For marketing, creative, design, or digital agency owners
Accounting & Tax for Marketing & Creative Agency Owners
Agency accounting needs to track retainer revenue ratably, allocate contractor costs to projects, and pay you predictably across lumpy renewals. Most general accountants miss WIP and deferred revenue entirely. We don't.
Your partner replies within one business day · year-round access · fee-only, no kickbacks
Sound familiar?
Where your current setup is falling short.
- Retainer revenue arrives as cash but accountants book it as revenue at receipt — distorting Q1 and depressing the rest of the year
- Heavy 1099 contractor payments alongside W-2 staff — payroll, classification, and 1099 prep all matter, none coordinated under your current setup
- You can't tell which clients are actually profitable because WIP isn't tracked
- Multi-state remote employees and contractors created payroll AND tax nexus you didn't ask for
- You're an S-corp but nobody's done a defensible reasonable comp analysis — and the IRS aggressively audits S-corp agencies
- Cash flow is lumpy and nobody's forecasting next quarter
What we'd do for you
The plan, tailored to your situation.
Migrate the books to accrual with deferred revenue tracking
Every retainer engagement gets a deferred revenue ledger. We close monthly with real WIP and unbilled receivables. Your monthly P&L matches actual delivery, not cash timing.
Build per-project profitability dashboards
Direct labor, contractor cost, and overhead allocated to each client/engagement. You know which work makes money and which doesn't.
Run multi-state payroll for both W-2 and 1099
Single payroll provider, multi-state setup, contractor payments, year-end 1099-NEC prep. One filing cadence, one point of contact.
Document reasonable comp annually
BLS data + industry surveys + role analysis = defensible owner salary documented every year. Audit-proof.
13-week cash forecast refreshed weekly
Lumpy retainer renewals stop being surprises. You see cash position 13 weeks out and can act on it.
Personal tax coordinated with the business
K-1 income, equity comp if applicable, multi-state filings, quarterly estimates — under the same engagement as the business work.
Ready to see what this looks like for your business?
Tell us about your specific situation and we'll scope a plan tailored to your needs — fixed monthly fee, no per-question billing, one business day response.
What a typical engagement covers
- Bookkeeping and accrual accounting with deferred revenue tracking
- Multi-state payroll (W-2 + 1099)
- Federal + state business tax (1120-S or 1065)
- Personal tax for owner(s) with K-1 coordination
- Quarterly fractional CFO check-ins with cash forecast review
Every engagement is scoped to your business. Single service or full stack — we'll recommend the right level of support and quote a fixed monthly fee within 48 hours of an intro call.
See the full service catalog: Services overview · The full financial stack
Resources and tools for marketing, creative, design, or digital agency owners
Guides
Accounting
Deferred Revenue for Service Businesses (Not Just SaaS)
Accounting
ASC 606 Revenue Recognition for Service Businesses
FP&A
Building a KPI Dashboard Your Business Actually Uses
Fractional CFO
Owner Compensation: Salary, Distribution, and Profit Sharing
Payroll
Contractor (1099) vs. Employee (W-2): The IRS Test
What you can count on
Three commitments, written down.
CPA-signed accuracy guarantee
If a Rubric-signed return triggers a math-error notice, we fix it and pay the penalty. CPA review on every filing.
One-business-day response
Your partner replies within one business day — and there's no per-question fee. Year-round access, not just tax season.
Fee-only, no kickbacks
We don't sell insurance, annuities, or investment products. Our only revenue is your monthly fee. No conflicts.
Tell us about your business.
We'll propose a plan tailored to your situation — fixed monthly fee, scoped to your needs, no surprise add-ons.