How Shown Media Uses Slash to Manage Their Creator Budgets

"It saves us hours and hours and hours of time.”

In 2022, Matt Epstein built Shown Media to deliver go-to-market ad campaigns to e-commerce brands of all sizes. About a year ago, Shown stepped up and began creating high impact, eye-catching marketing initiatives for some of the fastest-growing tech companies in the world. Over 2,000 videos and 100 million combined views later, they’ve found just as much success as Matt was hoping for when he decided to pivot. However, that extra momentum started to give Shown’s finance department extra headaches.

As client funds came in and creator programs were developed, payments had to go out to dozens of influencers at a time. To manage that kind of money movement, Matt needed a level of financial control that he wasn’t finding among standard business bank accounts. That’s why he turned to Slash.

Invoicing and Virtual Accounts

The moment Shown Media starts engaging with a new client or influencer, the finance gears start turning. "If we're doing a launch campaign for a new client, the first thing we do is send out an invoice, and that then goes into our general account," Matt explained. Without invoicing tools or automated categorization, those invoice payments would pour into Shown’s business account without being organized. Once Matt learned that Slash offers unlimited virtual accounts, he realized how quickly they could clean up his usual process.¹

"With the invoicing, I can select the exact account that I want those funds to be distributed into," he said. "Meaning if I want to create a virtual account for one of my influencer programs, I can then have that invoice go out, and when the money is received, it goes right into that account."

The adoption of labeled virtual accounts changed how Shown Media tracks its money. As Matt remarked, "Slash's invoicing keeps everything clean and in one place." What used to require manual sorting within a giant general account is now automated by design, since funds arrive where they're supposed to and they’re categorized before they even settle.

Keeping Funds Safe With Custom Permissions

Many of the payments that Shown Media receives are explicitly for marketing/ad budgets. Each creator program is budget-driven, often with a defined spend, roster of creators, and outcome. Keeping client budgets separate from the agency's main account is one of the most important elements of accounting at Shown.

"The next thing we'll do is we'll set up a virtual account for an influencer program," Matt explained. "That allows us to have an account that's separated from our main account for their influencer program. I don't want those funds to go into my main account – and before, that was the case."

Keeping each budget distinct also allows Matt to analyze his cash flow a little more closely. "By keeping it separate, it allows us to really know and see, 'Did we spend all the creator budget?' Versus if it was in one account, we have to go through every transaction, then reconcile that information. It's just a complete mess."

With hundreds of creators to pay across active programs, Matt doesn't handle disbursements himself. However, he can’t exactly hand his assistant the keys to the entire account either. Slash's permissioning system fixed this dilemma, as he explained: "What Slash allows us to do is give specific permissions. This allows me to give my assistant access to my creator program so she can pay out all of them."

This isn’t to say Matt doesn’t trust his team; setting up these sort of permissions just helps minimize the possibility of mistakes while following compliance rules. "It saves us hours and hours and hours of time while also de-risking the fact that she doesn't have access to everything."

Built for Unlimited Growth

Shown Media is looking forwards to larger campaigns, bigger creator networks, and more complex client programs. As they grow, their financial infrastructure has to keep up. Thanks to Slash’s unlimited virtual accounts, Matt and the team can partner with an endless number of clients and influencers without putting stress on his banking system.

"At the end of the day with my bank, I want something that's going to be reliable, sturdy, and have everything I need," Matt said. "And that's what I love about Slash."