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Actual
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From the first bid to the final cost

Protect the margin you bid for.

Know what each job has spent, committed, and left while there is still time to act. Give producers one place to manage costs and approvals, and give accounting the records it needs to close.

Build a budget freeRequest a workflow demo

For the work your company produces

Keep costs in view, whatever is on the slate.

Start with a budget suited to the job and follow its costs through delivery—across commercials, creator content, series, music videos, post and VFX, and indie features.

01Commercial / AICP02Branded Content03Creator Video04Creator / Web Series05Music Video06Post / Animation / VFX07Indie Feature
01

Bid & budget

See what each revision does to the budget.

Price the job with your templates and rates, compare scope options, and keep the approved bid as your baseline. As production moves, see what is spent, committed, and still available.

  • Compare the cost of client changes before agreeing to them
  • Start the next bid with your company templates and rates
  • Track remaining funds against the approved budget
Compare budgeting by plan
02

Data room & AI

Turn your bid package into a first draft.

Upload bid specs, a brief or an estimate to a private room for that budget. Actual pulls out the project details, asks for what’s missing, and prepares an editable draft using pricing from your files and relevant past budgets.

  • Keep files and working context with each budget
  • Review costs, sources and open questions before applying a draft
  • Reuse approved lessons from previous jobs
Compare storage and AI drafting allowances
Your budget’s data roomExample workflow
  1. 01

    Start with your files

    Bid specs, a brief or an existing estimate.

    Bid specs.pdf Estimate.pdf
  2. 02

    Fill the gaps

    Confirm details your files don’t answer.

    2 shoot days Los AngelesUnion or non-union?
  3. 03

    Review your first draft

    See the costs, their sources and what still needs pricing.

    Editable estimateYour review comes first
Files, answers and context stay with this budget.
03

Source & approve

Choose your service partners. Get client sign-off.

Invite a local production team for a South Africa shoot, a post house for delivery, or another service company to budget its part of the job. Review their response budgets and publish your production estimate separately for client approval.

  • Review service-company budgets, scope, and revisions
  • Choose which budget details clients can see
  • Keep client feedback and sign-off on the published version
Compare collaboration by plan
04

Commit & pay

Know what is committed before approving more.

See purchase orders against the production budget, with approvals and backup attached. Eligible U.S. companies using USD can also issue Actual cards and pay vendors through Actual ACH.

  • Keep purchasing decisions tied to the job and cost code
  • Actual cards for eligible U.S. companies using USD
  • Actual ACH vendor payments for eligible U.S. companies using USD
Compare cards and payments
05

Reconcile & wrap

Give accounting a head start on wrap.

Capture invoices, receipts, and approvals as the job runs. Your team can review imported costs and hand accounting the records it needs without entering the same invoice details again.

  • Review draft POs created from vendor invoices
  • Find receipts and supporting documents with the cost
  • QuickBooks integration on Studio and Max
Compare finance features
06

AI agents & integrations

Give your producers a head start on the next bid.

Ask a compatible AI agent to prepare or revise an estimate using your company templates and rates. Review the result in Actual and export a bid PDF, with access you control.

  • Reuse the budget structure and rates your team already uses
  • Choose what the agent can access and who is responsible
  • Connect through MCP on Actual Max
Explore AI access on Max
A head start on the next bidActual Max
Compatible AI agentMCPActual
“Build an estimate from our commercial template, apply our rates, and export a PDF.”
  1. Start with your templateUse the structure your team knows
  2. Build and revise the estimateWork with your company's rates
  3. Prepare a bid PDFReady for your producer to review
Chosen permissionsRead · Edit · Export
Accountable personYour producer

The tools behind the work

Keep the numbers and the team on the same page.

Bring the bid, purchasing decisions, and supporting records together so producers and accounting can work from the same job history.

Bidding & versioning

See the cost of scope changes before sending the next bid.

Budget management

See approved, committed, actual, and remaining costs in one live view.

Private data rooms

Keep each budget’s bid package, files and project context together. Storage is shared across your company’s rooms.

AI budget drafts

Upload what you have, answer the gaps, and review an editable first estimate with sources and missing costs visible.

Wrap reports

Compare the estimate with recorded costs and choose which lessons to carry into the next job.

Service Bids

Invite production service companies to budget their part of the job, then review their proposals and revisions.

Client approvals

Tie feedback and sign-off to the exact published budget version.

Actual-issued cards

Issue virtual and physical cards when company and plan eligibility allow.

Connected cards

See which job each purchase belongs to with supported company cards on Max.

Digital POs

Track what you have committed to spend, with approvals and backup attached.

Auto Invoice Import

Review a draft PO from the invoice instead of entering every line again.

ACH bill pay

Pay vendors from production POs when company and plan eligibility allow.

QuickBooks

Carry production records into accounting on Studio and Max.

AI agent connections (MCP)

Give your producers help preparing and revising estimates, with permissions you choose. Included with Actual Max.

Custom roles

Match access to producer, PM, coordinator, and accounting responsibilities.

Unlimited production users

Bring the whole production team into the job on every plan.

Work with your clients and service companies

Bring in every bidder and reviewer without buying them a seat.

Service companies respond free

Your local production partner, post house, or other service company receives the brief and submits a detailed budget for its part of the job.

Invited client reviewers participate free

They see only the published version and can comment, request changes, decline, or approve.

See Actual on a real job

See how your next job could run in Actual.

Bring an upcoming bid or a job you are wrapping. We will walk through where your team spends time and how Actual can help keep its costs and records together.

Build a budget freeRequest a workflow demo