Agencies move quickly, taking on staff, freelancers and projects, often before the financial side has caught up. Without clear numbers, it is hard to know which clients and services actually make money.
We work with agencies across the UK, keeping accounts and payroll tidy, VAT correct and producing the management figures you need to make confident decisions.
The tax challenges agencies face
- Managing payroll for a growing team plus freelancers
- VAT on services and sometimes across borders
- Knowing the true profit on each client or project
- Cash flow when clients pay late
- Director pay and profit extraction as the agency grows
What we help with
- Year end accounts and corporation tax
- Payroll for staff and pension auto enrolment
- VAT returns and advice as you grow
- Management figures by client or service
- Director salary and dividend planning
- Cloud bookkeeping that keeps pace
Common mistakes to avoid
Useful tax tips
- Track profitability by client or project, not just total revenue
- Keep payroll and freelancer payments clean as the team grows
- Review VAT treatment if you work with overseas clients
- Plan director pay around the allowances each year
An agency that learned which clients paid
A digital agency was busy and growing but unsure which work was profitable. We set up management figures by client, ran the payroll cleanly and planned director pay. The founders could see which retainers truly paid and focused the business accordingly.
Fixed fees from £19.99 a month for sole trader freelancers, and from £30 a month for agency limited companies. Your exact quote is agreed up front, and takes about 2 minutes to get.
The retainer that was hiding a loss
A digital agency billed a large retainer quarterly in advance and celebrated every invoice month. Recognised properly across the months the work was delivered, the picture changed: one service line was losing money every single month, hidden by the billing rhythm. With margin per client visible, the founders repriced 2 accounts, moved one to a project basis and declined to renew the least profitable relationship. Revenue barely moved that year. Profit rose meaningfully, and the founders stopped confusing being busy with being profitable, which is the most common agency trap there is.
Your first month with us
- Week 1: bookkeeping restructured so retainers, projects and pass through spend are separated
- Week 2: payroll and freelancer costs mapped to clients so margin per account exists at all
- Week 3: VAT treatment per client checked, including any overseas business clients
- Week 4: your first margin report and a short call on what it says about pricing
The numbers that actually run an agency
Marketing, creative and digital agencies live and die on two numbers that rarely appear in a standard set of accounts: recovery rate on time sold, and reliance on the biggest client. We build your bookkeeping so both are visible. Retainers, project work and pass through media spend are separated properly, so revenue is recognised in the right month and a big prepaid retainer does not masquerade as profit.
- Retainer and project income recognised in the month the work happens, not the month the invoice lands
- Media spend and other pass through costs kept out of your real margin, so growth in billings does not disguise flat profitability
- Freelancer and contractor costs tracked per client, with the employment status risk on regular freelancers flagged before HMRC does it for you
- VAT on international clients handled correctly, including services outside the scope and the evidence you need to support that treatment
- Monthly management figures that show margin per client, which is usually where an agency finds its least profitable relationship is its most demanding one
Growing an agency without the cash flow whiplash
Agencies grow in steps: a big client lands, you hire ahead of the revenue, and for three months cash is terrifying. We help you plan those steps with a rolling cash forecast tied to your actual pipeline, sensible salary versus dividend decisions for the founders, and a clear view of what a new hire really costs once employer National Insurance and pension contributions sit on top of salary. When the team grows, payroll, pensions and the Employment Allowance are all handled inside the same fixed fee.