Review: Federate

Federate is een creatief bureau uit Schaarbeek. Met ongeveer 3 VTE is dit een klein bureau. Het aanbod bestrijkt creatie & reclame, strategie en branding & identiteit. Publiek gekende klanten zijn onder meer AG Insurance, Keytrade Bank, BRUZZ en Dubuisson.

ContinuitySolid

GrowthGrowing fast31,0% gross margin versus the previous year · median -0,2%

shrinkinggrowth

ProfitabilityAverage margin29,8% of gross margin remains as EBITDA · median 17,9%

thinample

ResilienceStrong balance sheet60% of the balance sheet is equity · median 29%

thinample

Per-head and per-hour figures say too little here: too few people are on the payroll. This factsheet therefore shows growth, profitability and balance sheet.

1

How this agency makes money

Revenue, margin and what an hour of work brings in. Everything on the earning side sits together here.

Revenue trendgross margin per financial year

20212022202320242025

Latest year: € 190.287 gross margin, growth +31% against a sector median of -0,2%.

At or above sector pace

MarginEBITDA / gross margin · value-added coverage

20212022202320242025

FederateSector median

EBITDA margin 29,8%, sector median 17,9%. Value-added coverage 1,43 (median 1,17).

Healthy margin

Revenue per headGross margin per FTE, against payroll cost

€ 65.616

Median (2024) € 72.673

Against a payroll cost of € 45.769 per FTE. The ratio between the two is the coverage rate above.

Below the median

Yield levelYield per hour worked, against payroll cost

€ 45

Median (2024) € 45

4.273 hours worked, 1.473 per FTE. Against that sits € 31 of payroll cost per hour worked, leaving € 13 for premises, equipment, depreciation and profit.

Around the median

No hourly rate follows from this. Gross margin is already net of services and sundry goods, which mixes rebilled production with the agency's own overhead, and the accounts do not say how many hours were billable. Deriving a rate from this systematically understates it.

2

Can the agency take a hit

Buffer, cash position and payment behaviour side by side, so you can see where they disagree.

Bufferequity in months of payroll

Buffer: 19,6 months (median 6,7 mo). Equity in the latest year: € 217.269.

Adequate buffer

Cash positionAvailable cash, and whether it covers short-term debt

Cash € 98.102. Liquidity ratio 2,93: current assets cover short-term debt in full. Solvency 59,5%.

Amply covered

Payment behaviourTowards suppliers and towards the NBB

Trade payables correspond to 90 days of supplier credit, sector median 73. The accounts were filed 152 days after closing; the legal deadline is seven months.

Pays slower than average

3

Signals and strengths

Events from the CBE and the Official Gazette over the past 24 months, plus positive markers derived from the figures.

Continuity

No serious signals

Signals in the last 24 months

No signals in the last 24 months.

What this agency does well

EBITDA margin above the sector median (29,8%)
Strong buffer: 19,6 months of payroll in equity
Team grew (+45,0% FTE in the latest year)
Value-added per euro of payroll above the sector median (1,43)
No warning signals in the last 24 months
Healthy working capital (current ratio 2,93)
Equity was earned, not injected (reserves 32,3× the capital contributed)
Comfortable cash position: 270 days of payroll

Each point is a fact from the filed annual accounts, measured against the same thresholds and sector medians as the signals above.

4

All the figures

Reference material, not a starting point. Expand it if you want to read the series yourself.

5 financial years, 2021 to 2025Result, staff and balance sheet

	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
Result
Gross margin	€ 294.000	€ 276.000-6,1%	€ 216.753-21,5%	€ 145.277-33%	€ 190.287+31%
EBITDA	€ 73.000	€ 68.000	€ 3.975	€ 47.279	€ 56.791
EBITDA margin	24,8%	24,6%	1,8%	32,5%	29,8%
Staff
FTE	3,9	4,1+5,1%	3,3-19,5%	2,0-39,4%	2,9+45%
Gross margin per FTE	€ 75.385	€ 67.317	€ 65.683	€ 72.639	€ 65.616
Payroll cost per FTE	€ 55.897	€ 48.780	€ 65.268	€ 48.363	€ 45.769
Balance sheet
Equity	€ 122.000	€ 166.000	€ 158.701	€ 185.995	€ 217.269
Cash	-	-	€ 163.755	€ 36.748	€ 98.102
Liquidity ratio	-	-	3,45	2,97	2,93

Payroll cost per FTE comes from the social report where available, otherwise from the Remuneration line. Both are gross costs including employer contributions.

What this factsheet does not know

How good the work is. Figures do not measure creativity, strategy or chemistry.
How the client portfolio is spread. Concentration is not in the accounts.
Freelancers and subcontractors are not in the FTE figures. An agency with 40 staff may in practice run with 70 people.
The figures cover financial year 2025, filed on 01/06/2026. At a fast-moving agency reality today may differ.

Based on publicly filed annual accounts (NBB) and official records (CBE, Belgian Official Gazette). An indication, not financial advice. Sector medians calculated on 27 Jul 2026. Sector medians based on financial year 2024: the last year for which nearly all accounts have been filed.

What the agency actually does 31 services

Strategy & Insights

Brand strategy & positioning Customer & audience strategy

Branding & Design

Brand identity & design Packaging design Product & service design

Advertising & Campaigns

Campaign concepts & big ideas Campaign execution Performance creative & DCO

Content & Production

Content strategy & editorial

Media

Digital & programmatic buying Media strategy & planning Offline buying (TV, radio, print, OOH) Search advertising (SEA)

Social, Influencer & Community

Influencer & creator marketing Organic social content Social strategy & platform mix

Digital Experience & Tech

Mobile apps & PWAs SEO & GEO Website development Website strategy & UX

CRM, Email & Loyalty

CRM & lifecycle strategy Direct marketing & lead management Marketing automation

Data, Measurement & Governance

Dashboards & reporting Data science & analytics (incl. predictive modelling)

PR & Reputation

Corporate communication PR strategy & media relations

Employer Brand & Internal

Internal communication

Events, Sponsoring & Activation

Brand activation (incl. guerrilla) Events & experiences Sponsorship & partnerships

Sector focus

B2C en B2B; financiele sector, media, FMCG/drank; Belgische markt (tweetalig)

Publicly known clients

AG InsuranceKeytrade BankBRUZZDubuisson

Based on IKAg research and public sources. Incomplete or outdated? Let us know.

1

People 7 people mapped

We mapped 7 people, but this agency keeps job titles to itself — the team page sticks to names. Who does what is best asked over coffee.

AB

Aurélie Behiels

B

Brigitte

C

Céline

D

Denis

PV

Paul Vatel

T

Thomas

T

Thomske

Based on public profiles. Something wrong? Let us know.

2

Seniors or juniors?

Payroll cost per FTE is the best public proxy for a team's experience level. Higher is not automatically better, but it says something about who sits at the table.

Payroll cost per FTE

€ 45.769

-26% versus the median

Team composition

2,9 VTE

50% women
50% men

€ 45.769

Median Creatief bureau (2024) € 61.872All agencies (2024) € 59.129

Read with care. Directors and partners invoicing through a management company are not in the payroll cost. At small agencies this skews the picture downwards considerably.

3

Will your team stay?

Inflow and outflow from the social report. This series only counts people on the payroll: freelancers who invoice do not appear in it. A low figure therefore means two very different things, a stable permanent team or a small core with heavy outsourcing. A high figure usually points to short contracts. Compare only within the same type of agency.

Exits 2025

34,5%

Median for this type of agency (2024): 33,7%

Inflow 2025

103,4%

3,0 FTE in, 1,0 FTE out

Net team change

+2,0 VTE

20212022202320242025

Source: annual accounts and social reports (NBB), collected by IKAg. Financial year 2025. Calculations by IKAg; an indication, not financial advice. Sector medians based on financial year 2024: the last year for which nearly all accounts have been filed.