The Ultimate Agency Financial Tech Stack

Hey there, Welcome back to Agency Finance Letters!

Today's edition is a 6-minute guide to building a financial tech stack that will save you time and give you better control over your agency's finances.

I'm sharing an example of a tech stack we recommend to our clients that could save you a lot of time on financial admin each month.

The Problem: Last month, I worked with an agency owner who was spending every Sunday afternoon reconciling expenses, chasing invoices, and trying to figure out their cash position. Sound familiar?

Here's the comprehensive breakdown of tools we recommend to automate financial operations:

1. Core Financial Systems: Your Foundation

• Accounting Software: We recommend either QuickBooks or Xero. Both are super user-friendly and offer full integrations to make your tech stack more fluid and automated.

• Banking and Corporate Cards: Two routes here:

  • Fintech options like Brex or Ramp for expense management and automated categorization.

  • Traditional credit cards like Amex to maximize returns on spend - they offer excellent perks for businesses.

2. Revenue & Billing: The Money Makers

• Proposal Software: PandaDoc - all-in-one solutions for proposals, contracts, AND billing.

• Invoicing Options: Direct invoicing through QuickBooks/Xero

• Payment Processors:

  • Stripe: Higher fees but super smooth and accepts credit cards, encouraging timely payments

  • GoCardless: Much cheaper option (0.5% for ACH, capped at $5) - debit cards/ACH only but offers the same automatic billing convenience

3.  Payroll: Remove the Headaches

• Payroll Systems: Deel or Gusto depending on your business size - both remove the headache from paying your team.

4. Reporting & Analytics: Your Control Center

• Google Sheets - Build your financial model and cash flow forecast to budget for upcoming expenses

• KPI Tracking - Essential for tracking goals and keeping on top of profitability

5. Integration Layer: Making It All Work Together

• Zapier/Make to automate all the above steps. 

• API connections between your chosen tools. 

Key Considerations when choosing tools that are right for you:

• Integration capabilities between systems

• Pricing based on your agency size

• Ease of use for your team

• Scalability as you grow

• Support quality

Remember: You don't need to implement everything at once. Start with your biggest pain points and build from there.

Hopefully some of these can help you save some time and removes the papercuts from your weekends.

Until next week,
Joey

P.S. Want to know which specific tools would work best for your agency? Reply to this email with your current setup and team size, and I'll share some personalized recommendations.