Advertising agencies handle a variety of projects, each with unique needs for tracking and oversight.  Here, we’ll break down key areas of agency management and share three effective ways to analyze project results.

If you manage an advertising agency, you know how overwhelming it can be to stay on top of the countless tasks and projects that arise daily. Each project often requires distinct controls and may even have different managers overseeing them.

Key Areas of Work You Manage Daily

You’re well aware of the types of projects you encounter at your agency. Here are some of the main areas, along with their unique challenges and requirements:

-Internal production

Oversee team time management, client approvals, and ensure deadlines are met.

-Purchase/sale of external services

Many projects involve third-party services, requiring control over purchase orders, proper execution (third-party monitoring), and purchase invoicing, as well as media billing to clients, often mirroring the purchases.

– Digital Media:

Manage budget verification against actual expenditures, while accounting for exchange rate differences.

Why is it important to manage your work as projects?

Each client request can be unique, with various requirements. We recommend grouping each client request into a “project,” enabling you to analyze overall results effectively and allowing your billing department to consolidate multiple services into a single project.
Think of a project as a client’s campaign that includes all the elements they request, such as:

• Internal Production
• External Production
• Media Buying/Selling

How can you accurately assess each Project’s Outcome?

Here are three methods to evaluate project results, along with reasons why each might be useful:

1. Accounting-based Analysis

This is the most accurate and efficient method. By aligning transactions with your accounting system, you get an exact, undisputable picture of each project’s results.

The process is straightforward—each operation is automatically recorded in the system, providing a real-time view of each project’s balance sheet with all necessary details from the chart of accounts.

To achieve this, ensure the following:

• Transactions are linked to the correct accounts.
• Transactions are recorded immediately.
• Manual entries are minimized or eliminated.
• Exchange rate differences are calculated automatically for each transaction.

Advantages of using accounting:

• Saves time
• Provides a single, accurate view of project outcomes
• Profitability insights are available in real-time
• Accessible to anyone with permissions
• Data can be displayed on dashboards and indicators for instant insights

Disadvantages

None!

2. External systems

Another way to track project results is through auxiliary systems or reports, separate from the accounting system. However, this approach has its limitations.

Advantages:

None

Disadvantages:

• High labor cost
• Data entry duplication
• Less accuracy, as not all data is captured
• Omits exchange rate differences
• Fails to account for additional project expenses across various areas
• Prone to errors

3. Excel spreadsheets

Using Excel spreadsheets to track project outcomes can have similar downsides to external systems. The results are often:
• Not analyzed by project
• Inaccurate, costly, and not available in real-time
• Dependent on the person creating the spreadsheet

Now you know different ways to assess your project outcomes, along with the pros and cons of each approach. Did you find this content helpful? See you in the next post!