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Overview
Cost reporting in the entertainment industry is a crucial accounting tool to track and manage the financial performance of productions. Accurate cost reporting ensures that budgets are adhered to and provides transparency on where money is being spent. It allows producers, production managers, line producers and executives to identify overspending, potential savings, and areas requiring financial control. Additionally, it supports compliance with regulatory standards and contractual obligations, especially when external funding or partnerships are involved, safeguarding the long-term financial health of the production.
First, the Chart of Accounts: Before the journal can be utilized, the first step is to upload a chart of accounts, which allows you to allocate expenses to specific budget line items. Use this guide to learn how to do that.
Accessing Cost Reports
Cost Reporting can be accessed by clicking the Accounting icon in the left navigation of any production, then choosing Cost Reporting in the menu.
A live Cost Report will load, organized in the following manner:
Account: The account code imported from the chart of accounts.
Account Description: The description associated with each account code.
Actuals: All current expenditures recorded under the account code.
Total Costs: The cumulative costs incurred to date for that account code.
ETC (Estimated to Complete): The only editable field within sub-accounts, representing the projected remaining costs for this account.
EFC (Estimated Final Costs): The SUM of Total Costs plus ETC.
Budget: The allocated amount for the account, uploaded from the chart of accounts.
Variance: The difference between the EFC and the Budget. Variances under budget are shown in parentheses, e.g., (9,999.99).
Please note: Actuals by Period, Commits, and Variance Notes columns will be available shortly.
Editing Cost Reports
Currently, the only editable field in a cost report is the ETC (Estimated to Complete) column. To update an ETC amount, click on any account to expand and display its sub-accounts. From there, you can modify the ETC value, which represents the projected remaining costs for that account.
Once updated, the Variance column will recalculate automatically, along with the overall production variance displayed at the bottom of the screen.
Downloading Cost Reports
To download a customized CSV or PDF of the cost report, click the download icon in the top-right corner of your screen to open the Download Settings panel. From there, choose your download options:
File Format:
CSV: Exports all cost report data into an editable spreadsheet.
PDF: Generates a formatted document identical to the current cost report layout.
Export Data: Select whether to include only accounts or both accounts and sub-accounts.
Date Range: Choose the posted costs based on the desired date range.
Finally, click the Download button at the bottom of the panel to begin your download.
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