Workshop & Roundtables

Management Roundtable: Financial Firepower

Financial Firepower Management Roundtable For Small Marketing Communication Firms That Want To Be More Profitable.

Scottsdale, AZ - October 14-15, 2010

There is no question about it. AMR's proven financial strategies for small and medium-sized agencies have turned around un-profitable companies and taken profitable firms and turned them into profitable juggernauts. The program is designed for owners, general managers and financial managers. Financial Firepower is a lot more than accounting and bookkeeping.

The financial strategies and systems in an agency are the difference between being a financial success and a devastating financial failure. This Financial Firepower Management Roundtable teaches you the simple way to track and adjust the agency’s financial performance.

Why bury yourself in useless reports? We will teach you the key benchmarks for measuring successful performance. We will help you develop the performance reports you need and how to understand them.

Let's face it. The financial strategies for agencies have changed in the last several years. It is no longer just about margins, markups, maximizing time billings and, capturing lost hours. A set of good financial strategies, backed up with some fundamental, but simple, accounting has changed the way we charge for our services and keep track of our costs.

You will leave with a complete manual and Excel spreadsheets to produce a weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual “dashboard” that presents your agency’s performance in a simple and visual format.

I hope you will take the time to read and evaluate the opportunity for your agency to become more profitable and gain the specific knowledge of AMR’s financial performance benchmarks for marketing communication firms. After a dozen years, advertising agencies, graphic design and public relations firms have discovered that AMR keeps it simple and helps owners build the business they want. Whether you have 5 employees or 50, AMR clients excel at creating exceptional profits.

Two-day Agenda Topics:

• The data you need to build meaningful reports you can understand without becoming an accountant. Build your agency's financial management system to meet your needs and guarantee profit.
• The Basics:The right chart of accounts; designing a simplified P&L statement and balance sheet for best results; the AMR financial snapshot. Getting this right is critical to good financial management. Take a look at your P&L. If it presents accounts in alphabetical order, you have a problem. If you measure expenses as a percent of revenue, you have a problem.
• Pricing models: Billable Rates, Effective Rates, AGI$ per Full-time equivalents, mark-ups vs. write-ups and write-downs. Learn why Authorizations are replacing Estimates and what this means to profitability.
• Software: QuickBooks, Clients & Profits, Advantage, Creative Manager Pro and other software. Key source documents you need to track time, costs and agency commitments
• Billing techniques: Fees, project billing, advance billing, media management and escrow accounts
• How to rid yourself of the bad clients. Why you can probably cut 20% of your client list and increase your agency's profitability investing in the future.
• Benefits: What are other firms providing employees for healthcare, profit sharing and 401k, disability packages, paid time off vs. vacation and sick days?
• Company Valuation, Mergers and Acquisitions: If you have ever wondered about how much your company is worth in a merger or acquisition, you will get the spreadsheets to compute the value under different circumstances. There are just too many myths about what a company is worth. You will get the straight answers and probably have to reset your goals.

FRIDAY MORNING SPECIAL SESSION: Business Valuation, Merger or Sale.

Who should attend?

Principals, senior managers, financial managers

Tuition: $995 first attendee; $695 for each additional attendee. Tuition price per person includes all meeting materials and breaks. Travel, accommodations and meals are not included.

Accommodations: Scottsdale Marriott Suites - Olde Towne. $139 per room/night 

For more information, call AMR at 623-266-8981

To register, download the registration form using the link on the right. You may mail or fax your registration for maximum security. Payment by VISA, MasterCard or AMEX or company check.