Retainer tracking and billing for marketing agencies
A marketing agency lives on monthly retainers, and a retainer loses money quietly when a client takes 74 hours of a 60-hour month. Sumhour counts each period, carries unused hours over under your rule and bills the overage at your rate.
Every feature in every plan. 30 days free, no card.
September went 6:30 over, and the overage was billed
Harbor Health pays 6,000.00 a month for 60 hours. Up to 12 unused hours carry over, and anything past that is 140.00 an hour. August left 8 hours, so September had 68 included.
In October the client used 48:00 of 60:00, so 12:00 carried into November.
| Included in September60:00 plus 8:00 carried over | 68:00 |
|---|---|
| UsedLogged and billable | 74:30 |
| Retainer feeINV-1030 | 6,000.00 |
| Overage6:30 × 140.00, INV-1033 | 910.00 |
| Billed for September | 6,910.00 |
Demo workspace: Birch & Row Studio, USD
What you will use most
All of it is in every plan
- RetainersA period table with included, rolled in, used and overage hours, and the invoice beside each.
- ReportsSave a view for one client and send it each month. A public link shows the hours and hides your costs.
- ProfitabilityThe margin on each retainer, from what the time really cost you.
- HubSpot won dealsA won deal becomes a client and a project after one check, on Sumhour Cloud at launch.
Where Sumhour stops
- Sumhour does not connect to ad platforms or track media spend. Pass a cost on as an expense.
- There is no client portal. Clients get invoice links and any report link you share.
Marketing agencies: common questions
How do I track hours on a retainer?
Create a retainer project with the hours included, the fee and the period, such as a month or a quarter. Each period then shows included, rolled in, used and overage hours, and the Projects list shows what is left this month.
Retainer invoices in the guideWhat happens to unused retainer hours?
You choose per project. Unused hours can expire or roll over, up to a limit you set, into the next period.
Can I show a client how their hours were spent?
Yes. Save a Time report for that client and tick the public link. It opens as a live read-only page with hours and no costs or margins, and you can email it on a schedule as a CSV.
More on reportsAlso: creative agencies, consultants, software studios.
