Advertising billing often combines retainers, project fees, labor, and media spend. Everhour keeps the supporting time records organized.
Fill in your details, add line items, hit Print when ready.
| Description | Qty | Rate | Tax | Amount |
|---|
The calculator gives you the number — Everhour takes it from there.
One click and you're timing. Start a timer, add an entry, edit the details. This is exactly how it feels in Everhour.
Set a budget, assign rates, and get alerted before you're over.
Measurement
Track your budget through time or costs
Every report you need — configured your way, always up to date.
Tracked hours flow straight into a polished invoice — no copy-paste, no manual math.
An advertising invoice turns the agreed commercial model into a payable client document. Agencies commonly bill project fees, agency-of-record retainers, hourly work, cost-plus charges, media commissions, or a mix of those structures. The useful output is a clean invoice that names the client, campaign, project, invoice period, due date, line items, taxes where applicable, and payment terms.
For a campaign launch, one invoice may show a monthly retainer, a strategy milestone, production expenses, and media-buy reconciliation. The invoice should match the contract or insertion order language closely enough that the client's finance team can approve it without asking the account manager to rebuild the story from emails, spreadsheets, and timesheets.
Advertising invoices work best when each line follows the billing structure the client approved. A retainer line can cover monthly agency services. A project line can reference a campaign phase, such as creative concepting or landing page production. An hourly line should identify the role, rate, hours, and covered period. Media lines should separate pass-through spend from agency fees when the contract treats them differently.
United States private-sector invoices do not follow one prescribed federal form, and the United States does not use a national VAT or GST invoice regime. Sales and use tax depends on state and local rules, nexus, service taxability, and the place of sale. Add a state sales-tax account or seller permit reference only when your registration and invoice policy require it.
Advertising clients often approve invoices faster when labor and media are easy to reconcile. Cost-plus, hourly-rate, and media-commission arrangements can require support for time, cost, or media spend, depending on the contract. Keep timesheets, rate cards, vendor invoices, media platform exports, and insertion orders aligned with the invoice period.
A practical advertising invoice can include lines such as "Creative direction, 12.5 hours at $175," "Paid search media spend, March 1-31," and "Agency media management fee." Avoid blending reimbursable costs, client media spend, and agency service fees into one vague description. That shortcut creates avoidable approval delays when procurement asks for backup.
A one-off invoice works for a small project, a single campaign, or a client that accepts simple monthly billing. It is enough when the team has already reconciled hours, costs, retainers, and media spend before creating the document. The invoice app should give you a finished file with clear line items, payment terms, and client details.
A managed workflow matters when multiple account teams, campaigns, roles, and billing methods feed the same client account. Everhour Reporting helps agencies group and filter time by project, client, task, member, and invoice status, then export reports for billing review. That gives account leads a durable record behind each invoice instead of a manual reconstruction at month end.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
High Performer
G2
Summer 2026
Best Ease Of Use
Capterra
Summer 2026
Rated in the top time trackers across G2, Capterra, and TrustRadius — with consistent praise for ease of use, integrations, and support.
Advertising agencies commonly invoice project-based work, agency-of-record retainers, hourly services, cost-plus charges, media commissions, and milestone fees. The invoice should follow the client agreement first. A retainer client needs period-based service lines, while a project client needs phase or deliverable lines that match the proposal, statement of work, or insertion order.
Separate media spend from agency fees when the contract, insertion order, or client approval process treats them as different charges. A direct media buy often needs order-specific support, while agency strategy, management, creative, and reporting work can sit on service lines. Clear separation helps clients reconcile pass-through costs, commissions, and labor without guessing.
Thirty days is the long-promoted standard agency payment term in 4As guidance. Clients still negotiate 60-, 90-, or 120-day terms, especially through procurement. Use the payment term in the signed agreement, purchase order, or insertion order, then show the due date plainly on the invoice.
A United States advertising invoice does not need a VAT or GST number because the United States does not use a national VAT or GST invoice regime. Sellers that make taxable sales may need state-level sales-tax registration. Service taxability varies by state and service type, so the tax line should follow the applicable state and local rules.
Keep the signed agreement, statement of work, purchase order, insertion order, rate card, approved estimate, timesheets, vendor invoices, media spend exports, and any client approval emails tied to the billing period. IRS Publication 583 treats invoices as supporting documents for business transactions, so the invoice and backup should clearly show income sources and amounts.
Everhour Reporting lets agencies build customizable reports with 45+ columns, filters, grouping, date ranges, and exports in CSV, Excel/XLSX, or PDF. Account leads can review billable time, non-billable time, project, client, task, member, comments, labor costs, profit, invoice status, and budget metrics before billing.
Everhour Billing & Invoicing converts tracked billable time and expenses into client invoices. Teams can select uninvoiced time and expenses, preview the breakdown, group invoice lines by project, task, person, date, or other available fields, and export drafts to QuickBooks Online, Xero, or FreshBooks.
Track campaign time, review billing reports, and send clean client invoices from the same records. Everhour gives advertising teams a clearer path from approved work to billable revenue.
14-day free trial · No credit card · Cancel anytime
