Generating revenue and boosting profitability is getting harder every year. It is helpful to have good supporting software to drive efficiency, manage workflow and ensure every dollar is captured appropriately and billed to clients.
So, what is the right system for a small, medium or large agency? There are a several agency specific systems that might suit your needs. Below we have outlined 5 practical steps to choose the right system based on your agency size, your budget and system requirements.
Step 1:
Define the scope of what the system needs to do such as contact management, estimating, purchase orders, billing, P&L reports, timesheets, resource scheduling, international currency, media bookings etc. Create the list and prioritise what is most important to you. Different systems have strengths in certain areas.
Step 2:
Define WHY you need an agency system in place. Is it more about cost control or scheduling time and resources? Remember that the system will only be as good as the users who operate it. You can create fantastic manual processes that are solid and revenue generating providing your team stick to them.
Step 3:
Set your budget and how you want to pay. There are options for upfront system purchase or monthly payments based on user levels. We prefer the monthly low fees for ongoing use and then you normally receive all upgrades free.
Step 4:
Hosted or Local. You have the option of buying a server to run your system or having it hosted via web access. We prefer web access with back-up offsite. It’s easier and faster to access anywhere you travel plus you don’t need to buy the hardware.
Step 5:
What size are you? Smaller agencies that are using MYOB can buy some very good traffic and workflow systems to hook into the back of MYOB. Although we do like the all-in-one financial system whereby the software completes the P&L and GL. Expanding agencies would do well in reviewing the systems that provide this.
There are a number of good agency systems in the market. The ones worth a look are AccountAbility, Traffic, Streamtime, Pegasus & Paprika. BCC has been around a long time but is costly and normally used for very large agencies.
For more information and help on systems, feel free to contact the team at Tick Boxer for more help and advice.
For more help and advise on available systems in the market feel free to contact the Tick Boxer team.