Custom software for annual public reach reporting
Appfront builds software for cultural organisations that need to account for their audience reach to multiple funders. Each funder counts differently: what counts as an activity, who counts as a visitor, what falls under education. The software records those definitions per funder, produces the accounting for each from the same underlying data, checks for discrepancies, and ties in with the annual accounts and the auditor's review. We describe per-activity registration on the page about the app.
What is audience reach accounting software?
Cultural institutions often receive subsidies from several parties: national government, a province, a municipality and one or more funds. Each subsidy provider requires an account of audience reach, and each counts differently. What counts as an activity, does a rehearsal count, who is a visitor, what is an educational activity, what falls under a particular target group. And the figures have to match the annual accounts and survive the accountant's audit.
In practice, management produces a set of spreadsheets each year: one per funder, with the underlying data filtered and counted again each time. A correction to the underlying data is applied in one spreadsheet but not in the other. The auditor asks how a figure was arrived at, and it must be reconstructed. Next year, it starts all over again.
We build custom software because institutions and funders differ: which funders you have, which definitions they use, which performance agreements apply, where the base data comes from, and how your annual accounts are structured. The base data can come from the app used to register each activity, or from ticketing and the till. Which definitions a funder uses, you can find in the grant scheme and discuss with your accountant.
Definitions per funder
For each funder, what counts as an activity, visitor or target group, recorded as rules.
One source, multiple accounts
The accounting for each funder from the same underlying data, without separate spreadsheets.
Ready for the auditor
Reconciliation with the annual accounts, specifications for every figure, and history across several years.
How we build your audience reach accounting software
We start with your accounting: which funders, which definitions, where the data comes from, and how things work today.
Your funders, funding schemes, definitions, performance agreements and annual accounts.
Activities and visitors from the app, ticketing or point-of-sale as a single source.
Definitions as rules, and the accounting for each funder from the same source.
Reconciliation with the annual accounts, specifications for the auditor, and ongoing management.
What audience reach accounting software actually does
The components below feature in almost every cultural organisation with multiple funders. Which ones you need depends on your funding schemes.
Underlying data
Activities and visitors as a single source.
Definitions
For each funder, what counts as an activity, visitor or target group.
Accountability
For each funder and each year, from the same data.
Performance agreements
Performance agreements tracked against actual delivery per funder.
Reconciliation
Reconciliation with the annual accounts and checks for discrepancies.
Specifications
The justification behind every figure, for the auditor.
Who we build audience reach accounting software for
The software is intended for organisations that report to multiple funders.
Theatres and concert halls
Many productions and funders. The definitions are central.
Museums
Visitors, education and exhibitions. Target groups matter most.
Festivals
One large edition per year. Reconciliation with the annual accounts is what matters.
Libraries and community arts centres
Many small activities. A single source of data is the core need.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page covers the annual accountability for public reach at venues. For recording reach per activity, see our page on an app for public reach and grant reporting; for participant reporting, see our page on a participant reporting app; and for grants in general, see our page on grant management software. You can read about our approach under building software.
Why choose Appfront for your annual audience reach reporting software?
A correction that has been applied in one spreadsheet but not in another leads to questions from the auditor and the funder. That is what we build around: a single source, definitions as rules, and reporting that reconciles.
One source
A correction flows through to every report.
Fewer questions
You can show the supporting evidence for every figure.
Faster next year
Definitions and history are already in place.
Security and privacy in annual audience reach reporting software
The software holds data on activities, visitors and grants. Visitor data is stored as counts wherever possible. Access is set up by role, and every change is logged.
The software runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage, daily back-ups and sign-in with a second factor.
Frequently asked questions about annual audience reach reporting software
Questions cultural organisations ask before they get started.
It records the definitions for each funder, produces the report for each one from the same underlying data, sets performance agreements against actual results, checks for discrepancies, and reconciles with the annual accounts, with specifications for the auditor.
The app is for recording activity by activity: visitors from ticketing and the box office, counts for free activities, and progress against performance agreements. This software is for annual reporting at head office, with definitions per funder and reconciliation with the annual accounts. The two work together on the same data.
Because funders count differently. One counts a school performance as education, another does not. One counts only paying visitors, another counts everyone. By recording the definitions as rules, the same data yields the correct figure for each funder.
Yes. The software checks that visitor numbers and income reconcile with the annual accounts, and shows any differences before the auditor asks about them.
Usually how a figure was arrived at. The software shows, for each figure, which activities and which definition it was built from. The requirements that apply to your audit are something to discuss with your auditor.
Yes. History across several years is kept, along with the definitions that applied at the time. That makes it possible to show developments in a new application.
A ticketing system provides visitor numbers, but rarely the definitions per funder, free activities and reconciliation with the annual accounts. Custom development makes sense if you report to several funders with their own definitions.
One source for every report?
Tell us which funders you have, how they count, and how you produce reports today. We will show you what the definitions, the reporting and the reconciliation look like.