Retainer billing vs. payroll timing
Retainers land on the 1st, payroll runs on the 15th. That 14-day gap is invisible in your accounting software and only visible in your gut — until it isn't.
SparkCashFlowRequest SprintCash Flow for Marketing Agencies
Know payroll is covered before the next retainer lands.
Marketing agencies live between retainer billing cycles and project milestones — but payroll doesn't wait for either. The Sprint turns your QuickBooks Online or Xero data into a 13-week operating model built around your actual cash timing.
- 13-week cash map
- 3 what-if scenarios: late invoice, client pause, new hire
- 72-hour delivery — pay nothing if it's late
- 5-min weekly update — yours to run
Project milestones distort the month
A large project deposit makes this month look great. The follow-on milestone that funds next month's payroll is still 8 weeks away. Built-in tools can't model that gap.
Freelancer costs arrive out of order
You bring in contractors when projects spike — but their invoices hit 30–60 days after the project starts. The Sprint maps those outflows so the timing doesn't surprise you.
Best fit
Marketing agencies with 3–30 staff using QuickBooks Online or Xero, with a mix of retainer and project revenue.
Free Assessment — No Email Required
How clear is your cash picture?
5 questions. 60 seconds. Get a personalized cash flow readiness score and your top risk areas — generated from your answers, not a generic template.
72-hour delivery guarantee. If your 13-week cash map isn't complete and working within 72 hours of submitting your inputs, you pay nothing.
Request The Sprint
Tell us where cash visibility is breaking down
Submit the basics and Spark Cashflow will review fit for the fixed-scope Sprint offer. Delivery stays manual for now. Intake does not.
Do you work with agency chart of accounts?
Yes. The Sprint uses your existing QuickBooks or Xero export — no chart of accounts changes required. We map your categories to the forecast model.
What if our revenue is mostly retainers?
Retainer businesses are the best fit. Predictable inflows make the model accurate and the scenarios — delayed client, early project spend — highly actionable.