All businesses are not created equal, just as all accounting solutions are not one size fits all. Here are 5 reasons as to why you should hire an accountant that specializes in the creative industries.
Creative industries are as unique as the people who run them. It should come as no surprise that an accounting solution that might work for a manufacturing company, would not fare as well for a design firm or any other project based, creative business. These businesses and their financial needs are fundamentally different.
An accountant experienced in creative industries understands these nuances and can use their industry knowledge to optimize a firm’s performance. This can mean the difference between a business just doing well enough to stay afloat vs. truly thriving.
Creative firms also pride themselves on their culture. An accountant that has spent their career in the trenches of a busy marketing firm understands the importance and embraces that culture. They fit right in with your dynamic team- no stuffy blue suits here!
While there are lots of accounting solutions out there, there are few that specialize in creative industries.
So why choose a creative industry accountant?
What are the benefits of specialization?
- Industry Knowledge
- Proven Technologies for Your Workflows
- Shared Language
- Relevant Management Reporting
- Experts in Project Accounting
1. Industry Knowledge
Accountants experienced in creative industries understand the business of creativity. They know what good looks like and are able to benchmark your performance against the best performing firms. They will work with you to improve your performance ensuring that your firm keeps and even outpaces industry standards.
They will also be able to provide your leadership team benchmarks around market billable rates, staff costs, overhead rates, and more micro details like insurance costs, rent costs as a per-cent of revenue, and even competitiveness of your employee reward program.
2. Proven Technologies for Your Workflows
Creative industry accountants have spent years in the trenches working in firms just like yours. They are familiar with your systems and likely your software too. If it’s not the exact same, there is a good chance that the foundation will be comparable. This familiarity extends to your Project Management systems, estimating and billing systems, expense reporting systems, and payment processing systems.
These systems leverage cloud-based technology so that you have real time access to your information, wherever you are.
3. Shared Language
Communication is key to a successful relationship between finance and leadership. The value of being able to quickly and concisely share information using industry terms cannot be underestimated. When you say this is a freelance copywriter no need to explain anymore. A creative industry accountant gets it.
An accountant experienced in creative industries also understand the different roles within creative firms. They know the difference between an Art Director vs. a Copy Writer, an Architect vs. and Intern Architect vs. a Project Manager.
This shared language also extends to common industry finance and billing practices.
For example:
- When you give direction to bill 50%, they know what you mean.
- When you recognize your revenue based on the per-cent complete, they know what you mean.
- When you talk about your fee billing vs. your total billing, they know what you mean.
The ease in which you will be able to communicate with an accountant with knowledge of your creative industry will reduce confusion and improve efficiency.
4. Relevant Management Reporting
Creative business are unique. Their service offerings are diverse and typically project based. Having a creative industry accountant that understands the nature of the business as well as the key performance indicators that are important to you is hugely valuable.
A creative industry accountant will be able to provide insights on project performance, client performance and other key metrics like revenue per employee, staff cost ratios, overhead ratios, capacity tracked and reported so you always know where you stand.
An accountant experienced in creative industries will not only understand the metrics important to you but, will also tell you what metrics you should be monitoring and why.
5. Experts in Project Accounting
Creative industry accountants live and breathe project accounting. It is what they know and what they do best. With a creative industry accountant, you’ll have complete transparency on how your projects are performing.
It will no longer be a mystery as to whether all those out of pocket expenses were recovered. Or, if they weren’t recovered, a creative industry accountant will have the tools to improve your estimates in the future.
Looking for an Accountant Experienced in Creative Industries?
At Finally we specialize in accounting for creative industries. We help high potential entrepreneurs in creative industries be successful without the stress and yawns of traditional financial management. We are the strategic voice for growth and the daily doer of the stuff you don’t want to do. Soup to nuts – we got you covered. All backed by many years experience working for firms just like yours.