Billing & Time Tracking

The Marketing Agency vertical includes a billing suite designed for the mixed revenue model that agencies operate on — combining recurring retainers with project-based billing and ad-hoc work.

Retainer Billing

Setting Up Retainers

1. Navigate to Revenue > Retainers.
2. Create a retainer schedule for each client:
   • Monthly fee — the recurring retainer amount.
   • Billing cycle — monthly or quarterly.
   • Included hours — hours of work included in the retainer (if applicable).
   • Scope description — what the retainer covers (e.g. "Social media management — 20 posts/month").
   • Overage rate — hourly rate for work exceeding included hours.
3. AtlasOS generates draft invoices automatically at the start of each billing cycle.

Scope Change Tracking

When clients request work outside the retainer scope:

• Log the request as an ad-hoc task linked to the client.
• Time tracked against ad-hoc tasks is billed separately at the agreed rate.
• The Revenue dashboard highlights scope creep — retainer vs. ad-hoc hours per client.

Time Tracking

Logging Time

Team members log time against specific campaigns, projects, or clients:

• Timer — start and stop a running timer from any task.
• Manual entry — enter time after the fact with date, duration, and description.
• Bulk entry — log time for multiple tasks in a single view.

Time Categories

Category	Description
Billable — Retainer	Counts against the client's included retainer hours
Billable — Project	Billed at the project rate or milestone fee
Billable — Ad Hoc	Billed at the agreed hourly rate outside retainer scope
Non-Billable	Internal work, pitching, training, or agency admin

Utilisation Reporting

Track team utilisation across the agency:

• Billable vs. non-billable hours per team member.
• Per-client profitability — hours invested vs. revenue generated.
• Per-campaign cost analysis — actual time vs. estimated time.

Quotes and Proposals

For new projects or client pitches:

1. Create a Quote from the Revenue section.
2. Add line items — campaign packages, hourly estimates, production costs, media spend.
3. Send the quote to the client via the Client Portal or email.
4. Upon acceptance, the quote converts to a project with milestones and billing schedule.

Pipeline Management

Track new business opportunities:

• Stages — Lead, Qualified, Pitch Scheduled, Proposal Sent, Negotiation, Won, Lost.
• Value tracking — estimated monthly recurring revenue per opportunity.
• Activity logging — calls, emails, meetings, and pitch presentations linked to each opportunity.
• Conversion — when won, AtlasOS creates the client record and initial retainer configuration.

Invoice Generation

Invoices are generated from:

• Recurring retainer schedules (automatic draft generation).
• Time entries exceeding retainer scope.
• Project milestones (milestone-based billing).
• Ad-hoc charges (media spend pass-through, production costs).

Invoices can be sent via email, published to the Client Portal, or exported as PDF.