them on time. 

With inventory management software like Hector, you can spend less time checking your inventory because our system sends you notifications when inventory is low. In addition, our tool specifies the quantities to order based on your parameters.

Finally, you can be notified when equipment such as printers and copiers need maintenance or when ink needs to be changed.

Room reservations and office organization

You also have to deal with meeting room reservations, and with Flex Office becoming more prevalent in companies, your task becomes more cumbersome. You need to ensure that employees who travel to the office will have a reserved workspace.

Using a software that allows employees to reserve a workspace easily will save you a lot of time. You won’t have to manage the reservations yourself and avoid mistakes. 

How Hector can help you

Hector can be your right-hand man. Let us take care of your office equipment for you. You will be able to keep an eye on the situation at all times and you can use the remaining time to manage urgent requests. 

Try Hector now!