What to include in an agency invoice
- Retainer period and scope. The month the retainer covers and what it includes, such as channels managed and meetings, so the client can compare the fee with the contract.
- Ad spend at cost. Media spend on search and social platforms, marked as pass-through and kept apart from your fee, so both figures can be checked separately.
- How the fee was calculated. Whether your management fee is flat or a share of spend, with the spend figure it was calculated from, so the math can be checked.
- Creative deliverables. The ads, videos or landing pages produced, with sizes and variations, so a request for more versions is clearly new work.
- Hours outside the retainer. Extra strategy sessions, rush work or new campaigns billed hourly or as a project fee, so the monthly figure stays the same.
- Third-party tools and assets. Stock images, fonts, software seats or paid tools bought for the client, billed at cost or with your markup stated.
- Ownership of creative. Who owns the finished ads and when ownership transfers, often on payment, which matters if the client later moves to another agency.
- Client PO and billing contact. The purchase order number and the accounts payable contact at the client, since larger companies may not pay an invoice they cannot match.



