Why is revenue forecasting so difficult in agencies and project-based businesses?

In this episode of The Fractional CFO Show, Adam Cooper speaks with Julia Longo, Group Finance Director at SAENTYS, about the operational and financial realities of forecasting revenue in a fast-moving creative consultancy environment.

SAENTYS operates across the UK, France and Switzerland, supporting clients in the real estate, hospitality and destination sectors. Julia oversees finance across multiple entities and shares a practical, experience-led view of how forecasting, reporting and operational planning work inside an international agency business.

The discussion explores the difference between billing forecasting and revenue forecasting, and why many businesses have strong visibility over invoicing and pipeline activity but still struggle to understand future profitability and utilisation properly.

Adam and Julia discuss the challenges of managing constantly shifting project scopes, changing client deadlines, freelancer requirements and resource allocation, all while trying to maintain accurate financial reporting and forward-looking visibility.

The episode also covers the importance of management accounts, KPI reporting, operational finance processes and cross-functional collaboration between finance, client services, operations and creative teams.

Other topics covered include:

• Revenue forecasting vs billing forecasting
• Financial planning in project-based businesses
• Profitability management for agencies
• Cash flow forecasting and pipeline visibility
• Resource planning and utilisation management
• PSA systems and operational reporting
• Finance leadership in creative businesses
• International reporting and multi-entity finance operations
• Forecasting challenges in professional services firms
• Improving financial visibility through better systems and processes
• Time tracking, project profitability and operational accountability
• Management reporting for growing agencies
• Finance transformation and process improvement
• Forecasting uncertainty and decision-making with incomplete data
• The role of finance in supporting operational performance

Julia also shares insights from her non-traditional route into finance leadership, moving from a background in chemistry and operations into senior finance roles within the agency world. The conversation highlights why strong finance leaders in creative and professional services businesses need commercial awareness, operational understanding and the ability to work closely with non-finance teams.

This is a practical conversation for agency founders, finance directors, COOs, management accountants, project-based businesses and professional services firms looking to improve forecasting accuracy, profitability, financial visibility and operational decision-making.

Guest:
Julia Longo - Group Finance Director at SAENTYS

Hosted by:
Adam Cooper - ACC Finance Solutions

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all major podcast platforms.

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