5 Reasons to Track Your Creative Agency’s Time

Time tracking, time management, time sheet software? What does this have to do with your advertising agency? You and your team have spent so much time in the last couple of weeks working on the big project and you don’t even know whether the project will be profitable in the end?

If this describes some of your daily challenges, you are not alone!

It doesn’t matter if you are a creative director, a project or traffic manager or a studio technician, everyone in an advertising agency should use some kind of timesheet software. In doing so, your agency, web design or creative firm will be able to compare estimated vs. actual hours and eventually maximize profits.

Surprisingly enough, we still find ad agencies managing their projects manually, which contributes to lack of control and project visibility

As soon as you say the words “time tracking” you may get different reactions from your team. The key for success is to clearly communicate your message and stress the importance of what you are trying to achieve. You definitely, don’t want to come across as a micro-manager who is only interested in time-sheets.

That’s why it’s so crucial to ensure your team really understands the reason behind your initiative to track time against projects.

5 reasons to Start Tracking Your Agency’s Time:

1. Increase project profitability
2. Avoid project overruns and keep projects on time
3. Have a clear understanding of your team’s availability for the next few weeks in case a new job comes on board. Resource management is crucial in answering a simple question ” Who is available next week to create the artwork for our new client?”
4. Enhance team productivity – keeps everyone on the same page
5. Job costing will give you a competitive edge when positioning your agency in the market. You will know exactly where is your pricing point.

I am sure you are familiar with these challenges and are asking yourself how to maximize profits without losing focus on your deliverables. Next time make sure you have the proper tool in place to avoid job overruns and project delays.

Function Point is an all-in-one cloud-based timesheet, project management, invoicing and collaboration software. It is an easy-to-use workflow and productivity tool for, but not limited to, creative firms such as marketing, advertising, design and web development companies. It aims to simplify the entire creative process and streamline project-driven operations to be more efficient and cost-effective. To learn more, book a personalized demo with one of our software experts!