The billing email on the last Thursday
The finance manager sends her monthly email to all account managers: please confirm what to bill for your clients by Monday. Some reply with a list. Some say "same as last month". One forgets entirely. On Tuesday she chases. On Wednesday she finds out a client's retainer changed from this month, which nobody mentioned, and that there were two out-of-scope jobs agreed by email that should be billed.
Invoices go out around the middle of the month. Clients with thirty day terms pay in the following month. The agency is permanently financing six weeks of its own work, and the finance manager spends the first part of every month as a detective.
Why billing needs so much chasing
- Retainer fees are in contracts, but changes, pauses and uplifts are agreed in emails.
- Extras and change requests are approved by account managers and not recorded where finance can see them.
- Project stages are due when a milestone is hit, which only the project team knows.
- Recharges for freelancers, print and media depend on supplier bills that arrive late.
- Each client has its own invoice rules: PO numbers, splits by brand, specific contacts.
Finance has to ask because nothing that decides what to bill is recorded anywhere finance can read.
What slow billing costs
Cash arrives later than it needs to, every single month. Things get missed, such as an extra that was agreed and never billed, or a price rise that never made it onto the invoice. Account managers resent the chasing and finance resents doing it. Errors on invoices lead to queries that delay payment further.
The billing run we build
- Each client's recurring charges are held as billing rules: retainer fee, start and end dates, uplift dates, invoice split by brand or entity, PO requirement and invoice contacts.
- Agreed extras are recorded when approved, from your request log, project tool or a simple form, with the agreed amount.
- Project milestones marked complete in your project tool become billable stages.
- Supplier bills already coded as rechargeable are added to the client's charges, with your markup rules applied.
- On a set day, a draft billing pack is produced per client and sent to the account manager to confirm or adjust in a couple of clicks.
- Confirmed charges become draft invoices in Xero or QuickBooks with the right lines, PO numbers and contacts, for finance to approve and send.
- Anything unconfirmed after the deadline is listed for finance with the account manager's name, instead of a general chase.
| Charge type | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Retainer fees | Billing rules per client |
| Agreed extras | Request log or approval form |
| Project stages | Milestones in the project tool |
| Recharges | Supplier bills coded to the client |
| Media | Media reconciliation, if you rebill |
The billing rules become the single place where a retainer change is recorded, so the account manager updates it once instead of remembering to mention it.
The first of the month with a billing run
Account managers receive a draft pack for each client. Most confirm without change, because the charges are already right. One adds a note to split an invoice across two budgets. Finance approves the drafts and invoices go out at the start of the month. The chasing email is no longer sent.
Does your month end look like this?
- Finance emails account managers every month to find out what to bill.
- Invoices go out well into the following month.
- Agreed extras or price rises have been missed from invoices.
- Recharges are billed late or not at all.
- Each client's invoicing quirks live in one person's memory.