Credit control for marketing agencies, from retainer to final invoice.
Your team is running the campaign, planning the next project and talking about the renewal, while last month's invoice is still unpaid. Steinfin handles the agreed payment follow-up, in your agency's name, so the account relationship does not have to carry your whole AR process.
Meanwhile: the campaign is live and the renewal conversation starts next month.
Two jobs, one client
The account manager should know the client. The AR process should know the invoice.
They work together, but they do not need to be the same person. Account teams bring relationship, commercial and project context. Steinfin runs the routine follow-up, promises, queries, next actions and reporting.
Your account manager knows
Who the client really is, and how they like to work
Where the campaign or project stands
Whether a renewal or new brief is in play
When a conversation is sensitive
Steinfin knows
Which invoices are open, and how old
Who was contacted, and what they said
Which promises are due and which queries are open
What happens next, and when
Agency billing
Agency billing is not one thing.
Retainers, project fees, milestones, deposits, campaign fees, production charges, time-based billing and additional scope each get stuck in different ways. Not every agency uses all of them. Steinfin follows up the way you actually invoice.
Retainer
Monthly invoiceA recurring process, so patterns can be tracked month to month
Project
Kickoff, milestone and completion invoicesEach one depends on client approval
One-off work
A single invoiceUsually one project owner on the client side
Additional scope
Commercial confirmation firstThen billing, which is where queries start
Retainers
Recurring billing can repeat the same problem every month.
A retainer looks simple, but an invoice can still wait on approval, a new PO, a changed billing contact, a budget reset or a delayed payment run. The upside of recurring billing is that patterns show. The downside is that an unresolved problem repeats.
January£6,000$7,500€7,000C$10,200Paid
February£6,000$7,500€7,000C$10,200Paid
March£6,000$7,500€7,000C$10,200Promised Friday
April£6,000$7,500€7,000C$10,200IssuedMarch is still open
Scope changes
Extra requests are easy to agree in a meeting, and easy to query on an invoice.
Extended campaigns, extra production, additional revisions, expanded deliverables and new channels all happen. When the invoice reflects them later, the client may say the work was in the original scope.
Steinfin does not decide whether work was in scope, whether an extra fee is owed or whether a reduction should be given. It identifies the query, records it, routes it to your agency, tracks the decision and resumes payment follow-up.
Agency input requiredWith you
Client
Northlight Consumer Brands
Invoice
INV-7182
Amount
£2,400$3,000€2,800C$4,100
Client says
"This production work was included in the original scope."
Needed
Account Director confirmation
Next action
Resume follow-up after your response
Client procurement
The client can be delighted with the campaign and still not have paid.
Larger brands bring procurement, supplier onboarding, POs, supplier portals, invoice submission rules, cost centres and dedicated AP addresses. A late invoice often means an admin blocker, not an unhappy client.
InvoiceSent to the client's AP address
AP responsePO invalid
Agency inputConfirm the correct PO
Resubmit and follow upSteinfin tracks it through
PaymentReceived
Common PO problems
PO missing
PO expired
PO value too small
Wrong PO quoted
Invoice sent before the PO was updated
New campaign needs a new PO
Steinfin tracks the issue and follows it up. It never creates or changes a client's PO.
Account managers
Account managers should not be the reminder system.
They get pulled in because they know the client, finance cannot reach anyone, the invoice is for their project or the client promised payment to them. Their context matters. But routine AR should not depend on someone remembering.
Today, often
A Slack message to the account manager
A promise sitting in a private inbox
A calendar reminder to check the invoice
The account manager checking accounts themselves
With Steinfin
Every open invoice has an owner and a next action
Promises are logged and checked on the day
Queries go to the right person, with context
Account managers are asked only when their view is needed
Account team
Client relationship, campaign and project context, commercial context
Payment follow-up, promises, queries, next actions, reporting
Your client
Approval, procurement, AP and payment
Relationship-sensitive follow-up
Good credit control should feel like part of a well-run agency.
Agencies live on renewals, repeat work, referrals and retainer continuations, so follow-up has to be professional, specific, aware of the account and consistent, never unnecessarily firm. Steinfin follows up in your agency's name, working behind the scenes, to rules you set for each client.
In your agency's name, example
Hi Tom, the March retainer invoice (INV-2408) is now past due. I know the team is busy with the launch. Could you let me know when it is scheduled, or whether you need anything from us for your AP team?
Accounts, on behalf of your agency
Client situation, example rules
A major retainer clientSofter tone, named contact only
In renewal discussionsYour approval before any firmer step
Mid-pitch for new workPaused until you say otherwise
In an active commercial negotiationConversation owned by your Account Director
Everyone elseNormal, consistent follow-up in your tone
Agreed with you and run as part of the service.
Payment promises
Friday's payment run, tracked.
A promise made on a status call is easy to lose. Steinfin records the invoices, amount, contact, date and context, then checks. If the money does not arrive, follow-up resumes.
Promise, exampleFriday run
Client
Halden Brands Ltd
Invoices
INV-2408, INV-2412
Expected
£9,250$11,550€10,800C$15,750
Next action
Check payment on Monday
Client contacts
The right blocker, the right person.
Marketing managers, brand managers, budget owners, procurement, finance and AP all touch agency invoices. Steinfin sends each issue to the person who can actually move it, then brings every answer back into one account timeline.
Confirm the work was deliveredMarketing or brand manager
Approve the invoiceBudget owner
Fix or raise the POProcurement
Payment status and remittanceAccounts payable
Scope, fee or credit questionsYour Account Director
Pass-through costs
Production, freelancer and third-party costs raise their own questions.
Where an agency re-bills production, freelancers, media, suppliers or expenses, clients may ask for supporting documents, check the approved budget or question a markup, the scope or the timing. Not every agency bills this way. Steinfin routes these questions back to you and does not validate costs itself. It is an accounts receivable service, not a media billing or ad-spend reconciliation service.
Invoice queries
Queries recorded, routed and followed through.
PO issue
Scope question
Project approval
Rate question
Billing period
Campaign or production cost
Missing reference
Wrong invoice recipient
Supporting document needed
Always your decision
Project fees and scope
Discounts and waived charges
Accepting a dispute
Credits, settlements and write-offs
Balance versus context
An agency aging report shows the balance. Not what each client needs.
Behind a 60-day balance might be a retainer promised for Friday, a project waiting on a PO, a production invoice with a scope query, a payment AP says is already sent, or an Account Director asking for a pause. Steinfin works from that context.
Aging
Brand A61-90 days£11,400$14,250€13,350C$19,400
Brand B31-60 days£8,500$10,650€9,950C$14,450
Brand C90+ days£2,400$3,000€2,800C$4,100
Action
Brand AFriday payment promiseRetainer invoice, AP confirmed the run
Brand BPO update requiredProject invoice, procurement raising a new PO
Brand CScope queryProduction invoice, Account Director input needed
Due dates, terms, promises and queries, handled consistentlyCredit control
Correct invoice, valid PO, known AP contact, simply lateInvoice chasing
Following promises, AP status and queries through to paymentCash collection
A retainer and a project paid together, or no remittanceCash application
Old project invoices, stale promises and old PO issuesAR cleanup
Run a consultancy or advisory firm rather than an agency? See professional services.
Your systems
Keep your accounting system, and your agency tools.
Steinfin works alongside Xero, QuickBooks and Sage through authorised access you grant from your own account, or regular exports. We never ask for your password. Your project, time-tracking and CRM tools stay as they are; Steinfin does not connect to them.
Reporting
Regular reporting by client.
Each update shows invoice and account status, promises, open queries, next actions and anything that needs your agency's input. On Starter, that is a weekly report.
A good fit
Agencies Steinfin suits.
B2B marketing, creative, digital, branding, media and web agencies
Retainer or project billing on payment terms
Client approval workflows and PO requirements
Relationship-sensitive clients
Account managers drawn into payment issues
Growing finance and admin workload
Probably not the right fit
A small studio with only a handful of invoices
Mostly prepaid or card-billed work
A consumer-facing agency model
Legal debt enforcement only
Pricing
No separate agency pricing.
The same plans apply to every industry. The monthly retainer scales with client count, invoice volume, billing complexity, query workload and reporting needs. Plans start from £299$399€349C$499 a month.
Can Steinfin manage accounts receivable for marketing agencies?
Yes. Steinfin runs day-to-day AR for marketing, creative, digital, branding, media and web agencies: retainer and project invoice follow-up, promise and query tracking, and regular reporting, in your agency's name.
Can Steinfin chase clients without damaging the relationship?
Yes. Tone, contacts, timing and escalation points are agreed with you first, and key clients can have their own rules, including a pause while you are in renewal or pitching for new work.
Can Steinfin work with our account managers?
Yes. Account managers keep the client relationship and give context when needed. Steinfin runs the routine follow-up and brings anything that needs their view back to them with the history attached.
Can Steinfin manage retainer invoices?
Yes. Retainer invoices are followed up every month, and because they recur, a repeating problem such as an expired PO or a changed billing contact is spotted and fixed rather than rediscovered each month.
Can Steinfin follow up project or milestone invoices?
Yes. We follow up kickoff, milestone, completion and additional-scope invoices with the right client contact and track where approval is sitting. We do not manage project delivery.
What happens when a client promises payment on a status call?
Yes. A promise such as "it will be in Friday's payment run" is recorded with the invoices, amount, date and contact, then checked. If payment does not arrive, follow-up resumes.
What happens if a client disputes additional scope?
Steinfin records the query, routes it to you or the right Account Director and resumes payment follow-up once you have decided. Whether work was in scope, and whether a charge stands, is always your decision.
Can Steinfin help with PO or approval delays?
Yes. We find out whether the PO is missing, expired, too small or wrong, or which budget holder has not approved, route it to the right person and follow up. Steinfin never creates or changes a client's PO.
Can Steinfin agree a discount or credit with our client?
No. That is always your decision. Steinfin never changes fees, agrees scope, discounts invoices, waives charges, issues credits or agrees settlements without your explicit authority.
Can Steinfin help clean up old agency receivables?
Yes, as part of the Scale plan. AR cleanup works through old project invoices, stale promises, old scope queries and PO issues, out-of-date contacts and unmatched payments, and gives each item a status and a next step.
Does Steinfin work alongside Xero, QuickBooks or Sage?
Yes. Steinfin works alongside Xero, QuickBooks and Sage through authorised access you grant from your own account, or regular exports. We never ask for your password.
Do we need to change our project-management system?
No. Your project, time-tracking and CRM tools stay as they are. Steinfin works from your receivables information and does not connect to those systems.
How much does outsourced AR cost for an agency?
The same plans apply to every industry: a monthly retainer that scales with your ledger, including client count, invoice volume, billing complexity and query workload. The pricing page shows current plans in your currency.
Keep the campaign running, and the invoices moving.
See where your agency's receivables are stuck. It starts with a free AR health check.
