Creative agencies in the UK earn a growing share of revenue from international clients. A brand in Berlin. A tech company in New York. A hospitality group across Southern Europe. The work crosses borders easily, but the money behind it doesn't move as smoothly
For financial managers and controllers, this disconnect is a daily reality, with income arriving in euros, US dollars and pounds. This compounds with freelancers and contractors invoicing in multiple currencies.
dia spend, subscriptions and production costs flow out to suppliers. And too often, the bank account holding it all together wasn't built for this level of complexity. Here's what a business account does, why it matters for creative agencies with international clients, and how the right one removes friction from your finance team's day-to-day.
What a business account does
A business account is a multi-currency account that lets you receive, hold, send and convert funds across currencies. Unlike a traditional bank account that operates in one currency and forces conversion on every inbound or outbound payment, a business account gives you control over when and whether you convert.
The best business accounts give you every payment method from one balance: Faster Payments, CHAPS, BACS, SEPA, SEPA Instant, SWIFT and Direct Debit in GBP and EUR.
For a finance manager at a creative agency, this is the difference between logging into three separate portals each morning and seeing your entire financial position in one dashboard.
The pain points holding creative agencies back
Finance teams at creative agencies share a specific set of problems: the agency has outgrown its original financial setup. Revenue now comes in from international clients, but the supporting infrastructure hasn't kept up.
Here's what that looks like in practice:
Manual reconciliation across multiple portals
Your agency invoices a client in EUR and the payment lands in one provider. You pay a contractor in USD through a second. GBP payroll runs through the business bank. Each month, you're downloading CSV files from several platforms and currencies, and manually matching payments. Time spent gathering data is time not spent on forecasting or strategic planning.
Lack of approval controls and audit trails
As teams grow, more people have access to company money — booking media spend, paying freelancers and settling production invoices. Without clear permission levels, segregation of duties and approval workflows, you quickly lose visibility over who authorised what.
FX costs that erode margins
Creative agencies operate on tight margins. When your bank applies a hidden markup on every currency conversion and converts automatically rather than letting you hold, those costs add up fast.
Slow international payments
SWIFT transfers through traditional banks take two or more working days. When you need to pay a client within 48 hours to start work, a two-day delay puts delivery timelines and the relationship at risk.
How a business account solves each of these problems
The right business account turns fragmented finance operations into a single system that you control.
One view of all your money: View transactions and balances from every currency in one dashboard. Finance teams get month-end reconciliation that runs from a single source.
Control that scales with your team: Set permission levels for who views, who transacts and who approves. Apply joint signature requirements above thresholds you define. Enforce segregation of duties so whoever sets up a payment is not the one who releases it.
Hold funds in the currency they arrive in: Receive EUR from European clients and keep it in EUR until you need it. Convert only when it makes commercial sense, at a rate you see before you commit.
Batch payment execution: Upload one file to pay dozens of freelancers, contractors and suppliers in a single run. Your payment runs now take the same time at 200 lines as it does at 20.
Every payment rail from one account: Get BACS for payment runs. CHAPS and Faster Payments when something can't wait. SEPA Instant for European suppliers. SWIFT for international transfers. Direct Debit to collect retainer fees in GBP and EUR.
Why these features matter for finance managers specifically
Fragmented financial operations affect financial managers and heads of finance the most. They’re downloading the CSV files, chasing approvals and handling cash flow for the entire business. They need financial operations that are automated, controlled and unified.
A business account built for this purpose means finance teams spend the month analysing performance, not assembling spreadsheets. They provide the control to evidence approvals without creating bottlenecks, and reduce the cost of moving money by removing intermediaries, hidden FX markups and per-transaction fees that traditional banks apply.
Plus, if the agency runs multiple entities, you manage them all from one platform — with separate business profiles and approval flows for each.
What to look for in a business account provider
Not every business account has the same offering. When evaluating providers, finance managers at creative agencies should focus on five areas:
- Multi-currency depth. Look for multiple currencies for full account functionality and 60+ currencies for cross-border payments. Teams need the ability to receive, hold, convert and send money.
- Payment rail coverage. SEPA, SEPA Instant, Faster Payments, CHAPS, BACS, SWIFT and Direct Debit should all run from one balance and one account. If you're switching between providers for different payment types, your account is causing delays.
- Approval and access controls. Permission levels, joint signature, segregation of duties and multi-entity support should be built in as standard.
- API connectivity. APIs for batch file submission, IBAN management, webhooks and role-based access let you connect to your existing accounting tools. Batch upload and API connectivity replace your manual payment processing.
- Human support. A named account manager that responds when a payment needs attention mid-run.
Where payabl. fits
payabl. connects payments, business accounts and insights in one platform — payabl.one. For creative agencies, payabl. business accounts deliver multi-currency IBANs, every payment rail, batch execution, team-level controls and real-time visibility into a single workspace.
Beyond business accounts, payabl.one includes payabl. checkout for online payments, payabl. in-store for physical transactions, payabl. virtual business cards for controlled team spending, all managed from one place.
If your creative agency handles international payments, see how payabl. business accounts give your finance team one system for every currency, payment method and approval.