Bringing financial order to a creative studio through consistent monthly bookkeeping

Bringing financial order to a creative studio through consistent monthly bookkeeping

Client

FocalPoint

industry

Creative Studio

location

Los Angeles, California

Focalpoint is a fast-moving creative studio working with multiple clients, contractors, and overlapping project timelines. While their work was consistently high-quality, their financial systems weren’t designed to support the volume and pace of their projects.

Invoices piled up, payments were tracked inconsistently, and monthly reporting was often delayed. The founder knew the studio was growing — but without visibility into their numbers, it was hard to plan, forecast, or scale confidently.

Challenge

The studio relied on scattered spreadsheets to track project expenses, contractor payouts, and client payments. With so many moving parts, small errors frequently snowballed into bigger reconciliation problems. Cash flow felt unpredictable, and monthly closeouts took far longer than they should. Without reliable financial clarity, strategic decisions often came down to gut feeling instead of data.

Approach

Lysterra rebuilt Focalpoint’s financial workflow from the ground up. We standardized how they tracked project expenses, automated recurring invoices, and organized contractor payments into a clean monthly cycle. A structured month-end process was implemented, complete with reconciliations, review notes, and clear reporting templates. We also introduced a simple dashboard that showed real-time cash flow, outstanding invoices, and upcoming expenses — all in one place.

Impact

Within two months, Focalpoint began closing their books consistently every month — a first for the studio. Cash flow became predictable, project profitability became easy to track, and the founder gained confidence in planning future hires and investments. With financial chaos replaced by order, the studio now runs smoother and has a clearer path toward scaling.