AE’s JOB TICKET ACCOUNTING CHECKLIST
When Opening Job
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Enter Due Date
Enter Name/Title
Select Job Type (when applicable)
Remove Creative Team Members That Won’t Be Involved
Add Brief Description
Add Client PO# (when applicable)
 Select Job Tasks
a) Select separate tasks for staff time tracking vs external costs
(any cost we’ll be receiving an invoice for or recon from Amex)
b) Select the account management task based on the job (i.e.
creative, interactive, strategic, PR or media)
c) Add the NBA task for estimating/pitching time when applicable.
This time affects the overall client profitability when comparing
job costs vs. revenues so it needs to be proportional to estimated
GP and amortized during the course of the job/project (i.e. don’t
spend 10 hours pitching a 3 hours job)
 Enter Estimated Amounts
a) Every task needs an estimated amount. Enter estimated staff
hours in the staff window and estimated external costs in
expenses with 15% m/u for media buys and 25% m/u for
everything else. Exception made for jobs with timeline tasks –
only roll up tasks require an estimate
b) Verify that estimate amounts appear in the AE snapshot, if not
you need to activate them by selecting final estimate in the
dropdown bar in the estimate window
c) All estimates need to reflect amounts that client approved or you
are confident the client is willing to pay for the work requested
d) All estimates above $1,000 require the interactive/creative
directors review and RD approval (see estimate checklist)
e) During this time job production status should be set to “awaiting
estimate approval”
 Create Purchase Orders And Insertion Orders
a) Ask accounting to add new vendors to the system and provide
info needed (see new vendors checklist)
b) Use a task that only relates to external costs (no time tracking)
and verify that same amount (gross) is also in the job task
estimate
c) Once created, verify client code shows on the PO
d) Ask accounting to create IO’s for media buys
e) Create a Google doc for media buys and give access to accounting
so IO #’s can be added for easy reference
f) Add 15% m/u for media and 25% for everything else
Additional Checklist For Client First Job
 Ask accounting to open new client ticket and provide info needed (see new client
check list)
 Provide copy of signed client agreement to accounting within 2 weeks of
estimate approval and no later than 30 days from beginning of work
 Provide accounting copy of Client PO (when applicable)
 Notify accounting of any down payment invoice needed
 Notify accounting of any recurring billings (same amounts) that need setting up
During Work In Progress
 Stop recording time against NBA as soon as work on estimated deliverables
starts. Notify client that work on deliverables cannot commence without
estimate sign-off
 Involve only team members who have the appropriate skillset for the job and
whose time is covered by the estimate
 Clearly state how much time to spend on each task in the task instructions in the
first line. Estimate was vetted by team leaders so time should enough for
scope/deliverables
 If performance issues arise, identify the problem, address it directly with the
person concerned and resolve it promptly. Document issues details and efforts
to resolve and if the same issue persists and you have to address it more than 3
times with the same person, assign tasks to back up staffer and refer issue to HR
right away
 If deliverables are discovered to be more time consuming than estimated, stop
work and notify/renegotiate with client
 Monitor budget and update the production status each time you touch the job
 Have client approve change order for requests beyond scope
 If web hosting is required, add change order so cost of first charge is reflected in
the job estimate and notify accounting to set up future recurring billing
At End Of Month Billing
 Approve billing of unbilled staff time and external costs (see billing worksheets)
by updating the job financial status
 If a job is completed, select the appropriate financial status and production
status
 If an external cost hasn’t hit the job yet (see job costs report) evaluate whether
to bill PO’s or IO’s (PO’s should show on your billing worksheet)
 Don’t wait until external costs hit the job to bill them. We likely already paid
those vendors with Amex which accounting recons/pays in full on the 30th of the
month or we’ll be receiving a net-30 invoice from the vendor and have to wait
another 30 days for next billing cycle
At Completion Of Job
 Select a production status for closing
 Select the correct financial status so job is ready for next billing cycle
 If you have to write off costs, keep a record of reasons why and why you weren’t
able to resolve it so it can be address at post mortem
11/10/15