Growth is the ambition of every marketing agency. More clients, chunkier retainers, and a glowing reputation all shout success.
But as your client list expands and your headcount grows, the demands on finance become more complex. What once worked, things like a few spreadsheets and some quick end-of-year reconciliations, can become a bottleneck (or worse) pretty quickly.
The truth is, many agencies grow out of their finance function long before they realise it. With no scalable systems, agency owners find themselves pulled into financial firefighting more often than not. What you should be doing is focusing on creative leadership and business development, right?
So how should agencies really approach this? At Evalua8, we’ve helped many agencies, from creative agencies like Darwin to Hubspot integration experts BBD Boom, build those sorely needed finance structures that keep pace with expansion.
In that time we’ve learned a lot, so here are some tips to build a scalable finance function that works today and adapts for tomorrow.
Spoiler alert! Hiring an accountant that actually understands your business will be in this list!
Recognising the Warning Signs
The first step in building a scalable finance function is recognising when the current approach is no longer fit for purpose. Agencies often carry on with the same processes long after they’ve stopped working for them, unaware of the emerging problems.
The warning signs are easy to spot once you know what to look for though.
Recognise any of these? Bookkeeping is behind schedule, leaving leaders unsure of their actual cash position. Invoices are raised late or missed altogether. Credit control becomes a fight. VAT returns or compliance filings are stressful last-minute scrambles.
Maybe most dangerously, there is no visibility of client profitability or forward-looking cash flow. This is a big one!
If any of these sound familiar, your agency is already being held back by its finance function. Growth will only increase the pain.
Building Rock-Solid Foundations
Sounds basic, but it’s true…a scalable finance function is built on a strong foundation. Without it everything else becomes guesswork. For agencies in particular, this starts with getting the simple things right.
Day-to-day bookkeeping must be reliable, with reconciliations carried out regularly rather than at year-end.
Expense tracking should be straightforward and transparent, making it clear which costs belong to which projects or departments.
Payroll should run smoothly, with tax and pension obligations handled automatically.
These things might not sound glamorous, but they are super important for financial clarity. They also free up leadership time. Instead of chasing missing receipts or manually inputting data, agency directors can focus on strategy, happy to know that the numbers are accurate and (hopefully) healthy.
As one of the co-founders of Darwin told me: “Our agency enjoyed early success, revenue doubling year on year. But we’d grown so quickly we’d neglected to properly set up a finance function. Instead of going to someone who knew the space our business operated in, we trusted a cheap, high street accountancy firm…let’s just say it didn’t work out. Then we found EVALUA8. Since then, we have all the answers when we need them, and we have no doubts that Neethu and her team are keeping a close eye on things.”
Moving Beyond Bookkeeping
Many agencies stop at the basics, but a finance function that can scale has to move a little bit further. This is where management accounting comes into play. Unlike bookkeeping, which records the past, management accounting gives you insight into the present and direction for the future. This is the real difference maker.
For an agency, that means reporting not just on revenue and costs, but on meaningful metrics such as utilisation, project margins, and revenue per employee. These things can help answer crucial questions around rates, hiring, services, resourcing and more.
- Are we charging enough?
- Which services are most profitable?
- Are resources being allocated efficiently?
- Can we afford a new hire?
Agencies that move towards management accounting are more likely to spot underperforming service lines before they become a drag on profit. Or identify the most valuable clients and double down on those relationships. Basically, they move from reactive financial management to proactive decision-making.
Forecasting and Foresight
Growth is great! But it can bring uncertainty. New hires, bigger contracts, or international expansion can create both opportunity and risk. So without foresight, agencies can find themselves overstretched and underprepared.
This is where cash flow forecasting becomes essential. A finance function worth its salt does not wait until cash is running low to make a change. It models future scenarios and plans accordingly. Forecasting shows what happens if a client pays late, if a new account wins, or if the agency decides to hire five more staff. It helps leaders plan for tax liabilities, reserve funds for quieter months, and build confidence with investors or lenders.
Working with Darwin, we established a cash flow forecast that gives the founders a view of the future, which is absolutely priceless when making plans. This is where forecasting shifts from being a rear-view activity to a forward-looking practice. It gives visibility for growth without those pie-in-the-sky projections that are never correct.
Compliance Without the Stress…No, Really!
As agencies grow, so too do their regulatory responsibilities. It’s not fun, but VAT returns, payroll and corporation tax all demand attention. You already know this, but handling these things reactively creates risk. Things do go wrong.
A proper agency accountant will embed compliance into your day-to-day. Deadlines anticipated. Payroll planned for. A clear audit trail for each and every transaction.
The result? Reduced risk of penalties and peace of mind for you, so you can focus on growth knowing compliance is not going to suddenly cause any issues.
This was the case with BBD Boom, who partnered with us to manage quarterly VAT returns, year-end filing, and HMRC reporting. We helped to get rid of that uncertainty, freeing their leadership team to focus on their business. Read the case study here.
Building in Flexibility and Scalability
Another huge mistake agencies make is assuming the finance function they have today will serve them tomorrow. In reality, the requirements of a ten-person agency are very different from those of a fifty-person agency with global clients.
Scalability means flexibility. Finance processes must be able to handle increased transaction volumes, multiple revenue streams, and cross-border operations without breaking down. Cloud systems, outsourced partners, and standardised reporting all make it possible to scale without constantly reinventing the wheel.
A scalable finance function also grows with the agency’s ambitions. If the agency plans to seek investment, expand internationally, or diversify services, the finance team should be prepared to provide the clarity and reporting that stakeholders expect.
Gaining a Strategic Partner
Here’s what it all boils down to. Your agency accountant should be a strategic partner for your leadership team. Instead of simply reporting numbers and box ticking, they should provide insight, foresight, and advice.
This might mean advising on pricing strategies, evaluating the financial impact of a new hire, or signaling when something significant looms on the horizon, aligning your agency’s financial direction with its creative and commercial goals.
At Evalua8, this is the role we play for our agency clients. Day-to-day accounting and strategic advisory. Not just numbers but clarity, too. It empowers agency leaders to innovate, win clients, and scale safely.
“Evalua8 helps us navigate the ups and downs of running our business, and they’re always on hand to provide guidance when we need it, as well as the day-to-day accounting work. What we value most, however, is the peace of mind we get from knowing that we’re in safe hands.” – Matthew Hughes, Founder of Darwin
I’ll Leave You With This…
Agencies don’t scale by accident. You will only grow through deliberate choices, consistent delivery, and a financial function that keeps pace every step of the way.
Without that much-needed support, growth can quickly become unstable, backfiring when you least expect it to. With Evalua8, agencies gain the clarity and confidence to weather challenges and seize new opportunities.
We specialise in helping agencies build finance functions that match their ambitions. Not just a high street accountant, one that really gets the needs of your business and the ebb and flow of your niche. That’s why we work as an extension of your team, giving you the clarity to focus on your business, knowing that your numbers are being taken care of.
Book a clarity call with us today. Together, we’ll explore how we can help your agency build a growth-ready finance function.
