Custom campaign planning and media budget software
At a media agency or marketing department, the money behind a campaign passes through many places: the client's annual budget, the media plan, purchase orders with channels and publishers, incoming invoices, and recharging to the client. Appfront builds software that brings that flow into a single model, integrated with your financial administration, so that budget, purchasing and invoicing are correct per client and campaign.
What is campaign planning and media budget software?
A campaign has a plan and a budget, but the money passes through many steps. A client's annual budget is divided across campaigns and channels, orders are placed with publishers, platforms and out-of-home providers, invoices arrive with their own numbers and periods, and in the end everything is recharged to the client, with or without a fee or margin.
At many agencies, every step lives in a different file. The plan is in a spreadsheet, the orders are in email, the invoices are in the accounting system and the recharging is in yet another overview. Anyone who wants to know how much of a client's budget is left adds it up by hand. An invoice without an order, or an order that was never invoiced, only comes to light at year-end closing.
We build custom software because agencies and client agreements differ. The software brings budget, purchasing, invoices and recharging into one model, pulls actuals from advertising platforms where possible, and integrates with your financial administration. For anyone who wants to see quickly how a campaign is doing while on the move or at the client's, we have a separate app.
One model
Budget, purchasing, invoices and recharging.
Invoices matched
Every invoice against an order.
Recharging is correct
Per client and campaign, with fee or margin.
How we build your campaign planning and media budget software
We start with one client and a full year: how the budget was divided, how orders were placed, which invoices came in, and how it was recharged. Then we define the model: clients, campaigns, channels, orders, invoices and agreements on fees or margins. We often start with budget and purchase orders per client, because that is where the overview is missing first. Matching invoices, actuals from advertising platforms and the integration with the financial administration follow. After that, we maintain the software as channels or agreements change.
Budget, orders, invoices and recharging.
Campaigns, channels and agreements.
Purchasing, matching and recharging.
Go-live, integrations and maintenance.
What campaign planning and media budget software actually does
The components below appear in almost every piece of media budget software. Which ones you need depends on your clients and channels.
Annual budget
Per client and brand.
Planning
Campaigns and channels.
Purchase orders
With media and publishers.
Invoices
Matched against orders.
Charging on
With fee or margin.
Alerts
When a budget is exceeded.
Who we build campaign planning and media budget software for
The software is intended for organisations that buy media for multiple clients, brands or departments. The more campaigns and channels, the more it delivers.
Media agencies
Many clients. Recharging matters most.
Advertising agencies
Media alongside creative. Overview is the core.
Marketing departments
Multiple brands. Budget per brand matters.
Procurement organisations
Media for departments. Allocation matters.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we make your idea tangible in a single day for €1,150, so you know whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we deduct the cost in full.
View OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page is about the office-based software. For quick insight on the move and at the client's, see our page on the campaign planning and media budget app, for reach and publicity our page on media monitoring, and for publishers our page on the placement plan for advertising space. You can read about our approach on building software.
Why choose Appfront for your campaign planning and media budget software?
A budget in a spreadsheet, orders in email and invoices that nobody checks against purchasing cost an agency margin and client trust. That's what we build on: one model for the money in a campaign, invoices that are reconciled, and recharging that adds up.
One source of truth
Budget and purchasing together.
Nothing forgotten
Every order invoiced.
Explainable
Recharging with supporting detail.
Security and privacy in campaign planning and media budget software
The software processes data on clients, budgets, rates and agreements with media. Access is set up per client and role, rates and margins are only visible to those who need them, and every change to a budget or recharge is logged.
The software runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily backups. We document the processing in a data processing agreement.
Frequently asked questions about campaign planning and media budget software
Questions agencies and marketing departments ask before getting started.
The software is the back-office system in which budget, purchase orders, invoices and recharging are managed and linked to the financial administration. The app is for people who are on the move or with a client and want to see quickly how a campaign is doing. They can be built together and then share the same model.
Often, yes. Platforms such as Google Ads and Meta provide access to spend per campaign. Which platforms you use and what access is available is something we look at in the first step. For channels without an integration, the software records actuals from invoices or statements from the publisher.
Every invoice received is linked to a purchase order, by client, campaign, channel and period. An invoice without an order, an amount that differs from the order, or an order without an invoice ends up in an overview for review before anything is recharged.
Yes. Per client, and per channel where needed, you set how recharging works: at purchase price plus a fee, with a mark-up, or on another arrangement. The software calculates the recharge and shows what it is based on.
Yes, that is usually the core of it. Purchase orders, invoices received and recharges go to or come from your financial administration, so nobody has to enter them twice. Which integration is needed depends on your package, and we look at it in the first step.
If you want them to. A client can be given access to an overview of their own budget, the planning and the actuals, without seeing your purchase rates or margins. You decide what a client can and cannot see.
Check that first. An accounting package knows invoices and projects, but usually not the planning per channel, the budget per client and the agreements on recharging. Custom software makes sense when those steps currently live in separate files.
Budget, purchasing and recharging in one model?
Tell us how budgets are currently allocated, how orders and invoices flow, and how you recharge. We'll show you what the software would look like.