A Financial Media Audit is an exhaustive scrutiny of all financial transactions connected to your media activities. This includes but is not limited to invoices, contracts, purchase orders, and any other financial documents that pertain to media buying and planning.
It aims to ensure complete financial transparency, identify any discrepancies or irregularities, and confirm that you are getting the value you've been promised. By diving deep into the financial aspects of your media investments, this audit can uncover hidden costs, over-billings, providing you with a clear financial picture of your media activities.
Challenges Addressed:
- Inconsistent or inaccurate invoicing: A significant challenge faced by advertisers involves dealing with irregularities in media agency invoices. By meticulously auditing these financial documents, advertisers can safeguard against overcharges and financial discrepancies, maintaining financial integrity.
- Inadequate Media Agency Financial Reporting: Advertisers frequently confront issues stemming from deficient financial reporting by media agencies. This often includes vague or incomplete breakdowns of expenditures, leading to a lack of transparency. By rigorously examining these financial reports, advertisers can ensure accurate allocation and utilisation of budgets, thereby upholding financial prudence and transparency.
- Unverified or Invalidated Media Charges: A prevalent issue for advertisers is contending with unsubstantiated or erroneous charges from media agencies. Through rigorous examination of these charges, advertisers can protect against unwarranted costs and preserve the accuracy of their financial dealings, ensuring financial responsibility.
What This Audit Covers:
- 12 Months Audit of All Media Agency Invoices (Calendar or Fiscal Year)
- Agency Invoices vs. Post-Campaign Reports Analysis
- Agency Invoices vs. Purchase Orders Analysis
- Agency Invoices Quality Assessment
- Working Media and Non-Working Media Invoices
- Additional Comments
- Our Recommendations for Improvement
The Process & Timeline:
- ONBOARDING (Week 1): Discuss the project and explain the scope of work to both the local client and the local media agency.
- DATA COLLECTION (Week 2-4): Collect all required existing media documents and detailed media data for all media investments, for both digital and traditional media channels, using our secured cloud content management platform.
- MEDIA AGENCY INVOICES ANALYSIS (Week 5-8): Analyse the media agency invoices against actual delivery, post-campaign reports, purchase orders, and best practices.
- INTERVIEWS (Week 9-10): Conduct set of 'context seeking' interviews with the key stakeholders (agency and advertiser separately) and process additional information received following the run of interviews.
- REPORTING (Week 11-12): Prepare audit report, collect feedback and comments from both the local advertiser and the local media agency + delivery of the final report + presentation of the final report.
Benefits:
- Identification and Rectification of Billings Errors (Credit Notes): A Financial Media Audit plays a pivotal role in pinpointing and correcting billing inaccuracies, often resulting in the issuance of credit notes. This process ensures financial accuracy, safeguarding advertisers against erroneous agency charges.
- Improved Financial Reporting and Documentation: This audit significantly enhances the quality of financial reporting and documentation from media agencies. It provides detailed insights and clarity on financial media transactions, enabling advertisers to maintain meticulous and accurate financial records.
- Increased Accountability from Media Agencies: By rigorously evaluating agency invoices and reconciliation reports, this audit fosters greater accountability among media agencies. This scrutiny leads to higher standards of service and a more judicious use of advertising budgets, ultimately driving better value for the advertiser.
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