| AT A GLANCE | |
| Client | GRAIL Talent |
| Sector | Creator agency / talent management |
| Territories | UK and US entities (cross-border finance operations) |
| Partnership | Since September 2021 (4+ years) |
| Services | Bookkeeping & reconciliation across UK and US entities, multi-currency creator and supplier payments, talent manager commissions, credit control, management reporting |
“Working with ASBK has been a game changer for our business. They have grown alongside us and become an integral part of our operations.”
— Ed Winters-Ronaldson, Founder & CEO, GRAIL Talent
The client
GRAIL Talent is a creator agency representing a global roster of digital talent, with operations on both sides of the Atlantic through UK and US entities. The agency sits at the centre of a complex commercial web — negotiating brand partnerships, managing talent managers, and coordinating campaign delivery and payment between creators, brands, and platforms across multiple territories. The creator economy moves quickly, and GRAIL’s growth depends on getting paid, paying creators, and tracking commercial performance accurately at speed — in two jurisdictions at once.
The challenge
When GRAIL came to us in September 2021, the agency was already trading and growing — but the back office hadn’t kept pace. The books were several months behind. Talent and creator payments had become difficult to track. Brand income flowing in across multiple currencies and payment platforms had created a reconciliation backlog that obscured the real picture of the business. For a fast-moving creator agency, that lack of visibility wasn’t a back-office problem — it was a brake on growth. As the business expanded into the US, that complexity only grew: a second jurisdiction meant a second set of rules, a second tax framework, and a second entity to keep clean and aligned with the UK side. GRAIL didn’t need a generic bookkeeper. They needed a finance partner that could untangle how a modern creator agency actually gets paid, work fluently across UK and US compliance, and scale with them as the business grew.
Our approach
We started by getting control of the fundamentals: bringing the books fully up to date, completing every outstanding reconciliation, and establishing clean baseline records the team could trust. From there, we built the day-to-day financial operations GRAIL needed to scale without scaling their internal finance team.
What we run for GRAIL today:
• End-to-end bookkeeping and multi-currency reconciliation across UK and US entities, all platforms, and all bank accounts
• Cross-border finance operations — handling both UK and US rules, working alongside in-country accountants where required
• Coordination of creator payments worldwide — across multiple currencies, in line with each contract
• Talent manager commission calculations and payouts
• Supplier payments and accounts payable
• Credit control and brand liaison — chasing brand deal payments and resolving queries directly with brand partners
• Management reporting that gives the leadership team a current, accurate view of cash, profitability, and performance — across both entities
• High-volume query handling for creators and talent managers, with rapid response times across UK and US time zones
Crucially, we don’t operate as an outsourced supplier. We operate as GRAIL’s finance team — embedded, responsive, and accountable for the outcome.
The results
Since September 2021, GRAIL has more than tripled in size — and we’ve grown alongside them. The leadership team has the financial clarity to make commercial decisions quickly. Creators get paid accurately and on time, in their currency. Brand partners deal with a finance contact who already knows the deal. Talent managers spend their time building careers, not chasing numbers.
What started as a reconciliation backlog is now a finance function the agency runs on.
In their words
“Working with ASBK has been a game changer for our business. Since partnering with them in September 2021, they have grown alongside us and become an integral part of our operations. Their ability to handle complex reconciliations and maintain complete oversight of our payments is exceptional. From managing supplier payments to overseeing talent manager commissions and, most importantly, coordinating creator payments across multiple currencies worldwide, they consistently deliver accurately and efficiently. Beyond the numbers, ASBK plays a key role in our wider financial operations. They support our credit control processes, liaise with brands, and manage a high volume of queries from both creators and managers with speed and professionalism. What truly sets them apart is their responsiveness and communication. They operate as an extension of our internal team, providing near-round-the-clock support and always resolving queries quickly and effectively. We consider ASBK a trusted partner and would highly recommend them to any business looking for a proactive, reliable, and highly capable finance team.”
— Ed Winters-Ronaldson, Founder & CEO, GRAIL Talent
Why this matters for your business
GRAIL’s story is the case for what we do well: take on complex, multi-stream, multi-jurisdiction financial operations and run them quietly in the background while the business focuses on what it’s there to do. Multicurrency income, payments to people in different countries, separate UK and US entities running in parallel, fast moving brand contracts, high-volume queries from internal and external stakeholders — it’s the kind of complexity that breaks generic bookkeeping. It’s also the kind of complexity we were built for.
Whether you’re a UK SME selling internationally, a US business expanding into the UK, or a creative or talent business with revenue and obligations on both sides of the Atlantic, we can run your finance function as one joined-up operation across both jurisdictions.
If your business is growing faster than your finance function, and you need a finance team that operates as an extension of your own — not a supplier you have to manage — we’d love to talk.
Could ASBK be your finance team?
If your business is growing faster than your finance function — multi-currency income, payments to people in different countries, separate UK and US entities, or just a back office that hasn’t kept pace with the front line — let’s talk. We’ll spend 30 minutes understanding where you are now and tell you honestly whether we’re the right fit.
Andi Smith · Founder, ASBK
