How it runs for marketing agencies and consultancies
Reports are built from your QuickBooks Online or Xero file plus Harvest or your time tool, reviewed by the team lead, and delivered with a plain-language note.
What is outsourced financial reporting?
Outsourced financial reporting means a remote accounting team prepares your periodic financial statements and management reports instead of an in-house controller. The team works from your own accounting file, applies a consistent close and review process, and issues a report pack on a fixed date each month. You keep the data, the software and the decisions.
What we handle for marketing agencies and consultancies
- P&L by client and service line with fee revenue shown net of pass-throughs
- Balance sheet with deferred retainers and WIP presented separately
- Cash view that separates client media funds from agency operating cash
- Revenue per billable hour and utilization by team, from time data
- Budget-to-actual comparison with variances explained in the note
The KPI that matters here
Monthly reporting pack delivered within 7 business days of month-end with every variance over 10% explained.
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
More for marketing agencies and consultancies
Other services for agencies
Financial reporting in other industries
Frequently asked questions
Can you report agency revenue net of media?
Yes, the pack shows gross billings, pass-through media and net fee revenue as three separate lines. Margin and overhead ratios are calculated on net fee revenue, which is the figure most agency benchmarks and acquirers use. Your accountant confirms the presentation under ASC 606 or IFRS 15 and we apply it consistently.
How do you get utilization into the financial report?
We pull billable and non-billable hours by person from Harvest, Toggl or your PM tool and place them next to fee revenue. That gives revenue per billable hour, utilization by team and effective rate by client. The time data is reconciled to invoices so hours and dollars agree before the report goes out.
Can our management team get the reports on a dashboard instead?
Yes, the same figures feed a live dashboard for owners who prefer a screen to a PDF. Our KPI dashboard page for agencies describes the standard tiles: DSO, utilization, margin by client and cash runway. The monthly pack remains the reviewed, signed-off version of the numbers.
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