Financial Infrastructure Assessment for Marketing & Creative Agencies
A financial infrastructure assessment scores the systems an agency uses to see, control and predict money — client and service-line margin reporting, scope change controls, collections, pipeline and cash forecasting, and the review rhythm around them — rather than the numbers those systems produce. This free 15-question assessment returns a FICS score out of 100 across five layers, benchmarks you against marketing and creative agencies at your revenue stage, and names the gap costing you the most margin and cash. It takes about three minutes. You see your score before you enter an email, and there is no sales call required to get the report.
Fifteen questions on retainer mix, client margin, scope control, collections and pipeline. A FICS score out of 100, benchmarked against agencies at your revenue stage, and the one gap costing you the most. Three minutes, no sales call.
Frequently asked questions
What is a financial infrastructure assessment for an agency?
It scores the systems that produce your financial picture — client-level margin reporting, scope change controls, collections, pipeline and cash forecasting — rather than the P&L itself. An agency can be growing and still have weak infrastructure if margin is only visible in aggregate, because the accounts funding the business and the accounts consuming it net out to one acceptable-looking number.
Why is my agency busy but not profitable?
Usually because delivery hours have grown faster than fees. Scope creep that never gets re-papered, a blended cost rate set two years ago, and senior people delivering work quoted at mid-level rates all produce the same outcome: revenue holds, cost rises, and the team stays busy while margin disappears.
How much of an agency’s revenue should be recurring?
Agencies with 70% or more of revenue in monthly retainers have materially more predictable cash and can plan hiring against real capacity. Below 50%, the agency is effectively re-selling itself every quarter, and cash planning becomes a function of when projects happen to close.
What is a healthy DSO for an agency?
Under 30 days, supported by systematic AR controls rather than a partner chasing invoices personally. Agencies over 60 days are usually financing their clients’ working capital out of their own payroll account.
Does this assessment require sharing my financials?
No. It asks fifteen questions about how your systems work, not what your numbers are. Nothing is uploaded, the scoring happens in your browser, and you see your score before entering an email.
The assessment is a snapshot. FICS is the system.
This scores where your financial infrastructure stands today. The Financial Intelligence & Control System installs the missing layers — margin by client and service line, scope controls that hold, and a cash forecast tied to your pipeline — and leaves a rhythm your team runs without you.