Every finance leader knows the exact moment the old way of doing things breaks.

You start out comfortably cash-flow positive. The numbers are manageable, the overhead is predictable, and you can run most growth scenarios in your head or on a basic spreadsheet. But then expansion hits. You open a second location, headcount spikes, and suddenly you are managing complex contract timelines, variable project milestones, and a mountain of moving parts.

That is exactly the operational reality Eric Mayville, co-founder of New York creative agency Wondersauce, faced as his firm began to scale rapidly from its NYC roots to include a second office in Columbus, Ohio.

The Breaking Point of Ad-Hoc Spreadsheets

Early on, tracking cash flow at Wondersauce was straightforward. The agency didn't take out loans and stayed safely in the black. But as operations grew more complex, Eric found himself managing contracts and cash runways using a fragile web of manual spreadsheets.

"Everything was done very ad hoc," Eric recalls. "I used spreadsheets—sometimes we would save them, sometimes we wouldn't. A lot of it was just like that, or in my head."

As headcount climbed, the questions from management got tougher. The Creative Director needed to hire five or six new designers. But could the business sustain that immediate overhead bump? What kind of sales pipeline was required to keep the new staff profitable?

Trying to model these complex, what-if scenarios in a spreadsheet became an operational bottleneck. Eric needed to see the direct cash impact of landing new jobs, losing accounts, or expanding offices without risking a broken formula.

Finding Clarity Without Sacrificing Control

Eric started looking for a system that could handle the messy reality of project-based cash flow but still deliver clean, visual clarity for his business partners. He needed a way to show the big picture to non-numbers stakeholders without losing the granular control over individual transactions.

That is when he brought Dryrun into their workflow. The change was immediate.

"I spent a few hours setting up an accurate copy of that first scenario and it was great," Eric says. "When we looked at it and saw we could actually duplicate a scenario and say, 'Hey, here's what happens if we lose an account. Here's what happens if we get a new office. Here is the actual line of reality.' It was almost instant. It hit me the first day."  

Using the scenario-modeling features, the leadership team could balance upcoming expenses against accounts receivable and sales projections, viewing their entire cash runway over the next four to five months in a single pane of glass.

How can a rapidly growing agency forecast cash flow accurately?

To forecast cash flow accurately during periods of rapid growth, finance teams must track individual accounts receivable and accounts payable timing down to the transaction level. Relying on static spreadsheets or generic historical data fails to account for the sudden overhead spikes and variable payment terms common in project-based businesses.

Leveling Up with an Internal Finance Leader

As operations continued to scale, Wondersauce reached a point where they needed a dedicated financial operator to manage the day-to-day numbers. They brought on Chris Sampogna, a seasoned finance professional from KPMG, to step into the CFO role.

Chris took over the daily operational headaches: payroll, taxes, and tracking the timing issues between accounts payable and accounts receivable.

With an internal CFO focused on the numbers, the agency’s financial modeling became highly sophisticated. Chris built a system of four distinct baseline forecasts within Dryrun to keep his finger on the pulse of the business:

• An operational cash flow forecast tracking live money moving through their accounts.
• An ongoing expense budget mapped against recurring retainer income to establish clear sales targets.
• A long-range pipeline forecast looking at least six months out.
• A multi-location comparison model to keep the Ohio and New York offices completely aligned on overhead versus revenue.

What is the best way to handle financial modeling for multi-location operations?

The best way to model multi-location operations is to maintain flexible, individual scenarios for each entity that automatically consolidate into a single corporate timeline. This structure allows the finance team to run ad-hoc regional scenarios while instantly seeing how local changes impact the company’s total cash position.

Uncovering Inefficiencies and Predicting the Red

With a continuous history of performance built out, Chris can easily look back to run month-over-month and year-over-year comparisons. If overhead spikes unexpectedly, the team can dive straight into the transactional data to find out exactly why.

In a project-based business, cash coming in is highly variable, but expenses hit like clockwork every single month. Chris uses the visual hierarchy of the platform to quickly identify cash crunches before they happen. By knowing exactly when the business might dip into the red based on current retainer revenue, the leadership team can set realistic sales goals that fuel sustainable growth.

"With the rapid growth we are going through, we have a lot of different changes," Chris explains. "One of the big things is knowing our overhead and monthly costs. With Dryrun, I can scan to keep track of that critical bottom line, which is huge. I can't do that with Excel."

For the leadership team at Wondersauce, having a tool that bridges the gap between deep transactional control and executive-ready visuals means every growth decision is backed by data, not guesswork.

As Eric puts it: "If you aren't planning resources with 10,000 Feet, using Pipedrive for sales, and Dryrun for cash flow, then I don't know how you are running your business."

Take Control of Your Financial Future

Forecast your cash flow, revenue, and profit in the ultimate scenario-modeling tool to gain complete confidence and clarity. Dryrun combines automated data synchronization with unmatched manual flexibility, delivering accurate forecasts in a fraction of the time you spend fighting spreadsheets.