The email about banked hours
The client's new marketing director emails. Her predecessor told her the agency owes them a good number of unused hours from the spring, and she would like to use them on a website refresh. The account manager checks the timesheets and finds some months under, some over. The contract says unused hours roll over for one quarter only, capped at a portion of the monthly allowance. Nobody ever applied that rule month by month.
The agency's view is that most of those hours expired. The client's view is that nobody told them. The account director spends a week reconstructing a balance from exports, and the relationship starts the new quarter on a sour note.
Why rollover balances drift
- Rollover rules are written in the contract, often with caps and expiry, and then forgotten.
- Timesheets show hours used, but nothing turns them into a running balance.
- Overservice in one month is informally set against underservice in another, depending on who is asked.
- Clients are told "you've got some hours in the bank" in passing, which becomes their memory of the deal.
- Contacts change on both sides, and the only record is someone's recollection.
The retainer terms are clear. It is the arithmetic across months that nobody does, and so both sides fill the gap with their own assumptions.
What an unagreed balance costs
The agency either gives away hours it believes had expired, or has a dispute with a client it wants to keep. Time goes into rebuilding history. Account managers avoid the subject until it becomes a problem. Clients who feel short-changed are less likely to renew, even when the agency applied the contract correctly.
The hours ledger we build
- Each retainer's terms are entered: monthly hours, what rolls over, the cap, how long rolled hours last, and whether overservice carries forward or is written off.
- Hours used are read monthly from your time tracker, such as Harvest or your project system, for that retainer only.
- At each month end the ledger applies the rules: new allowance, hours used, hours rolled over, hours expired, and the opening balance for the next month.
- Rolled hours are shown with their expiry month, so the account manager can see what is about to lapse.
- A short monthly statement is produced for the client showing allowance, used, rolled and expiring hours. It can go out with the monthly report or invoice.
- Manual adjustments, such as goodwill credits agreed in a meeting, are recorded with a reason and who approved them.
| Ledger line | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Opening balance | Hours carried from previous months |
| Monthly allowance | Hours included this month |
| Hours used | From timesheets for this retainer |
| Rolled forward | Unused hours within your cap |
| Expired | Hours past their rollover period |
| Adjustments | Goodwill or corrections, with a reason |
What your contracts say about rollover is your decision. The ledger simply applies whatever you agreed, the same way every month.
When the next question about banked hours comes
The client already has a statement every month, so the balance is not a surprise. When they want to use rolled hours for a project, the account manager opens the ledger, confirms what is available and when it expires, and plans the work. If there is a disagreement, it is about one month's figures, spotted when that month's statement went out, not about a year of history.
Could this come up with your clients?
- Your retainers allow unused hours to roll over.
- Nobody applies the rollover rules month by month.
- Clients have mentioned hours they believe are banked.
- Overservice and underservice are set against each other informally.
- Clients do not get a regular hours statement.