Bookkeeping for Agencies
Bookkeeping for Marketing and Creative Agencies
Project profitability. Freelancer 1099 payments. Ad spend pass-through.
- AIPB Certified
- QuickBooks ProAdvisor
- Xero Partner
- US-based team
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Here's a question most agency owners can't answer fast: is that client actually profitable, or does it just feel busy? Retainers blend with project fees. A handful of freelancers get paid on a rotating cast of invoices. And then there's the ad spend, tens of thousands of dollars moving through the agency's accounts every month that may or may not actually be the agency's revenue.
That last one trips up more agencies than anything else. Is the ad spend you're managing on behalf of a client your revenue, with the media cost as an expense? Or is it a pass-through, money that touches your books but was never really yours? Both answers exist depending on how the client relationship is structured, and getting it wrong either inflates your revenue into something that looks great on paper and terrible to a lender, or hides margin you're actually earning.
We run books for marketing and creative agencies where the mix of retainers, projects, freelancers, and media spend needs someone who's seen the pattern before. Project profitability tracked so you know which accounts are worth keeping. Freelancer payments handled with W-9s collected up front, not chased in January. Software subscriptions tracked so the tool stack doesn't quietly eat your margin.
Where agencies bookkeeping actually helps
- I honestly don't know which clients are profitable once I account for freelancer time and tool costsProject-level profitability tracking so retainer and project revenue gets weighed against the freelancer and software cost tied to each account.
- Ad spend runs through our accounts and I can't tell if it's revenue or a pass-through costAd spend classified based on how the client agreement is actually structured, agency-of-record revenue kept separate from true pass-through billing.
- I pay a dozen freelancers and I'm never sure who needs a 1099-NECW-9 collected before the first payment goes out, freelancer payments tracked all year so 1099-NEC issuance in January is a formality, not a scramble.
- Retainer and project revenue are mixed together and I can't see the real mixRetainer revenue and project revenue split in the chart of accounts, so you can see whether you're actually building recurring revenue or just staying busy.
- Our software stack keeps growing and nobody's tracking what we're actually paying forSubscription spend tracked by category and reviewed regularly, so the tools you no longer use stop draining margin quietly.
What's different about agencies bookkeeping
- Project profitability tracking by account and by engagement
- Retainer revenue tracked separately from project fee revenue
- Freelancer and contractor 1099-NEC payment tracking with W-9 collection
- Ad spend classified correctly as agency revenue or client pass-through
- Software subscription tracking across the agency tool stack
- Books kept tax-ready year-round, ahead of every quarterly deadline
The ad spend call every agency has to make
Say you're running a client's Google Ads account. The client pays you $30,000. Of that, $25,000 goes straight to the ad platform and $5,000 is your management fee. Is your revenue $30,000 with $25,000 in cost, or is your revenue just the $5,000 fee? The honest answer depends on your relationship with the client and how the contract is written, whether you're acting as the agent placing spend on their behalf or you're billing them for a service where the media is bundled in.
This isn't a technicality. It changes what your revenue line says, which changes how a lender or a buyer reads your business, and it changes your actual margin visibility month to month. We look at how each client relationship is actually structured and code it consistently, not client by client based on whoever set up the invoice that quarter.
The freelancer side runs on a similar principle: get the classification right before the money moves, not after. A W-9 collected before the first payment means January isn't a hunt through a year of Venmo and wire transfers trying to figure out who crossed the $600 threshold. It's a report that was already accurate the whole time.
What's included
- Bank and credit card reconciliation, monthly
- Project and account-level profitability reporting
- Retainer versus project revenue separation
- Ad spend classification, agency revenue or pass-through
- Freelancer W-9 collection and 1099-NEC tracking
- Software subscription tracking by category
- Monthly profit and loss with plain-English summary
- Year-end handover to your CPA or EA
Why marketing and creative agencies pick us
We know agency margins
Retainers, project fees, freelancer costs, ad spend. We've seen enough agency books to spot where the margin actually lives, and where it quietly leaks.
Ad spend classified correctly
Pass-through or revenue, coded consistently based on how the client relationship is actually structured, not however the last invoice happened to be set up.
Profitability by account
See which clients are actually worth keeping once freelancer time and tool cost are weighed against what they pay you.
1099s that aren't a January scramble
W-9s collected before the first payment. Freelancer totals tracked all year. 1099-NEC issuance is a formality by the time January comes around.
Software stack visibility
Every subscription tracked by category, so the tools nobody's used since Q1 get caught before they quietly compound into a real cost.
Quarterly deadlines, handled
Books kept current all year so your quarterly estimated tax and year-end handover to your CPA come together without a fire drill.
See which clients are actually making you money
Tell us your service mix and rough size. Written quote back the same business day.
Three agency shapes
Founder plus a few freelancers, project-based work
Small agency running mostly project work with a rotating group of freelance designers and writers. No paid media management. Founder handling client relationships and creative direction, no time left for books.
What changes
- Project profitability by client
- Freelancer W-9 and 1099-NEC tracking
- Software subscription visibility
- Books ready for quarterly deadlines
How agencies typically run their books
Founder-managed Common under 5 people | General bookkeeper Not agency-specific | Outsourced (us) Built for agencies | |
|---|---|---|---|
Ad spend classified correctly | No | Partial | Yes |
Project profitability visible | No | Partial | Yes |
Freelancer W-9s collected up front | Partial | Partial | Yes |
Retainer vs project revenue split | No | Partial | Yes |
Reviewed by an AIPB-certified bookkeeper | No | No | Yes |
Software subscription spend tracked | No | No | Yes |
How we price agencies bookkeeping
Agency bookkeeping pricing depends on transaction volume, how much ad spend runs through your accounts, freelancer headcount, and whether you have staff on payroll. A small project-based shop with a couple of freelancers is a different job than an agency managing six-figure monthly media budgets.
Fill out the quote form and give us a rough sense of your client mix and size. We will send back a written number, usually within a business day. Pricing scales with the agency, not a flat tier you have to squeeze into.
Agencies bookkeeping FAQ
Two things to remember
Every account is reconciled and kept tax-ready by an AIPB-certified bookkeeper. Every account is run inside the US. Those two anchors shape how we handle compliance for marketing and creative agencies specifically.
Books per project, not per panic.
Tell us your service mix and size. We will quote your retainer the same day.