Creative Production Company Makers Chooses Float to Scale Spend Management

In the world of creative production where innovation and creativity drive success, Toronto-based Makers faced distinctive challenges as they grew. With roots in advertising the company soon expanded its reach to entertainment, producing documentaries, feature films, and TV series while cultivating a global producer network. 

As the company evolved from a small team of freelance producers to a production powerhouse, its project-based work created an ever-growing transaction volume that soon became a bottleneck for managing finances efficiently. Alex Dvorkin, Makers’ Head of Finance joined at a pivotal moment in the company’s expansion and championed Float’s corporate cards and spend management software as a tech-forward solution to streamline operations. 

Navigating Growing Pains

“Our growth led to a need for better controls and data practices. You’d have to collect receipts and do everything manually. That was a big strain on the company as it was going through a growth phase and the transaction volume was becoming unsustainable.”

When Makers was a smaller team, sharing a few corporate cards from the bank sufficed. However, as they expanded, the few company cards weren’t working for the team. With the company’s growing number of producers often out on set and on the go, they needed access to their own corporate cards to make purchases for their projects – everything from set props to vehicle rentals and any necessary travel for the project. As the volume of transactions across the company also grew exponentially, manual processes for receipt collection, financial controls, and accounting also became hurdles for the Finance Team. “Our growth led to a need for better controls and data practices,” reflects Alex. “You’d have to collect receipts and do everything manually. That was a big strain on the company as it was going through a growth phase and the transaction volume was becoming unsustainable.” 

Float to the Rescue: Finance’s First Choice

“Having all of the controls within Float definitely helps in terms of just feeling comfortable with the number of cards in circulation.”

Already aware of Float’s smart automations, controls and corporate cards, Alex selected Float to boost the team’s efficiency and data hygiene. With Float he first sought out the ability to issue the company’s team of producers their own corporate cards. With so many employees across departments having access to company funds, Alex also wanted to ensure the right limits and financial controls were in place to mitigate any risk to the company. “Having all of the controls within Float definitely helps in terms of just feeling comfortable with the number of cards in circulation,” Alex says.

Float additionally helps Makers get real-time insight into company spend. As the Finance Team grew and their close process became more formalized and fluid, they wanted a solution that synced seamlessly with their accounting software. The company’s transactions would now largely be coded automatically and be export-ready throughout the month. Makers’ internal project management system which connected to QuickBooks could now have the real-time financial data needed for reporting and quick decision-making on day-to-day operations. No more manual work and delays getting monthly records of transactions from the bank into their accounting tool. “With the bank, it would be harder to manage all of it and know who’s spending what while making sure the company is adequately protected and able to operate,” notes Alex. 

Controlling Spend while Empowering Spenders

With multiple projects of varying lengths happening simultaneously at the company, Alex needs to ensure that producers have access to the funds they need to spend on their projects. With Float, Alex can issue physical and virtual corporate cards to employees and in some cases, contractors, with either a recurring limit or a set temporary limit that can expire at the end of a project period. 

Suppose employees need additional funds beyond their anticipated budgets or need new funds for an upcoming project. In that case, they can quickly submit a request for a temporary limit increase in the app for the Finance Team to approve. “This is really valuable because I want them to normally be at one spend limit. Instead of having to go and change it back, the limit increase will expire. I don’t have to keep track of it.” Alex gets notified about spend requests promptly with Float’s Slack integration and can issue approvals with a simple click, to keep employees unblocked and spending.

Streamlining Accounting for a Faster Close

“It has cut the time it used to take me to process expenses by half. As a result, we’re able to close our books quicker and stay on top of coding throughout the month.”

Float’s Accounting Automations also helped the team save time by coding their high volume of transactions efficiently and accurately. The team set up custom Submission Policies for expenses unique to different projects and teams. These policies designate which supporting details employees are required to submit after a purchase is made (like receipts or accounting codes). When employees are required to add accounting details to their transactions, they’ll only see potential GL codes that are relevant to their policy, team and spend type, to make coding simple and reduce potential errors. “It’s made it easier to make sure things get coded right. It’s very obvious for them. They don’t have a huge list of GL codes they need to figure out,” Alex says. With employees empowered to code their own transactions, the Finance team saved hours each month by no longer having to search for missing information for hundreds of expenses.

When it’s time to close the books, Makers’ Accounting Associate Alyssa Ryan can filter the company’s transactions by close period and quickly identify any transactions that might be flagged by Float as non-compliant against the company’s unique Submission Policies. With the bulk of transactions already coded by Float’s automations or by the company’s employees, the closing process is streamlined for the Finance Team, with little manual work on their part. “It’s made coding transactions significantly faster and easier. I no longer have to spend hours creating journal entries or tracking down receipts and manually matching them,” says Alyssa. “It has cut the time it used to take me to process expenses by half. As a result, we’re able to close our books quicker and stay on top of coding throughout the month.” Once she confirms the expenses are accurate and ready for export, Alyssa can sync transactions in bulk to QuickBooks with a click. 

Creativity Meets Financial Efficiency

In embracing Float’s innovative solutions, Makers not only overcame the challenges posed by their rapid growth but also elevated their financial management practices. The seamless integration of corporate cards, real-time insights, and automated accounting processes allowed Makers to focus on what they do best—creating exceptional content. By creating financial controls tailored for the different groups within the company, Makers struck a balance between oversight and flexibility. As they continue to navigate the ever-evolving Production industry, Float remains a steadfast partner, empowering Makers to thrive at the intersection of creativity and financial efficiency.

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About Makers

Makers is cultivating a new breed of Producer, equipped to solve global problems through collaboration and creativity. Starting from advertising, expanding globally, and into various disciplines, we’re developing a tech platform and a school to foster this mission. You can find Makers at makers.to.

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