Is Cannes Worth It?

Cannes is over and you are finally able to look at a glass of rosé without getting a migraine. You lift the Whispering Angel to your lips, then an email: the AmEx statement has dropped. The financial consequences of the trip settle in. Maybe you’ve been avoiding your monthly meeting with your accountant and hoping the charges will simply get coded as “travel.” Don’t fret - we’ll give you a preview of what your accountant sees and some pointers on how to treat your “work” expenses.

1. 2,000 euros at The Carlton

After fox-guarding a table for a few hours, you finally are able to take a seat when you run into some agency clients you worked with a few years ago. Sure, we can get the magnum rose! Or two.

2. 100 euros on four packs of Marlboro Reds

It’s okay, you only smoke when you drink - and give the rest to your clients who also only smoke when they drink.

3. 43,500 euros on a yacht

It was 3,500 for catering and 40,000 for the charter, but at least you saved by booking an all inclusive hotel/restaurant/party venue - all for the price of a Kia Sorrento! In accounting, we call that an efficient expense.

4. Cash withdrawal at 2 AM outside of The Gutter Bar

We'll call this a miscellaneous travel expense. 

5. $5,000 to upgrade return flight to first class

After a week in Cannes treating your body like a garbage disposal, you deserve to be comfortable! After all, this was a business trip and you did manage to respond to several emails, give notes on a director’s treatment, and hit up your new agency friends to get lunch when you are back in town.

Conclusion: Sponsoring a trip to Cannes is certainly an extra expense, but just like a good producer – a good accountant knows the value of showing face, entertaining clients, and being in the same room as the decision-makers of our industry.

If your accountant doesn’t understand the value of a trip like this, maybe it is time to consider working with a firm that “gets it” and won’t guilt you for what is essentially a run-of-the-mill business expense. Sure, you may be drinking on the job – but you were doing way more than that in the ‘90s!