Accounting services and bookkeeping services for broadcast TV stations can be complex due to several unique aspects of the media industry. Unlike manufacturing and traditional service corporations, broadcast television entities have their own set of financial metrics, with broadcast cash flow being the primary one. Not only do broadcasters survive on multiple partnerships, but they may also gain income from views and sponsorships. It is therefore very important that accounting for your television channel be planned and followed through by a specialized CPA.
Accounting for television
Professional financial reporting and bookkeeping for broadcast TV stations can make a major difference in your availability and time to search for investors or buyers, to keep your television channel lucrative and in business. One of the first things outsiders look at is a measurement you’re likely already familiar with, broadcast cash flow. The name is a bit misleading but it is one of the central components of television accounting services. Regulators, prospective buyers, and investors have always been interested in your BCF (broadcast cash flow) and how it compares with the previous year’s numbers in this regard.
You might be able to answer the question, but it’s worth remembering that BCF is measured in many different ways, so it’s imperative to use the same accounting system from period to period in order to make an “apples to apples” comparison and this is where a financial adviser for broadcast TV stations can help.
Not only can an accounting professional keep all the data consistent across a long time spectrum, but an experienced CPA can measure broadcast cash flow in a way that reflects the true, inherent value of your company. That means including every factor that affects BCF and using the same metrics from year to year. The following list highlights those metrics.
- Cash outflow for a TV station includes investments and operating costs,
- Cash inflow for media organizations typically comes from financing, investing, and operations,
- When determining the value of a broadcast property, investors, buyers, and regulators look at comparable properties as well as broadcast cash flow data,
- BCF is categorized alongside other “tangible” assets like competition, signal, equipment, and market size,
- All tangible and intangible assets must be taken into account when facing the challenge of tax planning for broadcast TV stations
Making data-driven decisions
An experienced financial adviser for broadcast TV stations knows how to present the prior and current measurement of broadcast cash flow, for example, so that buyers can see a realistic picture of how healthy the organization has become since its inception.
A CPA will also be able to organize the numbers to ensure accounting compliance and accuracy when submitting your annual tax returns. Sometimes a cursory look at the books gives a misleading picture, but CPAs have the ability to interrogate the numbers and make predictions when using the right accounting software for your industry.
At Fusion, our CPAs offer a full spectrum of accounting services to media companies including accounting for broadcast TV stations, tax planning, software implementation, and integrations, and CFO advisory for broadcast TV stations, just to name a few.
This blog article is not intended to be the rendering of legal, accounting, tax advice or other professional services. Articles are based on current or proposed tax rules at the time they are written and older posts are not updated for tax rule changes. We expressly disclaim all liability in regard to actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this blog as well as the use or interpretation of this information. Information provided on this website is not all-inclusive and such information should not be relied upon as being all-inclusive.
