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The Clients & Profits X Media Link imports broadcast orders, print insertion orders, and vendor invoices from popular media buying systems into your C&P database. It imports media orders and invoices from SmartPlus, Strata, Tapscan, and other media buying systems that support the Standard Media Interface.

The “standard media interface” is a technical specification that defines the interface between media buying systems and accounting systems like Clients & Profits X. It is a generic interface designed especially for ad agencies to simplify transferring data between media buying systems and accounting programs. The SMI specification is used by developers to program export files from media to accounting. You don’t need to know anything about the SMI in order to use the C&P Media Link.

Media buying systems that support SMI, such as SmartPlus, Tapscan, and Strata export station and publication orders from media plans into specially-formatted text files. A separate text file is created for each broadcast order, insertion order, or vendor invoice. Each text file includes the details of the order (e.g., station ID, run dates, number of spots, rating, cost, etc.) or invoice needed by Clients & Profits X for job costing, billing, and media accounting.

Here’s how it works: A media buyer enters broadcast orders, insertion orders, and vendor invoices into SmartPlus, Tapscan, or Strata. The media buying system then exports a copy of the order or invoice as a text file on your file server. A broadcast order export file will have a .TBY extension, an insertion order a .PBY extension, and a vendor invoice a .VAP extension. The C&P Media Link looks for these export files (either one at a time or automatically at different intervals), importing the data into your Clients & Profits X database as broadcast orders, insertion orders, or vendor invoices. The imported orders appear in the Insertion/Broadcast/Interactive/Outdoor Orders window as broadcast or insertion orders—just as if you’d typed them in yourself. These orders can be billed to clients just like any other order. The imported invoices appear in Accounts Payable—just as if you’d typed them in yourself.

The C&P Media Link application lets you import media buys as they happen, one at a time. Or, automatic importing can be scheduled at various intervals (e.g., every hour, every day, etc.). This option lets you run the C&P Media Link unattended on a spare computer somewhere in the office, importing new buys automatically throughout the day.

The C&P Media Link really pays off when you’re buying large amounts of broadcast or print media. Rekeying dozens of buys each week into Clients & Profits X would be tedious and probably error-prone. Since the Media Link imports the actual media buy, there’s no double-entry and no missing data.

Contents:

Key Features
How the Media Link works
Starting the Media Link
Media Link Preferences
Importing Media Data
Media Link Log