The Complete Film Production Handbook By Eve Light Honthaner Chapter 3 Accounting

Transcription

1 The Complete Film Production Handbook By Eve Light Honthaner Chapter 3 Accounting

2 Accounting Highlights Opening Vendor Accounts Processing check requests & purchase orders Paying production bills Processing payroll Dispersing Petty Cash Payroll company becomes employer of record Entertainment Partners, Cast & Crew,

3 Payroll Start Paperwork Hours on timecards compared to production reports Guild & union contracts Federal & State payroll guidelines Calculating time cards Submitting approved time cards to payroll company and shipping Tracks payment on box rentals, per diems mileage reimbursement, car allowances, deals with actors agents

4 Start paperwork Payroll start /close slip US Immigration I 9 Box Rental Inventory Form Blank deal Memo Safety procedures Memo concerning: payroll, box rental, vendor accounts, competitive bids, purchase orders, check requests, petty cash, production owned assets, automobiles allowances, mileage reimbursement, invoicing and additional taxable income

5 Payroll Must have I- 9 substantiated with social security and driver license, birth certificate, us passport or alien registration card When indicating time -use military time On union shows the hours worked are calculated by tenths

6 Loanout Corp. The corporation loans out the employee s services to the production company. The employee s compensation is paid our directly to the corporation. The corporation is responsible for all payroll taxes.

7 Box rentals Need to be approved Must have an itemized inventory Accounting determines whether to indicate on weekly timecard Or If it needs to be invoiced

8 Vendor Accounts A list of vendors is given to accounting that the PM wants to open accounts with, as well as a list of those authorized to make purchases Vendors should fax credit application

9 Purchase orders Tracks and Forecasts costs Some production companies refuse to pay invoices without a purchase order Accounting department or dept. head must inform vendor of this policy Never hold a purchase order until the invoice arrives. Submit it to accounting as soon as possible to be approved. Must be within the confines of an individual department budget $500 can be approved by PM

10 Po s Over $500 must be approved by producer or studio executive Purchase order number will be for the exact amount and items Either a new PO will be required or a PO extension PO must have Company name, address, phone, fax, Federal ID # or social security # If exact amount is not known, it should reflect an estimated amount that is not exceeded Accounting and the PC usually keeps a running log of PO s

11 Check requests o Attach an invoice o A description of charge like: opurchase, rental, service, location odeposit opartial payment oterms of purchase ochecked to be mailed or picked up ototal amount odate & time check is needed

12 Petty Cash Small purchases like: Gas, meals, parking, expendables, small props, office supplies Use for items costing less than $300. Petty cash envelope If receiving petty cash sign a received of petty cash slip Receipts should be numbered and taped to a 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper in sequence in ink List each item on front of envelope with date, amount, description of what the item was and which department

13 Petty Cash cont. All receipts must have vendor s name, address, phone Note petty cash items that will become company assets (anything over $50.) List anyone who ate on restaurant receipt If there was no receipt for meters, gratuities, pay phones, make up a receipt with pertinent information Circle date, vendor, amount Submit petty cash when you have spent half the money or once a week.

14 Cell Phone reimbursement Determine what percentage is work related How many minutes times your per minute rate

15 Mileage reimbursement Mostly PA s, scouts, art dept. shoppers Fill out mileage log Not estimated Not to & from home Mileage or gas receipts Car allowance best

16 Drive To Another form of reimbursed mileage paid to cast, crew and extras to report to a location Miles to and from location times 32 to 54 cents a mile Recorded on production report Federal government had set an allowable limit for mileage (54.5 cents) reimbursement, drive to and per diems Box rentals can be 1099 d at end of year

17 Budget Above the line categories include: story rights, script writers, producers, directors, Principal cast Below the line refers to all production, and post productions expenses