5.0 out of 5 based on 41 reviews
Accountants for Marketing and Creative Agencies
Know what a retainer is really worth once the hours are in, and stop treating pass-through client spend as revenue. Agency books built so margin by client is visible from month one.
★★★★★“Since adding Alex with Stronghold Accounting for our bookkeeping, it has truly been a Godsend for our business. Alex cleaned up a difficult QuickBooks transition and became a game changer for our month-to-month bookkeeping.”Patty LeslieTampa
★★★★★“I like that you're helping me strategize, not just giving me numbers. There were still blind spots that you've been able to uncover for me. I didn't think that was possible.”JoelService-business owner
★★★★★“Alex and his team helped bring the books current and continue to provide monthly support while helping plan for growth.”Dr. MaloneLake Mary
★★★★★“Alex is sharp, detail-oriented, and genuinely passionate about his work. He explains the numbers clearly and helps business owners gain more control over their finances.”Baxter McCoyOrlando
★★★★★“Since adding Alex with Stronghold Accounting for our bookkeeping, it has truly been a Godsend for our business. Alex cleaned up a difficult QuickBooks transition and became a game changer for our month-to-month bookkeeping.”Patty LeslieTampa
★★★★★“I like that you're helping me strategize, not just giving me numbers. There were still blind spots that you've been able to uncover for me. I didn't think that was possible.”JoelService-business owner
★★★★★“Alex and his team helped bring the books current and continue to provide monthly support while helping plan for growth.”Dr. MaloneLake Mary
★★★★★“Alex is sharp, detail-oriented, and genuinely passionate about his work. He explains the numbers clearly and helps business owners gain more control over their finances.”Baxter McCoyOrlando
★★★★★“Since adding Alex with Stronghold Accounting for our bookkeeping, it has truly been a Godsend for our business. Alex cleaned up a difficult QuickBooks transition and became a game changer for our month-to-month bookkeeping.”Patty LeslieTampa
★★★★★“I like that you're helping me strategize, not just giving me numbers. There were still blind spots that you've been able to uncover for me. I didn't think that was possible.”JoelService-business owner
★★★★★“Alex and his team helped bring the books current and continue to provide monthly support while helping plan for growth.”Dr. MaloneLake Mary
★★★★★“Alex is sharp, detail-oriented, and genuinely passionate about his work. He explains the numbers clearly and helps business owners gain more control over their finances.”Baxter McCoyOrlando
What makes agency accounting different
Choosing an accountant for marketing agency finances is different from choosing one for any other service business, and the reason is pass-through costs. An agency that bills a client $60,000 and spends $50,000 of it on media has $10,000 of revenue, not $60,000. Get that wrong and every number downstream is wrong, from margin through to what the business is worth.
Pass-through costsAgency accounting services are usually sold as generic small business bookkeeping with the word “agency” on the landing page. The difference shows up in whether the provider knows to ask how media spend flows through your accounts before quoting.
The problems that only happen at agencies
01Media spend recorded as revenueThe most common and most damaging error we find. Agencies that place ads on behalf of clients often run that money through their own accounts. Recorded gross, the agency looks three or four times its actual size, pays tax on money that was never theirs, and has no idea what its real margin is.
02Retainers that quietly stop being profitableA $6,000 monthly retainer scoped at forty hours is fine. The same retainer at ninety hours is a loss the agency is funding. Without time against revenue by client, this shows up as a vague sense that everyone is busy and nothing is making money.
03Deferred revenue on annual contractsClient pays twelve months up front. That is not twelve months of revenue in January, it is a liability that releases monthly. Agencies that book it all at once have a spectacular first quarter and a confusing rest of the year.
04Contractor costs that move with the workMost agencies run a core team plus freelancers. If freelance cost is not tied to the project it served, gross margin by client is guesswork, and freelance spend is exactly where agency profitability leaks.
05Project profitability nobody has ever calculatedAgencies know which clients they like. They frequently do not know which clients pay. Those two lists are rarely the same, and the difference is usually two or three accounts.
06Owner compensation that was set once and never revisitedCommon in agencies that grew fast from a founder-operator start. It has direct S-corp tax consequences.
What we handle for agencies
The problem
What we do
Pass-through spend
Pass-through media separated from agency revenue, so your top line is your top line.
Revenue recognition
Revenue recognized on the right basis, including deferred revenue on annual and prepaid contracts.
Project margin
Client and project-level margin, with freelance and contractor cost allocated to the work it belongs to.
Retainer utilization
Retainer utilization tracking, hours delivered against fee, by client, monthly.
Contractor classification
Contractor versus employee classification review, which for agencies running a freelance bench is a live exposure.
1099 preparation
1099 preparation for the freelance roster at year end.
Owner compensation
Owner compensation review for S-corp agencies, coordinated with tax planning.
Monthly close
CPA analysis of the monthly close.
Agency benchmarks
50-60%+Target delivery margin
15-25%Target net margin
70-80%Target team utilization
50%+Target client-level margin
Software we work in
QuickBooks Online for the general ledger, with Harvest among the systems Stronghold has worked with for time and project data. The integration that matters most for an agency is time tracking into the general ledger. Without it, project margin is an opinion.
How it works
STEP 1Revenue review first. We check how pass-through spend is currently recorded. This is where the largest corrections usually are.
STEP 2Client and project structure. Set up the chart of accounts and tracking so margin by client is visible from month one.
STEP 3Foundation Buildout, if prior periods recorded pass-through costs incorrectly. The typical timeline is 2-4 weeks.
STEP 4Monthly close, including a margin-by-client report alongside the P&L.
Proof
11% → 16%Net margin over six months, creative agency
8 monthsOf activity cleaned up and job-costed
What it costsPricing is custom and flat-rate. The quote reflects company size, industry, headcount, bank and credit-card accounts, locations, entity count, transaction volume, and any cleanup required.
For a creative agency with about $1.2 million in annual revenue, Stronghold cleaned up eight months of activity and implemented job-costing and labor-utilization reporting. Over the following six months, net margin improved from about 11% to 16%.Creative agency
Services agencies usually need
See more services for agencies
Common questions
Agency questions
Should client ad spend count as our revenue?
Only if you are acting as principal rather than agent, which for most agencies placing media on a client’s behalf is not the case. Recorded gross, you overstate revenue and pay tax on money that passes straight through. We look at this first on every agency engagement.
How do we know if a retainer is profitable?
Hours delivered against the fee, by client, every month. If you are not tracking time against revenue you cannot answer this, and most agencies discover two or three retainers running at a loss.
A client paid twelve months up front. Is that all revenue now?
No. It is deferred revenue released monthly as you deliver. Booking it at once inflates the quarter and makes the following ones look like a decline.
Can you handle our freelance roster?
Yes, including cost allocation to the projects they worked on and 1099-NEC filing at year end. We will also flag anyone whose working arrangement looks more like employment than contracting.
Do you work with agencies outside Florida?
Yes. Offices in Tampa and Lake Mary, clients across the US.
Do you prepare our tax return?
Stronghold handles proactive tax planning and works with an integrated tax-preparation partner for filing. We coordinate the year-end handoff so the books, planning, and return preparation stay connected.
Find out what your agency actually earns
Book a free discovery call. We will start by checking how pass-through spend is recorded.
Book a Free Discovery Call