In the previous 2 blogs, we have discussed the issues the TV and Film Production industry have faced historically around preparing, maintaining and reconciling Cost Manager schedules.
In this blog we look at the solution we provide to this industry to specifically tackle this issue.
Within the 4PointZero App Network, we have a wide range of systems available to suit businesses of all shapes and sizes. This includes extremely flexible reporting tools that can prepare reports and tables in any desired structure/format and includes the industry Production Cost Manager format as below:
It is also important to note that the system above also allows for the exchange of commentary and the ability to manually enter future cost data when Production Managers are detailing and maintaining Estimates to complete.
The difference with our solution in comparison to others is that the Costs to date or actuals in this instance are pulling in directly from an accounting solution, and we have a lot of flexibility as to which accounting solution this could be. We are already integrated into Xero, Quickbooks, Exact and Twinfield. This means companies can still benefit from the latest cloud functionality such as Invoice scanning and bank feeds that these solutions provide and potentially not have to move accounting software whilst also solving the Cost Manager issue.
As Xero and Quickbooks are hugely popular in the UK this enables us to offer a price competitive solution to small & mid-sized production companies that specifically targets the issue of providing a single online location on which finance and production managers can focus and interact. Within this, there is full read-only drill-down functionality into the costs that make up the balances in Cost to Date columns so that everything needed is in one location. The focus then is to ensure the data is correct from both sides as all data will be presented in real-time, based on the actual costs in the accounting system and supplemented by the data added by the Production Managers.
As an analytics package, the solution can then summarise this detailed information into various production and company performance dashboards, providing the business with a clear real-time perspective of a business’ current position. The data can be captured and presented according to any categorisation; this could be production type, manager or funder depending on preference. Any stakeholder logging into the system can then be provided with the specific view and reports which are key to their role in the organisation.
We believe this solution is the perfect way to ensure this process is as efficient and collaborative as possible, whilst offering a flexible approach to using modern cloud-based technology and collaborative tools.
If you would like to know more about our solution please do not hesitate to contact us.
