Know Which Clients Actually Make You Money.
Project profitability, pass-through ad spend, and contractors on every job. Agency accounting is about knowing which work is worth doing — most agency books can't tell you.
The problems generic bookkeeping misses.
Media spend inflating your revenue
Ad budget flowing through your accounts isn't your revenue. Reported gross, it makes your margins look terrible and your revenue look great — and it misleads lenders.
No idea which clients are profitable
Without time against project, the retainer that feels busy and the one that pays are impossible to tell apart until someone burns out.
A contractor bench
Freelancers on and off every project, each one a classification question and a payment to track.
Retainers versus projects
Recognised differently, and mixing them without structure makes every month's numbers hard to trust.
Set up properly, from the start.
Pass-through media spend separated from your actual revenue
Project and client-level profitability you can act on
Contractor payments, classification and T4As
Retainer and project revenue recognised properly
GST/HST including cross-border client work
Cash flow forecasting around lumpy project timing
You asked. We answered.
Should ad spend show as revenue?
There are two defensible presentations: a negative revenue account that reduces your top line, or a cost of sales account that reduces gross margin. Both land in the same place on margin, so it is the presentation that differs, and it is worth choosing deliberately if a lender is going to read your statements.
How do I know which clients are profitable?
You need time recorded against revenue at the client level. The tracking can be light, but it has to exist. From there we run the profitability analysis and tell you which accounts are carrying the others.
Are my freelancers contractors?
In most cases, yes. But usually is not a defence. The CRA applies the same test it applies everywhere, looking at control, tools and risk of loss, and at how the relationship actually works rather than what the contract calls it.
Do I charge GST/HST to US clients?
No. Sales to US clients are generally zero-rated, meaning taxable at 0%, so nothing is collected. They still count toward your registration threshold, and you can still claim input tax credits on the costs behind them.
We've done this before.
A 30-minute call. Tell us how your business actually works and we'll tell you straight whether we're the right fit.