Business Central for advertising: run projects, finances and resources in one place

Streamline campaigns, billing and reporting with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central for advertising agencies, media owners and in-house teams.

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Why advertising teams need Business Central

Advertising is growing, but so are the demands on your people. Business Central helps agencies and in-house teams connect finance, projects and resources so you can protect margins while delivering great work.

Advertising spend in the UK continues to rise, which means more briefs, more channels to manage and more pressure on teams to deliver work on time and within budget. At the same time, many agencies still rely on separate tools for projects, finance, time tracking and purchasing. This creates gaps, slows teams down and makes it harder to understand whether work is truly profitable.

Business Central brings everything together in one place. It gives you clear visibility across campaigns, resources and finances, so your team can focus on delivery rather than piecing information together. It also supports key advertising workflows, from managing retainers to tracking job costs and controlling spend.

Whether you run a creative agency, media team or an in‑house studio, Business Central helps you stay organised, improve accuracy and make better decisions with real data. It keeps everyone aligned and gives you confidence in your numbers, which is essential as demand and expectations continue to grow.

The benefits of ERP that help advertising teams work smarter

Discover the practical benefits of Dynamics 365 Business Central that go beyond core finance, helping advertising organisations save time, reduce leakage and protect margins.

End-to-end visibility across campaigns and clients

Business Central gives you a single, accurate view of each client and campaign, from the first estimate through to final invoice. Account directors and project managers can see budgets, purchase orders, job progress and billed amounts in one place. This visibility makes it easier to spot overspend early, have better fee conversations with clients and avoid surprises at month-end.

Project and retainer profitability in real time

Instead of waiting for spreadsheets at the end of the month, finance teams can see live profitability by client, campaign, brand or retainer. Time entries, purchase invoices and expenses flow into the same project records. This helps finance leads and agency owners understand which services, clients or channels are most profitable and where margins are being eroded, so they can act quickly.

Simplified billing and revenue recognition

Business Central can support common advertising billing models, including retainers, fixed-fee projects and time-and-materials work. Finance teams can set up schedules that handle staged billing, pre-billing of media, pass-through costs and change requests. Revenue can be recognised in line with delivery, which means cleaner accounts and fewer manual adjustments at month-end.

Integrated resource planning for creative and delivery teams

Operations and traffic managers can plan resources using the same underlying data that finance relies on. As campaigns are confirmed, the work and budget feed into resource plans. This makes it easier to balance workloads across creative, strategy, media and account management, reduce bottlenecks and cut down on last-minute firefighting.

Stronger control over costs and cash flow

With purchasing, approvals and supplier invoices all handled in Business Central, you get tighter control over costs. Media spends, production costs and freelancer fees are linked back to specific jobs and clients. This helps finance leaders manage cash flow, avoid unapproved spend and make sure that every cost is either billed on or accounted for in your margins.

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Discover how Microsoft Dynamic 365 Business Central works

Why your business needs an ERP

82%

of businesses are utilising an ERP

1 in 5

businesses are dissatisfied with their current ERP

96%

of businesses say using an ERP has contributed to achieving business outcomes

Data taken from a survey we commissioned in December 2024

How Business Central empowers advertising agencies and in-house teams

Business Central is built to bring your core functions together. It connects finance, account management, project delivery and operations so teams can work from a shared set of data, within a single system that is familiar and easy to use.

The platform can be tailored to reflect your own processes, rate cards, approval flows and reporting needs. Whether you are managing hundreds of small projects or a smaller number of large, multi-channel campaigns, Business Central helps advertising organisations keep control without adding complexity.

The capabilities of Business Central extend across key parts of advertising work:

Client and campaign management

Use Business Central to manage clients, brands and campaigns in one structured view. Account teams can see scopes of work, budgets, key dates and associated documents alongside the financials. This makes it easier to track what has been agreed, what has been delivered and what still needs to be billed, supporting better client conversations.

Job costing and margin control

For each job or campaign, Business Central brings together estimates, purchase orders, time entries and invoices. Project managers and finance leads can compare estimated versus actual costs and revenue throughout the life of the project. This makes it easier to keep margins on track and learn from past work when pricing future campaigns.

Traffic and resource planning

Operations and traffic teams can use Business Central data to plan workloads more accurately. As work is approved, the projects and budgets feed through into resource plans, helping you understand upcoming demand for designers, copywriters, strategists and media planners. This supports more realistic timelines and reduces the need for emergency freelance spend.

Purchasing and supplier management

Business Central helps you manage relationships with media owners, production partners, printers, freelancers and other suppliers. You can raise purchase orders, match them to invoices and link everything back to specific campaigns. This reduces manual checking, cuts the risk of duplicated payments and ensures supplier costs are captured against the right client work.

Why advertising leaders choose Business Central

Consolidate systems and close with confidence

If you are a finance director or controller, Business Central helps you move away from disconnected spreadsheets and separate accounting software. You get a single ledger that is linked to your project and resource data. This reduces manual reconciliations, improves accuracy and makes month-end and year-end close more straightforward.

See capacity before it becomes a problem

If you run operations or traffic, Business Central gives you a clearer picture of current and upcoming workloads. You can see live demand by team, role or individual and match it against capacity. This makes it easier to level workloads, plan hiring or freelance support and protect your teams from sustained overload.

Keep retainers and scopes on track

If you lead client services, Business Central helps you stay on top of retainers, scopes and change requests. You can see how much time and cost has been used against each agreement and whether you are tracking ahead or behind. This visibility supports proactive conversations with clients and reduces write-offs at the end of the year.

One version of the truth

If you are responsible for the overall business, Business Central provides a single set of numbers for you and your leadership team. You can quickly see which services, sectors or clients are driving profit, where margins are under pressure and how cash flow is trending. This supports clearer decisions about investment, hiring and your long-term plan.

Manage internal projects and cross-charging

If you run an in-house marketing or creative team, Business Central can help you treat internal work like client work. You can track requests from other departments, allocate budgets, capture time and costs, and manage internal recharge or showback. This makes your team’s value more visible and supports better planning with the wider organisation.

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The Dynamics of Success

Get a better understanding of the benefits of using a CRM system - allowing businesses like yours to overcome fragmented systems and disconnected workflows. Don't just read about them either, our report provides you with actionable insights and practical recommendations so that you can begin to make data-led decisions.

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Download our report

The Dynamics of Success

Get a better understanding of the benefits of using a CRM system - allowing businesses like yours to overcome fragmented systems and disconnected workflows. Don't just read about them either, our report provides you with actionable insights and practical recommendations so that you can begin to make data-led decisions.

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Supercharge your operations with an ERP made for advertising

In advertising, pace and profitability both matter. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a strong ERP choice for advertising businesses because it unifies projects, purchasing, resourcing and finance in one system. This helps agencies and in-house teams respond quickly to new briefs, while keeping control of costs and margins.

To learn more about Business Central, or to see what ERP for advertising looks like in practice, get in touch via this short form.

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Frequently asked questions

What is Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central for advertising agencies?

Business Central is a business management solution from Microsoft that connects finance, sales, service and operations in one application. When it is configured for advertising, it becomes the central system that brings your campaigns, projects, suppliers and finances together, helping agencies and in-house teams manage work more efficiently.

How can Business Central help advertising agencies improve profitability?

Business Central links project data, time entries, purchase invoices and billing in one place. This helps finance leaders and agency owners see which clients, services and campaigns are performing well and where margins are being squeezed. With clearer insight, you can adjust pricing, scope or delivery models to protect profitability.

Is Business Central suitable for small creative agencies?

Yes. Business Central is designed for small and mid-sized organisations, not just large enterprises. Smaller agencies can start with core finance and project capabilities, then add more features over time as they grow. This means you do not have to wait until you are a large agency to benefit from a connected ERP system.

How does Business Central support project and campaign management?

Business Central allows you to create projects for campaigns, retainers or specific workstreams. You can link budgets, tasks, time entries, purchase orders and invoices to each project. Project managers gain a clear view of progress against budget and can work with finance to keep delivery and billing aligned.

Can Business Central integrate with our existing tools, such as project management or time-tracking apps?

Business Central has a rich set of connectors and APIs, and it works closely with other Microsoft services such as Microsoft 365 and Power Platform. This makes it possible to integrate with specialist project management or time-tracking tools where needed, while still keeping your financial data in one place.

Does Business Central help with retainers and recurring revenue for agencies?

Yes. You can set up recurring billing schedules, allocate budgets to specific retainers and track how much value has been delivered against each agreement. This helps account directors and finance teams manage retainer health more easily and reduces the risk of over-servicing without clear visibility.

Is Business Central cloud-based and secure enough for client data?

Business Central is a cloud-based solution hosted on Microsoft infrastructure and benefits from enterprise-grade security, compliance and reliability. Advertising businesses can take advantage of built-in security features and updates, helping them protect sensitive client data while meeting regulatory requirements.

How much does Business Central cost for advertising agencies?

Pricing for Business Central is based on user licences and the specific plan you choose, such as Essentials or Premium. The overall cost for an advertising agency will depend on the number of users, the features required and any additional configuration or integrations. For an accurate cost, it is best to review the latest pricing options and discuss your requirements with a partner.

Can Business Central replace our accounting system and project tools?

In many cases, yes. Business Central includes core financial management and job costing capabilities, so it can replace standalone accounting software and parts of your project tracking. Some agencies choose to keep specialist tools for creative workflow, but use Business Central as the financial and reporting backbone that connects everything.

How can a partner help us implement Business Central for advertising?

Implementing an ERP system is as much about process as technology. A Business Central partner can help you map your existing finance, project and resourcing processes, configure the system to fit the way your agency works and plan a phased rollout. They can also provide user training and ongoing support so your teams get value from the system quickly and consistently.