³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Find contacts in rights, legal, genre operations and business affairs on the contacts page.

Download versions of the Programme production agreement and find out more on the Business and contractual information page.

Pre-commission finance and best practice

All independent productions require approval by the Programme Finance Committee (PFC) before any financial terms can be finalised and agreed. All other conversations and communications should not be considered as financial approval or sign off.

Some productions may require additional approval depending on funding or particular deal terms. Any concerns should be discussed with the business affairs manager who is responsible for getting the production to these committees promptly.

The first time the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ commissions an independent production company, the company will be asked to complete a new supplier form and a company search will be undertaken to determine the company is established and that it has filed regular statutory accounts.

The Programme production agreement (PPA) shall set out whether there must be a separate production account named under the production name or if a unique profit centre in the producer's internal accounting system is sufficient. The system specified must be  set up in accordance with the terms of the PPA. Only finances relating to the individual production should be paid into and withdrawn from this account.

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ also recommends the following best practice procedures are in place:  

• Complete and accurate accounting records with relevant supporting documentation including if appropriate, evidence to support regional production status.
• Regular review of the financial performance of productions against budget.
• Appropriate segregation of duties between financial transactions and production duties, where possible.
• All purchases to be made on a documented purchase order system and approved in advance by an authoriser of appropriate seniority eg finance director.
• Payments should be approved by at least two individuals and bank reconciliations completed regularly.
• Signed contracts are in place for crew, cast and locations, as appropriate. 

Right to audit

In accordance with the Programme production agreement (PPA), complete and accurate accounting records with relevant supporting documentation relating to expenditure on the programme must be maintained. The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ will request, on occasion, an audit under its audit rights provided under the terms of the PPA.

For more information contact:

Daniel Mirzoeff

daniel.mirzoeff@bbc.co.uk

Payments

Payment terms are set out in the Business framework and will either be made in stages or on delivery.

Final payment is not released until all delivery paperwork (as set out in the Programme production agreement) has been received and approved. Inaccurately completed paperwork can cause delays to payment.

See the Business framework for more information about additional funding, third party and producer investment and general finance information.

Read the business framework.

Production (progress) reporting

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ is entitled to monitor the production to assess any material risks that it may not be delivered in accordance with the Commissioning specification.

To enable the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ to do this:

• Production (progress) reports should be submitted in the approved form to the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ business affairs manager at the payment stages identified in the cashflow in the Programme production agreement and on any other dates or production milestones as set out in the Commissioning specification. The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ may reasonably request production reports at any stage.
• Notify the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ business affairs manager of any problems that could jeopardise the production or delivery of the programme in accordance with the Commissioning specification.

Download the

End of production report

The end of production report is required within four weeks of final episode delivery and is completed via an online questionnaire, forming part of a production’s final deliverables. The report helps us track our diversity commitments and whether our respect at work guidance has been implemented.

Download a list of the information required within the report (pdf).

To record the diverse characteristics of their workforce, companies should ask individuals within their organisation to complete an equal opportunities form. A template form can be found on the .

The report must be completed in one go, and can not be saved and returned to at a later date.

There are separate versions of the form for Network TV genres (drama, comedy, factual, entertainment, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Children’s and Education, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Sport and Nations and English regions).

Invoicing

• Invoices should be made with due regard to the fact that IBM will take a period of one - two weeks to process a payment.
• Invoices should be submitted in a form that IBM can process.
• Invoices should be addressed to the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ (not the individual contact).
• Ensure the company address is accurate (ie the main address, not a temporary production office).
• Always quote the bank details for the payment (in most cases, a separate indie production account in the name of the programme).
• If the invoice is addressed to IBM, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Accounts Payable, PO Box 747, Redhill, RH1 9GE, please ensure the order number and ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ contact details (i.e. programme finance manager’s name and extension number) are quoted.

Deductions from cashflow should be agreed at the earliest possible point. These could include:

• Development funding already cash-flowed
• Recovery of insurance premium
• Archive charges not covered by the new arrangement for independent production companies (eg Sport Library)
• Directors UK levy (also on the final invoice)

There may be a requirement for the production company to pay a levy to Creative Skillset. If so, this shall be set out in the Programme production agreement and proof of payment may form part of the delivery paperwork.

Accounting and reporting distribution revenues

The production is required to pay the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ its share of revenue from distribution activities in accordance with the detailed provisions of the Programme production agreement (PPA).

Please send electronic statements to: bbcroyaltyreporting@bbc.co.uk

Hard copies should be sent to:

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Commercial Affairs Team
Zone A 7th Floor, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ New Broadcasting House, London W1A 1AA

All queries relating to royalty reporting should be directed to:

Neil Saffer
Business Co-ordinator, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Television

Email: Neil.Saffer@bbc.co.uk

Points to note about your accounting statements:

• Statements for any revenue you have received are submitted within 30 days of the end of each reporting period - March 31 and September 30.
• Each statement must give full details of:

1. The distributors gross receipts broken down into its different sources (ie territory & rights).
2. Details of commission and all expenses deducted (NB if the producer is, or is connected with, the distributor then the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ must approve the distribution commission).
3. A clear demonstration of how the net revenue position on each title has been calculated (see definitions for ‘Net Revenue’ and  clause 16.5.2 in the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s General terms).
4. A final sum for any balance that may now be due to the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳.

Please note that any recoupments deducted before accounting for the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s share must have been agreed in the Special terms of the PPA.

• Your royalty statement should be accompanied by a copy of the relevant distributor's statement(s).
• The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ has a right to audit distribution revenues under General term 16.5.4.

Alternative funding

Please see the policy on location and production incentives.

Directors UK (formerly DPRS)

 and the broadcasters agreed in July 2022 an updated framework with Directors UK (DUK) for reimbursement back to broadcasters in relation to the payment made to DUK in respect of repeats and secondary exploitation of programming.

The following commercial fees document applies to all programmes commissioned after 2019 and includes the newly negotiated rates for programmes commissioned from 1 July 2022.

Download Directors UK commercial fees 2019-2025 (pdf) - updated October 2023

Previous versions can be downloaded from the A-Z.

Please note that:

• An individual director's membership of the DUK is irrelevant for the purposes of whether or not an individual project bears a recharge.
• Provided that a director is engaged on a director's contract, EU and non-EU status of the director is also irrelevant.
• The recharge applies to programmes commissioned from both UK and foreign indies and regardless of the directors employment status (eg freelance or staff) as the commercial fee is operated as a programme levy, unless the programme qualifies for an exemption.

The amount to be reimbursed to the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ will be withheld from final cashflow payment upon acceptance of all deliverables. Calculate the amount due by reference to the agreed Framework and show this as a deduction on the face of the final invoice as agreed with the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ business affairs manager.

The ScreenSkills Unscripted TV Skills Fund

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ is signed up to ScreenSkills’s Unscripted TV Skills Fund, to support skills and talent development across the UK. Producers making an unscripted TV programme for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Network will be expected to contribute to the fund, with the producer and the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ both contributing 0.125% of the agreed price of the commission.

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ will deduct the producer contribution from the final cashflow payment upon acceptance of all deliverables, and will then send both the producer and broadcaster contributions to ScreenSkills on a quarterly basis.

The ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ has asked for 100% of its broadcast contribution to be spent in the Nations and English regions, and Pact have determined that 50% of the producer contribution should be spent outside London.

Find out more about the Unscripted TV Skills Fund on the .

Heads of funding

Please see the contacts page for current Heads of Funding contact information.

Please note the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ is not responsible for the content of external websites.