Creative & production services
Books and taxes for ad creative agencies.
A creative testing retainer, $30,000 in client ad spend running through your account, a UGC creator paid per video, and a whitelisting fee for spark ads. Gus sorts all of it, an accountant checks every transaction, and you get one number a month.
- From $197 a month
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever
February came in at $13,300. Client ad spend running through your account this month was real, but it is not your revenue, so I kept it as a pass-through cost against the fee you actually kept.
- Halden Skincare retainerCreative retainers
- Media spend fee, 3 clientsMedia management fees
- Client ad spend, MetaClient media spend
- R. Bishop UGC contentFreelance content creators
- Whitelisting fee, creatorWhitelisting and usage fees
Why your books are different
Ad creative agency books go wrong at the media spend and the whitelisting fee.
A generalist sees deposits and calls it all revenue. Your business runs client money through your account for ad spend you do not keep, pays a network of UGC creators by the video, and pays for whitelisting rights so ads can run from a creator's own account. When the books blend those, the top line lies.
-
1
Client media spend gets counted as agency revenue
When you place $30,000 in Meta or Google ads for a client and keep a 15 percent management fee, booking the full $30,000 as sales makes the business look far bigger than it is and overstates what is owed at tax time.
What we doBooks the management fee as income and the client ad spend as a pass-through cost, so the top line reflects what you actually keep. -
2
UGC creator payments look like a single contractor line
Paying a rotating pool of a dozen or more creators $200 to $500 per video makes it easy to lose track of which creator crossed the reporting threshold for the year.
What we doTracks payments by creator so the 1099 total is ready and you can see cost per piece of content. -
3
Whitelisting fees look like ad spend
Paying a creator so an ad can run from their account, sometimes called spark ads or whitelisting, is a fee to the creator, not media spend to Meta or TikTok, and mixing the two hides what creators actually cost you.
What we doKeeps whitelisting and usage fees in their own line, separate from ad spend paid to Meta or TikTok, so both costs are visible. -
4
A creative testing retainer looks flat when it is not
A retainer that covers a set number of ad variations a month can quietly balloon when a client asks for extra testing rounds, work that is really billable beyond the retainer.
What we doFlags extra rounds billed beyond a retainer's scope so they count as project income, not routine retainer work. -
5
Ad account access fees get missed entirely
Some clients pay a separate fee just for agency access to their ad accounts or business manager, and that income is easy to overlook if it never gets its own line.
What we doKeeps ad account access fees in their own category so no small recurring charge gets missed.
Your categories
The categories Gus keeps for an ad creative agency.
Set up once for how you get paid and what you spend. You never pick a category. He does, and an accountant checks it.
Money in
- Creative retainersMonthly ad creative production, billed on a recurring schedule.
- Media management feesWhat you keep for placing and managing a client's ad spend.
- Extra testing roundsCreative work billed beyond a retainer's included scope.
- Ad account access feesSeparate fees some clients pay for account management access.
Money out
- Client media spendAd dollars placed on Meta, Google, or TikTok on a client's behalf, not your revenue.
- Freelance content creatorsUGC creators paid per video across a rotating pool.
- Whitelisting and usage feesFees paid to creators so ads can run from their own accounts.
- Editing softwarePremiere, CapCut, and creative production tools.
- Stock assetsMusic, sound effects, and stock footage licensed for ad creative.
- Analytics and reporting toolsTools used to track ad performance for client reporting.
What we watch for you
- Real revenue share
Your management fees against total money moved, so client ad spend never gets mistaken for your income.
- Creator spend
What you pay UGC creators against total income, tracked toward 1099 season.
- Cost per ad variation
What it actually costs to produce each creative test, worth knowing before you quote the next retainer.
- The set-aside
What you will owe on your real fees, not client ad spend, tracked monthly ahead of April.
Ask Gus
Things ad creative agency owners ask Gus.
Text him like you would text anybody. He answers in plain English, and when a question is above his pay grade, an accountant looks and gets back to you.
No, I book your management fee as income and the client's ad spend as a pass-through cost, so your real revenue stays accurate.
Any creator paid $2,000 or more in 2026 does. I have been tracking each one's total all year, so the list is ready by January 31.
Ad spend goes to Meta or Google directly. A whitelisting fee goes to the creator whose account it runs from. I keep those separate so you can see what creators actually cost you.
The tax side
The tax side of an ad creative agency.
Most of what goes wrong here is client media spend counted as revenue and creator payments left untracked.
What your return has to get right
Your accountant signs it, so it gets done right the first time.
- Contractor 1099s for creatorsAny UGC creator or freelancer not on payroll paid $2,000 or more in 2026 gets a 1099-NEC by January 31. Gus keeps the running list all year.
- The pass-through deductionMost owner-operated creative agencies can take up to 20 percent of business profit off their taxable income when management fees are tracked apart from client ad spend.
- Equipment and software write-offsEditing computers, monitors, and annual software licenses can usually be written off the year they are bought.
- Self-employment tax for solo agency ownersA one-person agency pays 15.3 percent self-employment tax on top of income tax, so the set-aside covers both, calculated only against your real fees, not client spend.
Deductions ad creative agencies miss
Your bookkeeper knows what to look for in your statements. You never have to.
- Editing software licenses
- Stock music and footage
- Freelance creator fees
- Analytics and reporting tools
- Computer and monitor upgrades
- Continuing education courses
- Coworking or home office share
- Payment processor fees
- Portfolio site hosting
- Client onboarding tools
- Whitelisting and creator access fees
- Content licensing costs
General information about 2026 federal rules, not advice for your business. Your accountant looks at your actual numbers before anything gets filed.
All year, not just April
An ad creative agency year, kept every month.
Client budgets and creative demand shift constantly. Your books stay current all year, and the return follows. Every month in between, your bookkeeper closes the books and speaks up the moment something looks off.
- January
New year budgets land
Last year's return gets started, the creator 1099 list is ready, and clients set new-year ad spend and creative volume.
- April
Filed. Done.
Your return is filed and signed, based on your real fees, not client ad spend. The set-aside has covered it since January, so there is no surprise bill.
- July
Halfway check
Where you stand, what you will owe, and how retainer and creator spend have moved since January.
- October
Before Q4 budgets spend down
Clients push spend and testing volume before year end. Gus looks at software or equipment worth buying before December.
What you get
What you pay depends on what your business needs, and it does not move after that, busy season or slow. No hourly bills, no surprise invoices, no setup fee.
Book a call- Monthly bookkeeping
Every transaction sorted into categories set up for ad creative agencies. You never categorize a thing.
- An accountant checks every transaction
Real review, every month, before your books close. Not a spot check.
- Your business tax return, filed
Prepared, reviewed, and signed by that same accountant every year.
- The monthly number
What you made, what you spent, what to set aside for taxes.
- Your own bookkeeper
A real person assigned to your business, in the app whenever you need them. No hold music.
- On your books all year
Every month, not just in April. Your team speaks up whenever something is worth your attention.
- Cancel any time
No contract. No cancellation call. Your books are yours.
Straight answers
Questions ad creative agency owners ask first.
Does client ad spend running through my account count as my taxable income?
Only your management fee counts as income. Gus books the client's ad spend as a pass-through cost, so your real revenue and your tax bill both stay accurate.
I use a rotating pool of UGC creators. Is that harder to track than regular contractors?
No. Gus tracks each creator's total payments across the year, no matter how many you use or how small each individual payment is.
What counts as a whitelisting fee versus regular ad spend?
A whitelisting fee goes to the creator whose account an ad runs from. Ad spend goes to Meta, Google, or TikTok directly. Gus keeps them in separate lines so both costs are clear.
A client asked for extra testing rounds beyond their retainer. How does that get billed?
Gus flags work beyond the retainer's scope as its own project income, so you can see when a client's needs have grown past what they are paying for.
My books have never separated client ad spend from my own revenue. Can Gus fix that?
Yes. Send what you have, even a year's worth of client spend mixed with your own fees. Gus separates the two, and most owners know where they stand within a week.
Is a real accountant checking my books?
Yes. You get your own bookkeeper, Gus does the first pass on every transaction, and an accountant checks every one before your month closes. That same accountant prepares, signs, and files your business return. Goatkeeper is not a CPA firm, and we never pretend a person looked when they did not.
What does it cost, and can I cancel?
It starts at $197 a month, depending on what your business needs. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no contract. Cancel any time from the app, and your books go with you.
More in creative & production services
We keep books for the business next door too.
- 3D rendering & visualization studios
- AI creative & AI content studios
- Audio production & jingle studios
- Billboard & out-of-home advertising companies
- Church & ministry marketing agencies
- Event & experiential marketing agencies
- Illustrators
- Packaging design firms
- Presentation & pitch deck design agencies
- Recruitment marketing agencies
- Sports marketing agencies
- Voiceover artists
- Branding & identity studios
- Commercial photographers
- Drone photography & videography
- Fractional CMOs
- Freelance copywriters
- Mobile app marketing agencies
- Motion graphics & animation studios
- Print & direct mail agencies
- Product photography studios
- Real estate photographers & media companies
- Unlimited graphic design subscriptions
- Webflow & Framer agencies
- Restaurant marketing agencies
- Shopify agencies
- Video production companies
- WordPress developers
- Web design agencies
- AI search & generative engine optimization (GEO) agencies
What makes a bookkeeper worth paying for Every business we keep books for
Book a call
Pick a time. That's the whole signup.
Fifteen minutes with a real person on our team. They look at where your books are, tell you straight what it takes to get caught up, and get you set up on the spot if it fits.
- $197 a month to start
- An accountant on every transaction
- Cancel whenever