How it runs for marketing agencies and consultancies
Contractor payments are tagged by vendor from day one so 1099 season needs no reconstruction. You get a client-level P&L, a reconciled balance sheet and a short note on what moved, every month.
What is outsourced bookkeeping?
Outsourced bookkeeping means a remote accounting team records, categorizes and reconciles your business transactions instead of an employee doing it in-house. You keep ownership of the accounting file and the bank relationship. The provider works inside your software on a fixed schedule, so the books are ready for reporting, tax and lending whenever you need them.
What we handle for marketing agencies and consultancies
- Code retainer receipts, milestone payments and hourly invoices to the right revenue line
- Post ad platform charges and production costs to pass-through, not cost of sales
- Match freelancer payments from PayPal, Wise and Bill.com to W-9 vendors
- Roll deferred retainer and WIP schedules forward each close
- Tag fees and direct costs by client with classes or tracking categories
The KPI that matters here
Books closed within 5 business days of month-end with zero uncategorized transactions older than 7 days.
Agencies compliance notes
1099 contractor reporting
Agencies rely on freelancers, and the IRS requires Form 1099-NEC for nonemployee compensation above the annual threshold, which is $2,000 for payments made in 2026. We collect W-9s at vendor setup, code every contractor payment, and hand your preparer a reconciled 1099 report each January. Your firm reviews and files; we do not sign.
Retainers and deferred revenue
A retainer billed before the service period is a liability until the work is delivered. We keep a deferred revenue schedule that releases each retainer to income as hours are logged or the month ends, so your P&L matches the work actually performed.
WIP and unbilled revenue
Work delivered but not yet invoiced is an asset that lenders and buyers ask about. We reconcile unbilled hours from Harvest or your PM tool against the ledger monthly, so WIP is real, aged and collectible.
Gross versus net for media
ASC 606 and IFRS 15 ask whether the agency is principal or agent for media it buys on a client's behalf. We apply the treatment your CPA or accountant chooses and keep the pass-through account reconciled to platform statements so the answer is documented.
Agencies software we work in
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Frequently asked questions
Which accounting file do you work in for an agency?
We work in your own QuickBooks Online or Xero file, with Harvest, Toggl or your PM tool as the source for hours. You keep ownership of the file and the bank connections. We connect with accountant-level access and read-only bank feeds where your bank supports them, so nothing about your stack changes when you outsource the posting.
How do you code money spent on ads for a client?
Ad spend is posted to a client-specific pass-through account rather than to cost of sales, then rebilled on the client invoice. The pass-through balance is reconciled to the Meta, Google or LinkedIn billing statement every month. This keeps your gross margin honest and gives you a clean answer if a client audits their media spend.
Do you track work in progress for fixed-fee projects?
Yes, we keep a WIP schedule that compares delivered but unbilled work against the project fee. Hours come from your time tool and milestones from your PM tool. Unbilled balances older than 30 days are flagged in the weekly status note so they become an invoice or a scope conversation rather than a write-off.
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