FP&A and financial analysis for marketing agencies
Know which clients, projects, and people actually make you money — and where next quarter is heading — before the month closes, not after.
Schedule a ConversationManage the agency by numbers, not instinct
Most agency owners can feel when something is off — a client that eats more hours than it bills, a quarter that is quietly softening. FP&A turns that instinct into evidence you can act on. We build the budget, the rolling forecast, and the project-level profitability and WIP reporting that show you where margin is made and lost, so you can price, staff, and plan with confidence.
This is the practice of seeing around corners. A good forecast tells you a cash crunch is coming eight weeks out, while you still have options. Good project profitability analysis tells you which service lines to grow and which to fix. We make those signals routine, not heroic.
Agency-native metrics, in plain language
We open in the language agency owners actually use — budget vs. actual, project margin, utilization, staffing runway — not finance jargon. Behind that plain language sits real rigor: WIP and revenue recognition handled correctly, forecasts tied to your pipeline, and variance analysis that explains why a number moved, not just that it did.
All of it depends on the close being right first. Forecasting from an unreconciled balance sheet produces confident nonsense, so most FP&A engagements sit on top of a fractional controller who owns the monthly close and the chart of accounts.
What’s included
- Annual budgeting and rolling forecasts
- Project and client profitability analysis
- WIP and revenue-recognition reporting
- Utilization and capacity planning
- Budget vs. actual with variance commentary
- Scenario modeling for hiring, pricing, and growth
Who we provide this to
We work exclusively with the industries we come from:
Common questions
How do I improve project profitability at a marketing agency?
Start by measuring it consistently at the project level — hours and pass-through costs against fees — then look for the patterns: scope creep, under-priced retainers, roles working below their rate. FP&A makes those patterns visible every month so you can fix pricing and staffing before the margin is gone.
What is agency budget vs. actual reporting?
It compares what you planned to earn and spend against what actually happened, with commentary on the gaps. Done monthly, it turns your budget from a document you set in January into a live management tool.
What is WIP and why does it matter for an agency?
WIP — work in progress — is revenue you’ve earned by doing the work but haven’t billed yet. Track it poorly and you either understate profit and cash or, worse, let earned fees quietly slip away. Getting WIP and revenue recognition right is what makes an agency P&L actually reflect the business.
What agency financial metrics should I be watching?
The few that predict health: gross margin by client and project, utilization against capacity, effective billing rates, pipeline-backed forecast, and a rolling cash view. We put these in front of you monthly in plain language, so patterns show up while you can still act on them.
Do I need FP&A if I already have a bookkeeper or controller?
Bookkeeping and controllership tell you what already happened, accurately. FP&A is the forward-looking layer — budgets, forecasts, and profitability analysis that tell you what to do next. They’re complementary, and because the same firm can staff all three, the numbers flow cleanly from record to decision.
Let's talk about your FP&A / Financial Analysis.
Tell us where things stand today, and we'll show you what senior, agency-specific support looks like — without the full-time cost.
Schedule a Conversation