Creative agency project budget and capacity management system
The head of the agency sees the agreed scope of the project, working time and external costs. Additional formats and corrections can be discussed with the client even before the budget is exceeded.
Customer tasks, additional formats, correction wheels, third-party costs, team time and accounts are not tied in one place. unpaid work accumulates, and profitability problems only become apparent at the end of the project.
How the solution works
- Capture the agreed outcome, remuneration model, and included work
- Assessing the capacity of creation, production and review
- Getting the fact of work and the cost of external suppliers
- Discuss the additional scope and forecast of the remaining work
- Agree the agency's score and other price or process solution
Key challenges
- Project scope and profitability become clear too late
Solution capabilities
Limits of the contract
Formats, languages, scope of corrections and terms of material to be provided by the customer are linked to a specific agreement. Not every correction is paid additional work.
Team plan
The creative, production and review time are judged on real competence and other projects. Automatic adaptations do not cancel quality verification.
Sources of cost
Cost of labor, freelancers, manufacturing and licenses are assigned to the job. Purchase order is separated from actual cost.
Agency fee
The client's media budget, agency fee, and other contractual income retain their meaning under accounting policies. The total budget passed through the account is not called earned profit.
Volume Preview
A new format or additional task shows the effect of the rest of the work and term. The primary budget remains for comparison, even if the client agrees on a new scope.
Business context
- Project scope and profitability become clear too late
- Customer tasks, additional formats, correction wheels, third-party costs, team time and accounts are not tied in one place. unpaid work accumulates, and profitability problems only become apparent at the end of the project.
- The agency can justify the value of additional work
- A new format, channel or additional stage of repair may exceed the original agreement. The apparent scope and cost of the project allows for discussion before work is done. The client understands the price basis, and the agency can plan the service to be executed and maintain the project margin.
Core features
- Limits of the contract
- Team plan
- Sources of cost
- Agency fee
- Volume Preview
Key integrations
- Creative and Campaign Workflow
- Real scope of the task, work done and additional need.
- Contracts and Accounting
- The agency's terms of remuneration, the meaning of media traffic, and actual external costs.
Potential impact (%)
The ranges indicate an illustrative relative change in the metric under the stated assumptions. Results depend on the starting position and actual use of the solution. Percentages for different metrics must not be added together.
Agency labour cost forecast error
3–16%Decreasing
This illustrative scenario assumes that 15-40% of forecast error is attributable to the data and model used. That share is assumed to fall by 20-40%. Company data is needed to verify both the addressable share and the resulting change.
To measure the absolute difference between the agency's pre-determined and actual labour costs in euro for a comparable volume.
Delayed Supplemental Decision
5–25%Decreasing
This illustrative scenario assumes that 20-50% of missed actions can be identified through task and deadline tracking. That share is assumed to fall by 25-50%. Company data is needed to verify both the addressable share and the resulting change.
Counting works for which a necessary volume-price agreement was not started until they were completed.
Conditional calculation scenarios. The assumptions have not been validated against client measurements.
When this solution is relevant
- Formats, versions and corrections are increasing during the project, but the budget is being updated late.
- Several projects require the same professionals, and their employment and remaining working hours are planned separately.
Implementation requirements
For the project economy, there is a consensus as to what is included in a fixed price, periodic fee or media administration remuneration. The attribution of costs and approval of additional tasks must explain the actual outcome according to the service model.
Further development options
- Broader client portfolio planning with comparable cost of work and clear limits on different remuneration models.