Know which clients are actually profitable, in real time.
Billable hours tracked per client and campaign, with real-time profitability visibility — not a surprise when the month-end numbers finally get reconciled.
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Why agencies often don’t know a client is unprofitable until it’s obvious
Agency profitability per client is often calculated well after the fact — someone tallies hours at month-end, compares against the retainer, and discovers a client that’s been quietly eating more hours than they’re paying for. By then, months of underpriced work have already happened, and renegotiating scope or pricing becomes an awkward conversation instead of a proactive adjustment.
StaffTiming tracks time per client and campaign continuously, so agency leadership can see profitability trending in real time rather than reconstructing it at month-end. A retainer client running over scope shows up as a visible signal early enough to have the scope conversation before three more months of the same pattern compound the problem.
Everything this covers
Per-client & campaign time tracking
Track hours against specific clients and campaigns, not just internal project buckets.
Real-time profitability dashboards
See margin per client continuously, not just at month-end reconciliation.
Retainer utilization tracking
Know when a retainer client is running over allotted hours while there’s time to address it.
Creative production integration
Time tracking pairs naturally with creative and content production workflows.
Client-ready reporting
Generate reports suitable for sharing scope/hours status directly with clients.
Team utilization reporting
See billable utilization across the team, not just per client.
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Why teams choose this over the alternative
Profitability visible in real time
No more discovering an unprofitable client at month-end reconciliation.
Retainer overages caught early
Scope creep becomes a proactive conversation, not a quarterly surprise.
Built for agency structure specifically
Client and campaign-level tracking matches how agencies actually organize work.
Reporting that’s client-shareable
Transparent hours reporting supports, rather than complicates, client relationships.
Client profitability: a worked example
A client pays a $5,000 monthly retainer that was scoped at 50 hours — an effective rate of $100 an hour.
| Month | Hours logged | Effective hourly rate | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48 | $104.17 | Healthy |
| February | 57 | $87.72 | Watch |
| March | 68 | $73.53 | Over-servicing |
By March the agency is delivering 36% more hours than scoped. Without time data this usually goes unnoticed until the account feels “busy but unprofitable”. With it, the account manager can show the client the extra work and agree a scope change or a bigger retainer.
Setting up time tracking in an agency
- Structure by client, then project or campaignSo hours roll up to the client level for profitability and to the campaign level for delivery.
- Set billable rulesDecide whether revisions, internal reviews and account management are billable for each client.
- Track retainers against their allowanceAlerts flag when a retainer is close to its hours.
- Share client-ready reportsShow clients where their hours went — it justifies the fee and starts scope conversations early.
Agency metrics that matter
- Effective hourly rate per client — fee ÷ hours worked.
- Retainer utilization — hours used ÷ hours scoped.
- Team utilization — billable ÷ total hours (calculator).
- Write-offs — hours worked but not billed.
Read how agencies can track time without slowing down creative work.
Common questions
Can this track time across multiple campaigns for the same client?
Yes — time tracks at both the client and campaign level, so you can see aggregate client profitability and per-campaign detail.
How does retainer tracking work?
Set the retainer’s allotted hours per period; StaffTiming tracks actual hours used against it and flags when a client is trending over.
Can account managers see profitability, or just agency leadership?
Permissions are configurable — profitability visibility can be scoped to leadership, or extended to account managers responsible for specific clients.
Does this integrate with our creative production tools?
StaffTiming integrates with Asana and Trello for task-level workflow; time tracking works alongside whatever creative tools your team already uses.
How do agencies track time without annoying creatives?
Keep tracking to one click against a client and project, avoid monitoring for creative roles, and use the data for scoping and fees rather than judging individuals.
How do I know if a client is unprofitable?
Divide the client’s fee by the hours spent on them. If the effective hourly rate is falling below your target rate, the account is being over-serviced.
Can freelancers working for the agency track time too?
Yes. Freelancers track against the same clients and projects, with their own pay rates.
Ready to get started?
Start your free trial today — no credit card required.