Industries
Agencies and consultancies
Finbryn spreads Canadian agency retainer income over the period it covers instead of booking it on receipt, tracks contractor payments against project margin, and keeps client-reimbursable expenses out of overhead. GST/HST on billed services is tracked by province, and books close by business day five so utilization and margin questions have real answers in client reviews.
Management report
Illustrative client · August 2026
CAD
| Line | Aug | Jul | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 142,380 | 131,904 | +10,476 |
| Cost of sales | (51,260) | (48,115) | (3,145) |
| Gross profit | 91,120 | 83,789 | +7,331 |
| Payroll | (46,300) | (45,900) | (400) |
| SoftwareNoted | (6,480) | (5,490) | (990) |
| Rent | (8,000) | (8,000) | 0 |
| Other operating | (9,215) | (9,870) | +655 |
| Net income | 21,125 | 14,529 | +6,596 |
Reviewer's note
Software is up on last month after two seats were added mid-month. Revenue includes one milestone invoice that will not repeat next month.
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
Exceptions report
Where the books usually hurt
Retainer income gets booked as cash received instead of spread across the service period it covers
Contractor and subcontractor payments pile up in accounts payable without a clear view of project margin
Client-reimbursable expenses get mixed into firm overhead instead of billed back out
Utilization and project profitability questions come up in client reviews and the books cannot answer them
Retainers are not revenue the day they land
A retainer paid at the start of a month covers work spread across that month, or sometimes several. Booking it as revenue the day it hits the bank overstates the month it lands in and understates the ones that follow. Finbryn spreads retainer income across the period it actually covers, so a Canadian agency's monthly numbers reflect work delivered, not cash timing.
Contractor and subcontractor costs are common in agency and consultancy work, and left unmanaged they pile up in accounts payable with no clear link back to which project they supported. We tag contractor spend by client or project as it is booked, so margin by engagement is visible without a manual spreadsheet rebuild at quarter end.
GST/HST and client-reimbursable expenses
Agencies billing clients across Ontario, British Columbia and other provinces are applying different tax treatment invoice by invoice, HST where it applies, GST plus provincial sales tax elsewhere. We track that split, and we keep client-reimbursable expenses, ad spend, stock photography, software passed through to a client, out of firm overhead so they can be billed back cleanly instead of eroding the agency's own margin on paper.
What changes when you switch to Finbryn
You keep the QuickBooks Online, Xero or Sage 50 file, with client or project tagging so utilization and profitability questions have an actual answer in the next client review. Payroll coordination runs alongside a mix of employees and contractors through Wagepoint or your existing processor, books close by business day five, and every file is reviewed by a senior principal before it reaches you, with billing terms set out in your engagement letter.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Agencies and consultancies
Do you spread retainer income across the period it covers?
Yes, retainer revenue is recognized over the service period rather than booked when the payment arrives.
Do you handle agencies that bill in more than one currency?
Yes, foreign-currency client billings are reconciled at the rate actually received and tracked alongside GST/HST on the Canadian-dollar side.
Do you separate client-reimbursable expenses from overhead?
Yes, pass-through costs like ad spend or stock assets are tracked apart from firm overhead so they can be billed back cleanly.
Do you handle payroll for a mix of employees and contractors?
Yes, payroll coordination runs through Wagepoint or your existing processor alongside contractor payments.
Can you handle billing across more than one province for the same agency?
Yes. Revenue and the GST, HST or provincial sales tax tied to each engagement are coded by province, so a client billed from Ontario and another from Alberta both post correctly without mixing rates or double-handling the reconciliation at month end.
Can you track profitability by client or project?
Yes, income and direct costs can be tagged by client or project so margin is visible each month.
Do you handle a mix of employees and contractors?
Yes, payroll coordination and contractor payments are both part of the monthly bookkeeping.
What are the common bookkeeping challenges for a agencies and consultancies business?
Beyond the basics, client-reimbursable expenses get mixed into firm overhead instead of billed back out and utilization and project profitability questions come up in client reviews and the books cannot answer them come up often in this industry. We build the chart of accounts and reconciliation process around those specific patterns rather than a generic template that ignores how the business actually operates.
What software do you support for agencies and consultancies?
We work inside QuickBooks Online and Xero, along with the other tools listed on this page that are common in the agencies and consultancies industry. If you have no file yet, we set one up in your name so you own it from day one.
Related services
- BookkeepingMonthly bookkeepingOngoing monthly bookkeeping: transactions sorted into categories, accounts reconciled and month-end reports delivered in the software you already use.
- BookkeepingCatch-up and cleanup bookkeepingMonths or years of books brought up to date and reconciled, with a written record of every adjustment, so monthly bookkeeping can start from a clean base.
Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.