How do I keep client ad spend separate from my own costs?

Record each pass-through cost as an expense with the client tag and attach the platform invoice. Your own software and overhead get no client tag, so the two never blur together in the export.

What should I have ready for subcontractors?

Record each received invoice with the PDF attached and note whether you hold their W-9. That way the 1099 and contractor folder is already assembled when your accountant needs it.

Does Cash Workspace calculate which clients were profitable?

No. It keeps your retainer income and tagged client costs side by side in one place for review, but it does not compute profit or margins — your accountant does that from the organized records.

Cash Workspace

Use the Freelancer template

Accountant handoff · Marketing agencies

Build a year-end accountant packet for your marketing agency

Agency books get tangled because money flows in three directions at once: retainers coming in from clients, ad spend passing straight through to platforms, and invoices going out to freelancers and subcontractors. When your accountant asks for last year, a screenshot of your inbox is not a packet. Cash Workspace gives you one place to record every invoice and expense, tag it by client, attach the receipt or PDF, and file the whole thing in a single fiscal-year folder you can export and hand over.

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The problem

Why agency books are hard to hand off

Agencies mix retainer income, pass-through ad spend, and subcontractor payments, so the same dollar can look like revenue, a client cost, and a vendor bill depending on where you stand. Without one organized record set, your accountant spends billable hours untangling it.

Ad spend billed to a client lands in the same pile as your own software costs, with no client tag to separate it.
Subcontractor and freelancer invoices live in email threads, so you can't tell who was paid and who still owes a W-9.
Retainer invoices are 'paid' in your head but their status was never recorded anywhere checkable.
Tool subscriptions (Figma, Adobe, ad platforms, project software) renew monthly and the receipts scatter across inboxes.
At year-end nobody can say which clients were profitable versus break-even because the costs were never tagged back to them.

The workflow

Assemble the agency packet step by step

Record as you go through the year, tag everything by client, then file one fiscal-year folder you can export.

1
Record retainer invoices
Log every client retainer and project invoice with its number, amount, issue date, and a status of draft, sent, partially paid, paid, or overdue.
2
Tag ad-spend pass-throughs
When ad spend is billed back to a client, record it as an expense with the client tag and the platform invoice attached so it's clearly a pass-through, not your own cost.
3
Record subcontractor invoices
Log each freelancer or subcontractor invoice you received, attach the PDF, and note whether you have their W-9 on file.
4
Capture tool subscriptions
Record each SaaS and ad-platform subscription as a recurring expense with the receipt attached and a consistent category.
5
File and export the year
Group all of it under one fiscal-year folder and export the packet for your accountant in one move.

Record structure

What to record for each agency entry

A consistent field set keeps client costs, vendor bills, and your own overhead from blurring together.

Client tag: The client a retainer, project invoice, or pass-through cost belongs to, kept as a consistent client record.
Entry type: Whether the line is income (retainer/project invoice), a pass-through cost, a subcontractor bill, or your own overhead.
Amount and currency: The invoice or expense total so the year reconciles cleanly.
Date: Issue date for invoices, transaction date for expenses, so each entry lands in the right month and fiscal year.
Status: For invoices: draft, sent, partially paid, paid, or overdue, updated as things change.
Category: A product-defined expense category such as software subscriptions, advertising, or contractor payments.
Attached document: The platform invoice, subcontractor PDF, or subscription receipt attached to the record.
W-9 on file: A note on whether you hold the contractor's W-9, so 1099 prep isn't a scramble in January.

Example setup

An example agency folder setup

One way to structure the fiscal-year folder before you export it.

Client retainers & invoices

Every retainer and project invoice for the year with status, dates, and the sent PDF attached.

Ad-spend pass-throughs by client

Platform invoices recorded as expenses, each tagged to the client they were billed back to.

Subcontractors & freelancers

Received invoices, the attached PDFs, and a note on W-9 status for each contractor.

Tools & subscriptions

Software and ad-platform subscription receipts categorized for the year.

Common mistakes

Mistakes agencies make at handoff

Mixing client-billed ad spend with your own software costs so margins are unreadable.
Forgetting to collect a W-9 before paying a freelancer, then chasing it during tax season.
Leaving retainer invoice statuses blank, so paid and unpaid look identical at year-end.
Handing over a folder of receipts with no client tags, leaving the accountant to guess.
Keeping subscriptions on auto-renew with receipts that were never saved anywhere central.

How it helps

How Cash Workspace helps

Client tags on every line

Record invoices and expenses against a consistent client record so retainers and pass-through costs stay grouped by client.

Attach the proof

Attach the platform invoice, subcontractor PDF, or subscription receipt directly to each record so the document and the entry stay together.

One fiscal-year export

Keep the whole year in one folder and export an accountant-ready packet in a single step.

Monthly accountant packet

Send a tidy packet each month instead of one year-end scramble.

1099 & contractor folder

Keep W-9s and contractor invoices ready for 1099 season.

Invoice packet

Organize sent and unpaid invoices for handoff.

Workspace for agencies

See how agencies organize finance records in Cash Workspace.

All finance workflows

Browse the full Cash Workspace workflow library.

FAQ

Agency packet FAQ

How do I keep client ad spend separate from my own costs?: Record each pass-through cost as an expense with the client tag and attach the platform invoice. Your own software and overhead get no client tag, so the two never blur together in the export.
What should I have ready for subcontractors?: Record each received invoice with the PDF attached and note whether you hold their W-9. That way the 1099 and contractor folder is already assembled when your accountant needs it.
Does Cash Workspace calculate which clients were profitable?: No. It keeps your retainer income and tagged client costs side by side in one place for review, but it does not compute profit or margins — your accountant does that from the organized records.

Organizing help — not tax, accounting, or legal guidance

Cash Workspace is a free workspace for organizing invoices, expenses, receipts, clients, and documents. This page is organizing guidance only — not tax, accounting, legal, or bookkeeping guidance. Cash Workspace does not connect to your bank, does not scan or read your receipts for you, and does not move or collect payments. Whether an expense is deductible depends on your situation, so confirm it with a qualified accountant or tax professional.

Hand your accountant one clean agency folder

Start a free workspace and record retainers, pass-through ad spend, subcontractor invoices, and subscriptions in one fiscal-year folder you can export when the year closes.