Industries
Agencies and consultancies
Finbryn spreads retainer income across the period it actually covers instead of booking it on receipt, and tags income and direct costs by client so project margin is visible every month. We work inside QuickBooks Online or Xero alongside Harvest, coordinating payroll for a mix of employees and contractors.
Management report
Illustrative client · August 2026
USD
| 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
A retainer paid in January is not January's revenue
Agencies and consultancies commonly bill on retainer, meaning a client pays a fixed amount for services delivered over a defined period. Recording that payment as income the day it arrives, instead of spreading it across the months it actually covers, distorts monthly profitability and makes it look like the firm had a great January and a weak February when nothing about the actual work changed.
Finbryn sets up revenue recognition so retainer income is recognized across the service period, matched against the direct costs, mostly staff and contractor time, incurred delivering that work. The result is a profit and loss that reflects what actually happened each month, not just when invoices happened to be sent or paid.
Contractor payments and client-reimbursable expenses
Agencies running lean often rely heavily on contractors and freelancers rather than full-time staff, and those payments can pile up in accounts payable without a clear connection to which project or client they supported. We tag contractor and subcontractor costs to the project they relate to, so project margin is calculable, not just total firm profitability.
Expenses the firm advances on a client's behalf, like ad spend, software licenses or travel, and later bills back, get tracked separately from firm overhead. Left unseparated, those reimbursable costs make overhead look higher than it actually is and can get missed entirely when it comes time to invoice the client.
Utilization, project profitability and working with Finbryn
Client reviews and internal planning both depend on knowing which projects or clients are actually profitable once staff time and direct costs are accounted for, a question that pooled, unallocated bookkeeping cannot answer. We build project or client-level tagging into the chart of accounts so that question has a real answer each month.
You keep your QuickBooks Online or Xero file, integrated with Harvest or another time-tracking tool if the firm already uses one. A named pod manages your account, with a recorded handover memo if that pod changes, and books close by business day five. Firms catching up after relying on a spreadsheet or a part-time bookkeeper typically start with a catch-up project priced separately from ongoing monthly bookkeeping. Pricing is published on our pricing page.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Agencies and consultancies
Can you track profitability by client or project?
Yes. Income and direct costs, mainly staff and contractor time, can be tagged by client or project so margin is visible each month, not just at the firm level.
Do you handle a mix of employees and contractors?
Yes. Payroll coordination for employees and payment tracking for contractors are both part of the monthly bookkeeping, coded consistently against the projects they support.
How do you handle retainer revenue that covers a multi-month period?
Retainer income is recognized across the period it actually covers rather than on the day it is billed or paid, matched against the costs incurred delivering that work.
Can you track client-reimbursable expenses separately from overhead?
Yes. Expenses advanced on a client's behalf are tracked separately from firm overhead so they can be billed back accurately and do not distort the firm's real cost structure.
How do you handle unbilled time and expenses at month end?
Work performed but not yet invoiced is tracked as unbilled revenue rather than left out of the month's numbers entirely, so profitability by client or project reflects work actually delivered. Reimbursable expenses are tracked separately from billable time so margin on labor is not distorted by pass-through costs.
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.