Plan
Bid with a clear view of the costs
Build from your rates and templates, compare revisions, and carry the approved estimate into the job without starting over.
Production budgeting & cost control
Keep your production costs in view. From first bid through wrap.
Know what each job has spent, what you have committed, and what is left. Actual keeps your producers and accounting team working from the same budget, so you can spot overages before you approve more spending.
5 new budgets a month, free Unlimited production users Purchase orders and cost tracking included
Make the next decision with the costs in front of you.
Know what the client approvedSee what you have committedKeep the records accounting needs
Built for every kind of production
Your kind of production. Your way of budgeting.
Start with a budget built for the work you pitch, from AICP commercials to series, music videos, post and VFX, or independent features. Adapt it to your company’s rates and cost structure.
Find your production workflowFrom approved bid to actuals
Keep the whole job connected to the budget.
Each new vendor, client revision, and purchase affects what the job will cost. Keep those decisions with the budget so your team can see what changed and what is still available to spend.
- Partner
Bring the right partner onto the job
Invite a production service company to bid on part of the job. Review its scope and detailed budget, then map the chosen response into your estimate.
- Decide
Know what your client approved
Keep feedback and sign-off tied to the exact estimate. Share the detail clients need while keeping your working budget private.
- Capture
Spend less time entering invoices
Import vendor invoices as draft POs. Your team reviews the details and cost coding instead of typing every line again.
- Spend
See costs before they become surprises
Record purchases against the production budget with digital POs, so committed costs are visible before the bills arrive.
- Wrap
Give accounting a job it can close
Keep receipts, invoices, and cost codes with the job. Studio and Max add QuickBooks integration for the accounting handoff.
Live budget control
Catch pressure on your margin before wrap.
An unpaid bill is still a cost to the job. See commitments alongside actual spending and the approved budget, so you can spot an overage before approving the next purchase.
- Compare bid versions and variances
- Reuse cost codes, fringes, and rate cards
- See overages and remaining funds by category
actual / budgets
Atlas LaunchProduction budget
LiveWorking budget$482,600
Committed$318,240
Remaining$164,360
CategoryBudgetActualStatus
Production staff$86,400$65,220On track
Camera$72,800$54,480On track
Locations$54,200$47,930Review
Post production$68,500$31,600On track
JS
Client approved v6Decision recorded · just now
actual / bids & approvals
Example brief · Cape Town, South AfricaLocal production services
3 private responsesA local team to support the shoot5 shoot days · Crew, locations, permits & transport
CCompany A
Selected bidBid total · ZAR1,280,000
- Production
- 1,080,000
- Fringes
- 60,000
- Fees & insurance
- 140,000
CCompany B
Revised · v2Bid total · ZAR1,340,000
- Production
- 1,140,000
- Fringes
- 60,000
- Fees & insurance
- 140,000
CCompany C
Submitted · v1Bid total · ZAR1,310,000
- Production
- 1,105,000
- Fringes
- 65,000
- Fees & insurance
- 140,000
Each service company submits its own detailed response budget.
Published client estimate · v6Spring campaignUSD 482,600 · Production total
Client approvedDecision saved to v6. Your working budget stays private.
Service Bids & client approvals
Move the job forward with clear bids and approvals.
Service Bids let you bring another company onto a job—for example, a local production team for a shoot in South Africa. Share the brief, review their proposed scope and costs, and keep your client’s approval tied to your published estimate.
Compare service company budgets
Review each partner’s proposed scope, assumptions, and detailed estimate.
Bring agreed costs into your estimate
Map the chosen company’s response to your own budget structure.
Get approval on your client version
Share only the detail your client needs and keep sign-off tied to that version.
Less entry. Faster wrap.
Give your team less paperwork to catch up on.
Put invoices and supported company-card purchases against the right job as they come in. Your team can review costs during production and spend less time reconstructing them at wrap.
Auto Invoice Import
Review the invoice. Skip the retyping.
Turn the vendor’s invoice into a draft PO with amounts and line items ready to review. Your team checks the details and decides where the cost belongs.
actual / auto invoice import
InvoiceNorthline RentalsINV-1048 · Net 30
Total$12,480
Reading invoice
Draft PO#1048
Ready to review- Vendor
- Northline Rentals
- Cost code
- 3200 · Camera
- Amount
- $12,480.00
Actual Max
Put card spend on the right job.
Connect supported company cards. Assign purchases to the right production and budget category.
Built for the way your company works
Your production data.
In the tools
you already use.
Bring production records into company reporting, connect purchasing to your internal workflows, and give producers help with estimates. Actual Max gives your technical team the access to build those connections.
- Build a warehouse pipeline for production, vendor, and PO data.
- Notify your internal tools when purchase orders change status.
- Let a compatible AI agent prepare and revise estimates.
Included with Actual Max. You choose the access and can revoke it anytime.
Connect the rest of your businessActual Max
Production finance
BudgetsEstimates
Purchase orders
- Your AI agent
Prepare and revise the next bid.
MCP · Read & write - Your data warehouse
Report on production alongside your business.
API · Your data pipeline - Your internal tools
Act on purchasing status changes.
Webhooks · PO status events
Room for your next stage
Start with a job. Grow with your company.
Every plan includes core bid building, budgets, digital POs, and unlimited production users. Actual Issuing and Actual ACH vendor payments separately require an eligible U.S. company with a USD base currency.
Compare plans and limitsPrices shown are monthly base subscriptions in USD. Admins beyond the included seats and applicable usage fees are additional. Paid plans are available in countries Actual has enabled. Companies elsewhere can use an available free plan while eligibility is reviewed. Taxes and currency-conversion fees may apply.
Trusted in the production office
Less admin during the job. A cleaner handoff at wrap.
“Working with Actual enables commercial production teams to work more efficiently and in real time. As a PM, I can now think less about tedious tasks and focus on the big-picture success of the job.
“Actual brought a new level of visibility to our jobs. Issuing ACH vendor payments directly from POs streamlined our wrap process and transformed how our team works.
Start with your next production
Build the bid free. Keep the same budget through wrap.
Create up to five new budgets each month, add unlimited production users, and issue digital POs on the free plan.