Business Central for media and entertainment companies
Business Central for media and entertainment works best when each production is its own business with its own budget. We set it up for studios, production companies, labels and event firms. So producers see spend against budget as it happens. Then finance can combine a group of production companies without a month-end scramble.
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Business Central for media and entertainment: each production a project
In Business Central each film, series, album or event can be a project. It gets its own tasks, budget lines and costs. Crew, gear hire, locations and post-production spend go to the project as they happen. So the producer and finance see the same numbers.
Dimensions then add the views a show needs. Examples are episode, department or funding source. You do not need a new chart of accounts for every show.
Set up your productions →
- ✓Project with tasks by phase
- ✓Budget lines by department
- ✓Purchase orders coded to the project
- ✓Dimensions for episode or funding
- ✓Budget against actual at any time
Many production companies, one group picture
Media groups often form a separate company for each production or territory. They do it to ring-fence risk and funding. Business Central runs each one as its own company. It also posts charges between them. That way shared services and loans show on both sides at once.
Consolidation then brings the companies together for group reports. It also handles foreign currency entities on co-productions. As a result, nobody has to stitch a spreadsheet together each month.
Plan your company structure →- ✓Company per production or territory
- ✓Intercompany postings
- ✓Foreign currency entities
- ✓Group consolidation
- ✓Eliminations in the system
Royalties and participation statements for media and entertainment
Standard Business Central does not work out royalties or talent shares. How we fill that gap depends on your contracts. We either set up a royalty app from Microsoft's marketplace or build an extension. The extension reads sales and usage data. It then applies contract rates and produces statements.
Either way, the payable lands in the ledger with the contract behind it. So when an artist asks how a figure was reached, the system has the answer. No one needs to dig through a sheet that only one person understands.
Talk through your contracts →
- ✓Contracts and rate rules
- ✓Sales and usage data in
- ✓Statements per rights holder
- ✓Payables posted to the ledger
- ✓A trail behind every figure
How does Business Central for media handle revenue timing?
Licensing deals, sponsorships and subscriptions are often paid up front and earned over time. Deferral templates in Business Central spread that revenue across the right periods. It happens on its own when the invoice posts.
Production costs follow the policy your auditors agree with. We set up the accounts and reports so capitalized costs and write-downs stay visible. They no longer hide in manual journals.
Fix your revenue timing →- ✓Deferral templates on invoices
- ✓Prepaid and accrued accounts
- ✓Capitalized cost accounts
- ✓Period-end checklist
Post-production spend kept inside the budget
Editing, sound, color and visual effects are where budgets often slip. Purchase approval workflows send vendor quotes to the producer first. Nothing is committed until they say yes. Committed spend then shows against the project budget before the invoice arrives.
Gear your company owns, from cameras to edit suites, sits in fixed assets with depreciation. So the cost of kit used on each production can be charged to it fairly.
Control production spend →
- ✓Approval workflows on purchases
- ✓Committed cost on the budget
- ✓Vendor invoices matched to orders
- ✓Owned equipment as fixed assets
Questions from media companies
Is Business Central used in media and entertainment?
Yes. Production companies, studios, agencies and event firms use it for project accounting. They also use it to run many companies and to consolidate them. Royalty calculation is the one gap. A royalty app or a custom extension usually fills it. We plan that part first, because contracts drive the design. As your Business Central consultant for media work, we then build the rest around it, from the chart of accounts to the approval flow.
Can Business Central show budget against actual per production?
Yes. Each production can be a project with budget lines. Every purchase and time entry you code to it shows against that budget as it posts. So a producer can check spend at any point, not only at month end. Dimensions split the same numbers by episode, department or funding source. That helps when a backer asks for a breakdown.
Does Business Central for media and entertainment work out royalties?
Not as standard. We add a royalty app or build an extension that applies your contract rules and produces statements. First we go through your contracts and rate rules with you. Then we load the sales and usage data. The payables post to the ledger. So each statement ties back to the books and to the contract behind it.
Can Business Central for media and entertainment add a company per show?
Yes. Business Central lets you add companies inside one environment. You can post intercompany transactions between them and consolidate for group reporting. We also set up a template, so each new production company starts the same way. That saves setup work and keeps the charts of accounts alike across the group.
Can we work in several currencies?
Yes. Business Central supports foreign currencies on documents and bank accounts. Consolidation then translates foreign subsidiaries into your reporting currency. This matters on co-productions across borders, where costs and income land in different currencies. Business Central for media and entertainment teams gets exchange rates and consolidation rules set up with us during a screen share.
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A focused call with a senior consultant. We learn how your business runs today, give you an honest view on whether Business Central fits, and outline scope and next steps before you commit to anything.
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