When it comes to managing your content production, creative execution is only half the battle. There is an entire suite of back-end support services that need to be handled. And let’s face it, for most marketing leaders, that’s hardly the exciting part.

From processing invoices to getting the proper insurance to payroll and budgeting, you need a qualified team managing your production’s business affairs. Brands without in-house expertise in these areas can avoid substantial risk by outsourcing back-office production support.

What Are Back-Office Production Support Services?

Back-office production support includes the services required to ensure the financial aspects of your projects run smoothly:

• Cash flow management
• Agency/brand invoicing
• Insurance
• Detailed accounting
• Banking services
• Vendor relationships
• Electronic orders
• Payroll
• Budgeting
• Line production

Should You Outsource Back-Office Production Support?

In deciding whether your organization would benefit from outsourcing its back-end production support, ask yourself these five questions:

1. Do we currently have internal production support?
2. Do we have the budget to hire in-house production support staff?
3. Can we get approval for additional FTEs?
4. Does our production volume justify hiring additional FTEs?
5. Do we have someone in house with the time and experience to effectively manage all the financial aspects of our production like budget, cash flow, insurance, purchasing cards, line production and petty cash?

If you answered “no” to any of these questions, you may be a good candidate for outsourced production support services.

Key Benefits of Outsourcing Back-Office Production Support.

Managing a production’s finances is a job in itself, but titles like bookkeeper and accountant don’t come cheap. And if you’re going to hire someone full-time, it should only be because you have a steady stream of project-based work to support the expense.

Outsourcing back-office duties to an experienced firm can help you save on overhead, training, payroll and benefits. This frees up more resources so you and your team can:

1. Focus on core tasks
2. Reduce costs
3. Promote growth
4. Maintain operational control
5. Enjoy staffing flexibility

Outsourcing is not only a great way to cut costs, but it also enables companies to receive fast, responsive, targeted support to keep production on track.

An experienced production services entity can protect your company by ensuring it stays in compliance with applicable business and labor regulations. The best external partners are also highly productive and transparent when working remotely, so you can spend more time on strategic planning and creative development and less time worrying.

Selecting Production Support.

Consider your outsourced support staff as an extension of your business. CMS Productions, for example, is a leading production services company and entertainment-union signatory. We offer custom solutions that bring together numerous back-end production services. Contact us to learn how we might assist on your next project.