Agency billing software is where an agency sees what each client pays for, writes and sends the invoice, records the payment and checks what is still open. Agencies rarely bill one way. In one month a client can have a retainer, a fixed-price project, a few hours of agreed extra work and costs the agency paid on its behalf. The software has to keep those apart on the invoice and together on the client.
Margin tends to leak in the last two. A pass-through cost that never reaches the invoice comes straight off the fee, and the agency pays for every “quick” extra nobody priced.
"},{"heading":"Billing software for SEO agencies: what the monthly invoice should show","html":"An SEO retainer is hard to bill: results take months, and the client mostly sees activity. The monthly invoice should show what the team delivered for the fee, an audit, four articles and a block of link outreach, not “SEO, October”. Billing software for SEO agencies should make three things easy.
Rank tracking, audits and client reports stay in your SEO tools. For the rest, see SEO agency management software.
"},{"heading":"How agency billing works in PLYNTUM","html":"In PLYNTUM, billing sits in Finance, next to the client’s projects, tasks, logged hours and expenses. Invoices, payments, expenses and receivables are on every plan.
You can write an invoice on the client with free-form lines: the retainer and its deliverables, an agreed extra, a pass-through cost. Each invoice has its own currency: GEL, USD or EUR. Share it by link, email it from PLYNTUM once the workspace’s email sending is set up, or save it as a PDF. From Core you can also draft an invoice from approved, billable time. Hours are priced at the billable rates set in PLYNTUM, one line per project and rate, time logged to a retainer instead of a project is not billed hourly, and every line stays editable until you issue the invoice. Either way, the hours sit on the same project, so you can check each line against them.
On every plan, a monthly fee on the client creates an expected payment each month, and monthly deliverables create that month’s tasks. From Core, a recurring invoice is set up once and created on schedule, weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly; you check it and send it. Retainer management software covers deliverables, hours and renewals.
Record what you pay for a client as an expense on the client or project. Nothing is pulled from Meta or Google Ads, so media spend goes in by hand. You decide what to re-bill and add it to the invoice as its own line. Re-billed or not, the expense counts in the project’s cost.
When money reaches your bank, you record it against the invoice, partial payments included. Receivables show which invoices are unpaid and for how long, client by client; see accounts receivable. PLYNTUM does not send reminders for you; the payment reminder templates have a letter for each stage.
The client portal gives each client a private, read-only link to their invoices, payments, balance and retainer deliverables, without your internal notes, time or costs. Billable rates, timesheet approval and project profitability also start on Core: logged hours at each person’s loaded hourly cost, plus direct expenses, against the project value.
"},{"heading":"Worked example: one SEO retainer, one month","html":"An example, not customer data; amounts are before tax. A client pays an SEO agency $2,500 a month, planned at 28 hours: technical fixes, four articles, link outreach and a report. In October the client also asks for a landing page audit, agreed in writing at 5 hours × $90, and the agency pays two costs the contract lets it re-bill at cost: a $300 placement fee and $180 for translating two articles.
Before invoicing, the account lead checks the hours: 34 on the retainer, 6 over plan, and 6 on the audit, 1 over the agreement. The audit is billed at the agreed 5 hours; the extra retainer hours are raised with the client before November’s plan is set.
| Line | Basis | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| SEO retainer, October: 9 technical fixes, 4 articles, link outreach, monthly report | Monthly fee | $2,500 |
| Landing page audit, agreed 6 October | 5 hours × $90 | $450 |
| Placement fee, industry publication | At cost, supplier’s invoice number | $300 |
| Translation of two articles | At cost | $180 |
| Total | $3,430 |
Say an hour costs the agency $40, fully loaded. The month then costs 40 hours × $40 = $1,600 plus $480 of pass-through costs: $2,080. The $3,430 invoice leaves $1,350, about 39%. Without the two pass-through lines the invoice would be $2,950 and the month would leave $870, about 29%: the $480 would come straight out of margin. The 6 extra retainer hours cost $240; if every month runs like this, the fee is too low.
By the due date the client pays $2,500, its usual monthly amount. You record it against the invoice, which shows as partly paid, and receivables show $930 still owed: the amount your reminder asks for.
On every plan you can write this invoice by hand. On Core, a recurring invoice can create the $2,500 retainer invoice each month, and you bill the extras on a second invoice you write yourself.
"},{"heading":"What agency billing software costs","html":"Agency billing tools charge a flat fee per account, a price per user or, like PLYNTUM, a price per workspace with members included. The table shows each tool’s cheapest plan with invoicing, as its own pricing page showed it on 24 October 2026: US dollars a month, before tax, without limited-time offers. “Annual” is the monthly price when billed yearly.
| Tool and pricing basis | Cheapest plan with invoicing: annual / monthly | What raises the price | Client payments and accounting, per the pricing page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ignition, flat per account | Solo $39 / $49: 1 user, 20 active clients, solo businesses under $150k a year | Core $99 / $149: 3 users, 50 clients; Pro $229 / $279: 15 users; $2 to $7 per extra active client | Card payments from 2.5% + $0.30; Xero and QuickBooks Online on all plans; no time tracking listed |
| Bonsai, per user | Essentials $19 / $25, where invoices and payments start | Timesheets on Premium, $29 / $39; Elite $49 / $59, at least 3 users | Online payment fees apply; QuickBooks and Xero from Premium |
| HoneyBook, flat per account | Starter $29 / $36 | Essentials $49 / $59 for up to 2 team members; Premium $109 / $129, unlimited | Card fees from 2.9% + 25¢; QuickBooks Online from Essentials; no time tracking listed |
| FreshBooks, per account plus $11 per extra team member | Lite $23 on monthly billing, 5 billable clients; annual price after the current offer not shown | Plus $43 for 50 billable clients; Premium $70, unlimited | Accounting software itself, time tracking on all plans; Advanced Payments add-on $20 |
| Productive, per user, at least 3 | Essential $10 / $12 | Professional $25 / $29 adds billable time approvals and invoicing integrations | Native invoice creation not itemised |
| Harvest, per seat, “starting from” | Free (1 seat, 2 projects) includes invoicing; Teams from $9 / $11 | Usage-based fees, rates not shown; timesheet approval on Enterprise, from $14 / $17.50 | Accounting and payment integrations from Teams (QuickBooks, Xero, Stripe) |
| PLYNTUM, per workspace, members included | Launch $44 / $55: 5 members, 10 active clients | Core $120 / $150: 10 members, 25 clients, recurring invoices, portal; Scale $360 / $450: 25 members | No online payments; CSV export; no accounting sync |
The rows are not the same purchase: Ignition, HoneyBook and Bonsai take client payments, for a processing fee, and offer accounting integrations, while PLYNTUM’s price also covers projects, time, people and clients. If all 10 people in an agency need a login, annual billing comes to: PLYNTUM Core $120 a month, Harvest Teams from $90 plus usage fees, Productive Essential $100 or Professional $250, Bonsai Essentials $190, Ignition Pro $229 and HoneyBook Premium $109. FreshBooks’ page does not say how many users each plan includes. If only two or three people send invoices, Ignition Core or HoneyBook Essentials can cost less. PLYNTUM’s 7-day trial runs on Launch with no card; there is no free plan. See pricing.
Sources, read on 24 October 2026: Ignition, Bonsai, HoneyBook, FreshBooks, Productive and Harvest pricing pages.
"},{"heading":"What PLYNTUM does not do, and when a dedicated billing tool fits better","html":"PLYNTUM’s billing is built around the client and the work, not around collecting money.
PLYNTUM fits when several people deliver the work and each invoice has to agree with it.
"},{"heading":"How to choose agency billing software: six questions","html":"Agency management software covers the rest: projects, people and capacity.
"},{"heading":"Sources","html":"Every price was checked on the vendor’s own pricing page on 24 October 2026. If something has changed, tell us at info@plyntum.com and we will correct it.
"},{"heading":"Related pages","html":""}]},"keyFacts":[["What it is","Software for charging clients for retainers, project fees, agreed extras and pass-through costs, and for tracking what they still owe"],["Who it is for","Marketing, SEO, creative and digital agencies that bill several ways at once"],["Where it is in PLYNTUM","Finance: invoices, payments, expenses and receivables on the client and project"],["Plan","Invoices, payments, expenses and receivables on every plan; recurring invoices, client portal and project profitability from Core"],["Price from","$55 a month per workspace with 5 members (Launch), $44 billed annually; 7-day trial, no card; no free plan"],["Limits","Invoice drafts from approved time only (Core), time logged to a retainer instead of a project not billed hourly; no online payment collection; CSV export, no accounting sync; no native mobile app"]],"faq":[["What is the best billing software for an SEO agency?","It depends on how you bill and how clients pay. If clients pay by card and your accountant needs a sync, a billing tool such as Ignition or Bonsai fits. If you bill by the hour, a time tracker with invoicing such as Harvest. If you want each retainer invoice next to the deliverables, hours and margin behind it, PLYNTUM does that, with invoices you write or, from Core, draft from approved time."],["Can clients pay a PLYNTUM invoice online?","No. PLYNTUM has no card payments, Stripe or payment links for clients. The client pays by bank transfer or through your own payment provider, and you record the payment against the invoice, partial payments included. Receivables then show what is still owed."],["Does PLYNTUM connect to QuickBooks or Xero?","Not today, and there is no date. Invoices and payments, expenses and payroll export to CSV for your accountant. PLYNTUM has no integration with QuickBooks, Xero, FINA, Oris, Balance or RS.ge, and it is not accounting software."],["Can PLYNTUM create invoices from tracked time?","Yes, from Core, as a draft from approved time: approved, billable hours are priced at the billable rates set in PLYNTUM, one line per project and rate, and you edit the draft before you issue it. Time logged to a retainer instead of a project is not billed hourly. On Launch you write each invoice with free-form lines; either way, you can check each line against the hours on the same client and project."],["How do I bill pass-through costs such as ad spend?","Record each cost as an expense on the client or project, then add it to the invoice as its own line, at cost or with the handling fee your contract allows. PLYNTUM does not import spend from Meta or Google Ads, so you enter it by hand. The expense counts in the project’s cost either way."],["Which currencies can a PLYNTUM invoice use?","Each invoice has its own currency: GEL, USD or EUR. A Georgian agency can bill local clients in lari and a foreign client in dollars or euros from the same workspace. A PLYNTUM invoice is a request for payment, not a tax invoice; VAT invoices in Georgia are issued in RS.ge."]]}