EP Budgeting Alternative: Saturation vs Entertainment Partners Budgeting Software

When producers search for an EP Budgeting alternative, they're usually in one of two situations. The first: they've been handed a legacy Entertainment Partners workflow and are wondering whether there's a more accessible, modern option. The second: they've priced out the EP ecosystem and are looking for something that doesn't require a studio-level accounting department to justify the cost.

Both searches land at the same question. Is there a production budgeting tool that gives you professional-grade features without the enterprise overhead?

This page breaks down what the EP Budgeting ecosystem actually includes, how it compares to Saturation, and which platform fits which type of production.

What Is EP Budgeting?

"EP Budgeting" is a term that refers to budgeting software published by Entertainment Partners (EP), the largest enterprise production management and payroll company in Hollywood. The product most people mean when they say "EP Budgeting" is Movie Magic Budgeting, EP's flagship budgeting tool that has powered studio, network, and streaming productions for decades.

Entertainment Partners also operates a broader suite called SmartStudio, which includes SmartAccounting, SmartStart, SmartTime, Scenechronize, SmartHub, SmartResiduals, and SmartCards. In June 2025, EP acquired CASHet, a digital payment and purchasing card platform that was already the industry standard for on-set production card payments across thousands of studio and independent productions annually. These tools are designed to work together as a single end-to-end enterprise platform.

The legacy version of the EP budgeting software (Movie Magic Budgeting 7) lost official technical support as of March 31, 2025. It is no longer compatible with current operating systems including Windows 11 and macOS Ventura and above. EP strongly recommends upgrading to Movie Magic Budgeting 10, the current cloud-enabled version.

So when you're searching for an EP Budgeting alternative, you are really looking for an alternative to Entertainment Partners' production finance ecosystem, centered on Movie Magic Budgeting 10.

EP Budgeting vs Saturation: At a Glance

Movie Magic Budgeting: What the EP Ecosystem Actually Offers

Movie Magic Budgeting 10 is a genuinely powerful tool. It has earned its status as the studio standard by handling the things that matter at scale: complex multi-currency productions, pattern budgeting for episodic content, tax incentive modeling across jurisdictions, and a fringe calculation engine that automatically applies payroll taxes and union benefit obligations.

The platform integrates with EP's SmartAccounting product, which allows production budgets to flow into an accounting environment so actuals can be tracked against the original budget without manual data re-entry. For large productions with dedicated production accountants running a full chart of accounts, this integration removes a significant amount of reconciliation work.

Budget hierarchy supports up to three levels of detail. The report builder lets accountants drag and drop fields, exclude categories, and produce board-ready cost reports. Template libraries store standardized structures that can be reused across episodes or franchise projects.

Since the June 2025 CASHet acquisition, the EP ecosystem now includes an enterprise-grade digital payment and purchasing card solution. CASHet's p-card (purchasing card) and digital AP payment workflows were already used across more than 2,500 studio and independent productions annually before the acquisition. Folding CASHet into SmartStudio gives EP an end-to-end pipeline from budget creation to vendor payment within a single vendor relationship.

That integration strength is also the platform's main limitation for producers who don't need all of it.

Feature-by-Feature Breakdown

Budget Building

Movie Magic Budgeting 10 offers one of the most comprehensive budget-building environments available. Above-the-line and below-the-line categories, globals for applying percentage changes across the whole budget, customizable fringes per union or jurisdiction, and a pattern-budget system for episodic content. The depth is matched to productions where a production accountant will spend weeks building and maintaining the budget file.

Saturation approaches budget building differently. The interface is designed for the producer who is also doing the line producing, or for a lean accounting team that needs to move quickly. Real-time collaboration means multiple team members can work on the same budget simultaneously without version conflicts. The structure covers the same above-the-line and below-the-line categories a professional production requires. AI-assisted fringe calculations are scheduled to launch in April 2026, which will reduce one of the most time-intensive parts of budget preparation for independent productions.

Payroll Integration

This is the area where the two platforms diverge most significantly, and understanding the distinction matters.

Entertainment Partners is, at its core, an enterprise payroll company. EP handles W-2 payroll, union compliance, residuals, and tax withholding for major productions. Movie Magic Budgeting is designed to feed directly into that payroll infrastructure. For a studio series with a full accountant onboarding W-2 crew through SmartStart and processing timecards through SmartTime, the integration removes manual data transfer at every step.

Saturation Pay handles contractor and vendor payments only. It is not a W-2 payroll service and should not be positioned as one. For independent productions that pay the majority of their crew and vendors as contractors, Saturation Pay provides a direct payment pathway with expense tracking built in. Productions that need full union W-2 payroll processing will use a dedicated payroll provider (such as EP, Wrapbook, or GreenSlate) alongside Saturation. Notably, Saturation integrates with Wrapbook, so payroll actuals from Wrapbook can flow back into the Saturation budget to keep the cost report current.

Real-Time Collaboration

Movie Magic Budgeting 10 added cloud sync, which means budget files can be shared and updated across locations without emailing spreadsheets. However, the core architecture is still a desktop application with cloud storage. True simultaneous multi-user editing in the same file is not the same as live collaboration.

Saturation was built cloud-first. Multiple users can work in the same budget at the same time, see each other's changes in real time, and track line-item history without the risk of file conflicts. For productions where the line producer, director, and department heads are in different time zones reviewing the same budget, this removes friction that desktop tools cannot fully eliminate.

Pricing and Accessibility

Movie Magic Budgeting costs approximately $42.99 per seat per month, or approximately $299.88 per seat per year (annual subscription). There is no free tier and no free trial listed. Academic pricing is available at approximately $125.88 per year for verified students. For a small production with two or three people who need access to the budget, the per-seat cost adds up quickly.

Saturation offers a free tier that covers a single project, which allows a producer to run an entire indie short, commercial, or music video budget at no cost. Paid plans scale based on project volume and team size, with pricing designed for productions that are not running a studio accounting department.

Expense Management

Within the EP ecosystem, expense management and purchasing card operations are handled through CASHet (formerly a standalone product, now part of EP since June 2025). CASHet's p-card and digital AP payment system is an enterprise-grade solution used across thousands of productions. Accessing it requires engaging with EP as a vendor beyond the budgeting software subscription.

Saturation integrates expense management directly into the platform. The Saturation production credit card earns 3% cash back on production expenses and feeds transactions directly into the budget so actuals are updated without manual entry. For a production where the producer is also managing card expenses, having budgeting and expense tracking in the same interface reduces the number of systems to reconcile at wrap.

AICP Format Support

Both platforms support AICP account code structure. AICP (Association of Independent Commercial Producers) formatting is the standard for commercial production budgets, and both Movie Magic Budgeting and Saturation provide templates that conform to those account codes. For commercial producers considering either platform, AICP support is not a differentiator.

Who Should Use EP / Movie Magic Budgeting

The EP ecosystem is the right choice when a production has the accounting infrastructure to match it. Specifically:

• Studio features and series with a full production accounting department, including a production accountant, assistant accountants, and payroll coordinator

• Network and streaming productions where the studio mandates EP or Movie Magic as the standard

• Productions processing W-2 payroll for union crew at scale, where EP's payroll and residuals infrastructure is already engaged

• Episodic productions that benefit from pattern budgeting and need the SmartAccounting integration to close out each episode's cost report

• Productions in complex multi-currency or multi-jurisdiction environments where Movie Magic's tax incentive modeling provides tangible value

If your production fits one of these profiles, Movie Magic Budgeting is likely already your tool of choice, and the broader EP suite extends its value further.

Who Should Use Saturation

Saturation is built for the production environment where one person is wearing multiple hats, or where a small team needs to move quickly without enterprise IT overhead.

• Independent film producers budgeting features, shorts, or documentaries without a full accounting staff

• Commercial and music video producers who need AICP-compatible budgets and fast turnaround for client approvals

• Line producers who want real-time collaboration with directors and department heads during prep

• Productions that pay crew primarily as contractors and want expense tracking and vendor payments in the same platform

• Emerging filmmakers who need a professional budgeting tool and can start with the free tier on their first project

• Mid-size productions looking to earn 3% cash back on production card spend and apply that directly to budget actuals

The free tier makes Saturation a genuine starting point for producers who are not yet running productions large enough to justify a per-seat subscription. The platform scales as the production does.

Can You Use Both?

Yes, and some productions do exactly that. A production might use Movie Magic Budgeting as the accountant's tool of record because the studio or financier requires it, while a line producer or department head uses Saturation for day-to-day cost tracking, contractor payments through Saturation Pay, and collaborative budget review during prep.

Saturation also integrates with Wrapbook, which means a production processing W-2 payroll through Wrapbook can pull actuals back into the Saturation budget automatically. This approach lets productions keep their payroll infrastructure in place while using Saturation for the collaborative budgeting and expense management layer.

The two tools are not mutually exclusive. They serve different functions in the production finance stack, and the decision often comes down to which tool is being used for which purpose rather than an either/or replacement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is EP Budgeting the same as Movie Magic Budgeting?

Yes. "EP Budgeting" is a colloquial term for the budgeting software published by Entertainment Partners. The current product is Movie Magic Budgeting 10. The legacy version, Movie Magic Budgeting 7, lost official technical support on March 31, 2025 and is no longer compatible with current operating systems. If you are on the legacy version, EP recommends upgrading to MMB 10.

Does Movie Magic Budgeting have a free trial?

No free trial or free tier is currently advertised by Entertainment Partners. Movie Magic Budgeting is available on a monthly subscription (~$42.99/seat/month) or annual subscription (~$299.88/seat/year). Academic pricing is available for verified students (~$125.88/year).

What does EP Budgeting cost compared to Saturation?

Movie Magic Budgeting starts at approximately $42.99 per seat per month with no free tier. Saturation offers a free tier for a single project, with paid plans that scale by project volume and team size. For a small production with two or three users, Saturation's pricing is significantly lower, and the free tier covers single-project productions entirely.

Does Saturation handle payroll like EP does?

No. EP (Entertainment Partners) operates a full enterprise payroll service covering W-2 processing, union compliance, residuals, and tax withholding. Saturation Pay is a separate function that handles contractor and vendor payments only. It is not a W-2 payroll service. Productions that need union W-2 payroll will use a dedicated payroll provider alongside Saturation.

Can Saturation import Movie Magic Budgeting files?

Saturation supports the standard above-the-line and below-the-line budget structure used across the industry. For specific import compatibility questions, the Saturation support team can confirm current file format support at support.saturation.io.

What is EP's SmartStudio and does it compete with Saturation?

SmartStudio is EP's enterprise suite that includes SmartAccounting, SmartStart, SmartTime, Scenechronize, SmartHub, SmartResiduals, SmartCards, and now CASHet (acquired June 2025). It is designed for studio and network productions with a full back-office accounting operation. Saturation is designed for productions that need collaborative budgeting, expense management, and contractor payment tools without the enterprise infrastructure requirement. The two products serve different market segments.

Is there a cloud-based alternative to Movie Magic Budgeting?

Movie Magic Budgeting 10 includes cloud sync functionality but is built on a desktop application architecture. Saturation is a fully cloud-based platform built for real-time multi-user collaboration from the ground up. For producers who prioritize true cloud-native access from any device without local software installation, Saturation is a cloud-first option.

Start Without Committing to Enterprise Pricing

If you're evaluating EP Budgeting alternatives because the per-seat cost of Movie Magic Budgeting doesn't fit your production's scale, or because you need real-time collaboration and integrated expense management rather than a desktop tool and a separate card platform, Saturation is worth starting with on your next project.

The free tier covers a single project with no time limit. Paid plans add unlimited projects, team access, and the full expense management and contractor payment suite. For productions that earn 3% back on every card transaction and automatically reconcile those expenses against the budget, the platform pays for itself before the end of prep.

Start free at Saturation.io and run your next budget without a per-seat subscription.