Retainers with visible economics
Compare the agreed fee with the cost of servicing each account, including recurring work that never reaches a separate invoice.
Finance support for client-service businesses
Accounting for agencies and consultancies in Ireland
A busy delivery team is not necessarily a profitable one. Irish Accounting Partner connects agency and consultancy accounts with client fees, delivery time, contractor costs and collection dates, so owners can see which work supports the business and which commitments need to change.
Request a consultationDoes this sound familiar?
The client roster looks healthy. Does the margin tell the same story?
- Retainers keep expanding in scope without a corresponding change in fees
- Media spend and other client recharges make turnover look larger than the agency's own fee income
- Delivery teams are busy, but time and contractor costs cannot be traced to clients
- Partners approve recruitment using pipeline value rather than secured work and available cash
- Completed work sits unbilled while salaries and suppliers still need paying
The practical outcome
Know what to renew, reprice and resource.
A credible capacity plan
Separate billable delivery from pitching, administration and internal projects before deciding whether another hire is justified.
Collections tied to commitments
Show how client payment dates affect contractor bills, salaries and the next month's cash headroom.
What this looks like in practice
Make the monthly accounts reflect how client work is delivered.
This support suits marketing, digital, creative and PR agencies, alongside owner-managed consulting firms. The reporting structure follows the commercial model, whether work is sold through retainers, fixed-fee projects or day rates.
Distinguish agency fees from money passing through
An agency may invoice its own fee alongside media buying, printing or other costs incurred for a client. Reporting those amounts without distinction can distort the apparent scale and margin of the business. We can separate service fees, recharges and associated costs in management reporting, while the accounting treatment follows the contracts and agreed policy.
Retainer work also needs a consistent period view. An annual invoice, an advance payment and a month of completed service are not interchangeable. Billing schedules, delivery records and the accounting ledger should be reconciled rather than allowing invoice dates alone to dictate the commercial picture.
- Fee income by client and service line
- Recharges and direct third-party costs
- Advance billing and outstanding delivery
Find the scope creep hidden in a recurring relationship
A retainer's contribution can fall even while its fee remains unchanged. Additional meetings, revisions and senior involvement consume capacity. Reliable time records let management compare the effort originally priced with the effort actually required, using consistent internal cost rates rather than assuming every hour has the same cost.
The result should support a client conversation: amend the scope, improve delivery, adjust the fee or accept a lower contribution for an explicit commercial reason. Without time data, begin with identifiable contractor and project expenses and disclose the limitations rather than presenting precise-looking client margins.
Connect hiring to secured work, not optimistic pipeline
A capacity forecast starts with signed retainers, scheduled projects and the people needed to deliver them. Prospective wins belong in separate scenarios. We can model the effect of a permanent hire against contractor cover, including the period before new revenue is billed and collected.
Utilisation should be defined for the role being measured. A partner's sales time and a designer's delivery hours are different activities. A useful management pack combines fee income, contribution, unbilled work and receivables with a small number of operational measures that managers can maintain.
Illustrative retainer review: the same fee, a different contribution
These invented figures show a management comparison, not a client result. Revenue is net of VAT; delivery cost uses recorded hours at an agreed internal cost rate.
| Monthly retainer | Client A | Client B |
|---|---|---|
| Service fee | €8,000 | €8,000 |
| Allocated delivery cost | €3,200 | €4,800 |
| External contractor cost | €800 | €1,200 |
| Contribution before shared overhead | €4,000 (50%) | €2,000 (25%) |
Client B contributes half as much despite the identical invoice. Management should investigate revisions, scope and staffing before treating both renewals as equally attractive. Shared overhead and non-billable time still need to be funded.
What we need to understand your business
Start the enquiry with a summary of the problem and the systems you use. If we agree to proceed, the working information normally includes:
- Client agreements, retainer scopes and billing milestones
- Project or time exports with consistent client codes
- Contractor invoices and internal staff cost assumptions
- Sales ledger, debtor ageing and expected collection dates
Do not send passwords, banking credentials or sensitive personal records through the public enquiry form. Access and document-sharing arrangements are agreed separately.
Where to start
Choose support for the decision on your desk.
Management accounts
Review client contribution, delivery variances and collection performance together.
Cash-flow forecastingTest how a late-paying client or a new hire affects cash before the commitment is made.
Virtual CFO supportBring regular financial challenge to retainers, hiring and commercial planning.
The first working cycle
Start with a client-margin and cash review.
Agree the margin definition
Decide how delivery time, contractor costs and recharges will be treated so comparisons mean the same thing.
Reconcile one reporting period
Connect fee income and costs with a manageable client or project breakdown.
Prioritise the action
Identify the accounts to reprice, the invoices to raise and the staffing assumptions to revisit.
Bring the retainer, project or hiring decision you cannot currently explain with confidence. Our Dublin 8 team works with businesses across Ireland and can scope a focused review or a recurring reporting engagement around it.
Questions before working together
Can you show client profitability without timesheets?
We can begin with fees and identifiable external costs. Staff-cost allocation needs a defensible basis, such as reliable hours or documented resource estimates. We explain what the available data supports and where a more complete allocation is needed.
Can we keep our existing tax accountant?
Yes. A reporting engagement can sit alongside your existing adviser. We agree who maintains the records, who prepares the reporting pack and what information is handed over, without taking over tax or filing obligations.
Complimentary 20-minute finance consultation
Find the right starting point before you commit.
Bring the finance problem taking up the most attention. Our team will establish whether the requirement fits and what a sensible next step could look like.
Speak with our accountancy team. No obligation and no need to choose a service beforehand.