Employee benefits represent a major cash cost for most businesses and are rapidly becoming unaffordable for many small businesses. Barter represents an opportunity to cut costs and perhaps even generate cash income for savvy business owners.

It doesn’t matter whether the company has many employees or just a few. There are dental plans, vision plans, chiropractic physicians, health spas, day care, and numerous other employee benefits, such as health club memberships and vacations, that are available in a barter exchange and can be paid for with Trade Dollars.

Providing employees with better benefits purchased using trade dollars can help small businesses attract and keep skilled employees. Another approach is to make benefits available to employees at a reduced cost. For example, an employer might pay for day care at a local center on trade, then offer the service to employees at half price as a payroll deduction.

The employee receives a significant saving on a valuable fringe benefit. The employer reduces its payroll cost, and the expense provides a tax deduction.

Another benefit that can be provided to employees would be a dentist or optometrist. In these cases employers can send an employee to a barter exchange member dentist, then submit the bill to the insurance company for reimbursement in cash, thus converting barter to cash.