Why Producers Deserve On-Demand Payroll Reports

In any industry, on-demand access to company data can help owners make smarter business decisions. But historically in the world of production, this hasn’t been available.

Production companies and accountants often wait on their payroll providers to send over fringe reports and other valuable insights. It’s a strange phenomenon because budgets are only getting tighter, requiring more oversight. And without real-time visibility into payroll costs as they’re happening, creative companies are at risk for unexpected overages that can kill projects.

So whether you’re a producer, production accountant, or UPM, you deserve direct access to your costs. I mean, after all, they’re your costs. 

With in-depth analysis at your fingertips, what could change for your company? 

Let’s find out. 

1. Keep stakeholders informed how & when you want to 

Whether it’s a client, agency, financier, or an executive producer, internal and external stakeholders are going to want insight into the financial health of your production. 

How are you checking its pulse?

When you have on-demand access to payroll data, you have that insight available in real-time at any time. 

If a stakeholder is waiting on certain numbers, you won’t stress about the paymaster’s timeline, or their inability to respond to a simple email. 

You’re no longer bound by their 9-5 schedule. 

And that’s a big deal.

Instead, you and your team can respond to stakeholders’ questions immediately, sharing payroll performance numbers exactly when they’re needed. 

But beyond when, control how your data is shared

Clients and internal stakeholders often have distinct requirements for production reporting. They don’t want to see every scrap of raw information, and you probably don’t want to show it to them.

So when you have more control over your data… well…

You have more control over your data. 

Access opens up the possibility for customization. If it’s yours, you can showcase it how you wish.

Take us as an example— if you use Wrapbook, you can quickly view reports on screen or export them to share, choosing to show or hide individual costs making sure you’re sending only the information each audience needs. 

The software combines accessibility and flexibility to craft a data experience that’s equally as suited to a feature film accountant who wants to eyeball their fringes, as it is to commercial clients who need an official report for their records. 

Work on your own schedule and toward your own priorities, establishing independence from the whims of your payroll provider.

2. Work smarter & wrap faster when you cut out the paymaster

Payroll companies provide a valuable service, but you shouldn’t be paying for it in time, effort, or stress. 

By removing the time-drain of a go-between person, you get a direct line to the info you need, when you need it, enabling your team to move faster.

But keep in mind, this is only true if the data is easy to access. 

As an example, if you’re a commercial controller on a super-tight timeline, it’s great you’re no longer wasting time waiting for a report. But how simple is it for you to view what you need without the help of a payroll company?

With dynamic on-screen reporting, accountants and production teams who use Wrapbook can easily (and quickly) check if they’re on track. 

They can also drill down to richer data on each worker or expense with a click, whether for a quick reminder or a deeper understanding of how the final number got generated.

In this way, Wrapbook eliminates reliance on paymasters, allowing teams to work at their own pace, while supercharging that pace.

3. With self-serve payroll reports, get the data you need 

Beyond the obvious challenges of waiting on third parties, a reliance on paymasters makes it difficult to get what your productions require. Reporting options from paymasters are limited. Data exports are generally not customizable, and errors take a critical time to correct. 

By contrast, on-demand access to payroll data puts control directly in the hands of you and your production team. Reports are customizable, and mistakes can be addressed at will.

To illustrate, Wrapbook users have a comprehensive range of report options to help them get the data they need when they need it. 

These include:

Invoice Fee Summary

The invoice fee summary provides an overall view of your total cost for a specific payroll, including the breakdown costs for fringes and fees.

Payment Register Report

The payment register report offers a list of checks and direct deposits made to workers in a particular payroll, with corresponding data on wages, deductions made, and net pay. 

Employer Cost Report or Fringe Report

Also known as the Fringe Recap Report, the employer cost report (fringe report) is a breakdown of costs to the employer on a per-worker basis, including wages, taxes, and any fringes. 

Payroll Register Report

The payroll register report is a detailed view of all payment information for each worker, including wages, plus any deductions made from the worker’s paycheck. The payroll register report gives readers an overall picture of hours-to-net.

Cost Code Report

The cost code report grants readers a view of employer costs per worker, grouped by code or line number.

Demographic Hiring Report

The demographic hiring report automatically aggregates demographic information, omitting any personnel opt-outs. The demographic hiring report provides powerful information for you and any of your clients who require it. The report has been approved by the AICP and is available through Wrapbook with a click.

*Note, for those already enjoying Wrapbook… 

From any Wrapbook project, select Run Payroll and then select the payroll batch in question. Reports are located on the bottom left next to the payroll summary. 

But more than the reports themselves is what you can do with them

Do more with your data.

Drill down into each report for a better view of expenses

Data on-the-page is inherently static, and incredibly old school. As mentioned earlier, dynamic data functions so that you can click down into a deeper understanding of your own information. 

You can do this within each report to explore underlying source data and better understand your payroll expenses.

Store your payroll data for anytime access

Have a question about a payroll project from last year? Not a problem.

Benefit from the platform’s automatic archive and run reports on historical data whenever you need.  

Empower your production with in-depth payroll analysis right at your fingertips so you can stay informed and on budget.  

Wrapping up

Whether you work on commercials or feature films, as an accountant or as a line producer, you need to be able to see both what you’re spending on labor and how that spending tracks against your budget. Otherwise, you’re at elevated risk for unexpected overages that can wreak havoc on production’s financial success.

Don’t chance it. 

To ask questions and get answers more tailored to your company, give us a shout. 

If you’re already loving Wrapbook and have specific questions, contact your dedicated Success Manager, or reach out here.