Currently available for select engagements

Hire Bookkeeper for Media Agencies

A media agency with clean books borrows easier, prices better, and faces tax season calmly.

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Media Agencies — Bookkeeper

A senior bookkeeper for media agencies

A media agency with clean books borrows easier, prices better, and faces tax season calmly. The books here cover retainers, placement fees, and production costs, split by client. The work is unglamorous and regular, which is exactly why it slips when nobody owns it.

The pain is specific: placements, deadlines, and client approvals move fast, and a missed email costs a slot. Books fall behind during busy periods, and catching up costs more than keeping up ever would.

A sensible first engagement is a books review and cleanup, followed by a monthly close routine: categorisation, reconciliation, and a short report the owner can read. If the first close lands cleanly, the rhythm continues.

What is on offer is media planning, buying, and public relations. Day to day, placements, deadlines, and client approvals move fast, and a missed email costs a slot. The calendar is set by placement costs and retainer profitability are reviewed monthly.

What you get

What this engagement covers for media agencies

Chart of accounts and categorisation — The chart of accounts is set up around real activity: retainers, placement fees, and production costs, split by client. Every transaction lands in a category the owner recognises, so reports read as business sense, not accounting jargon.
Invoicing and receivables — Invoicing follows the business's real pattern: monthly retainers plus placement invoices as campaigns run. Outstanding invoices are followed up on a schedule, and late payers are visible before they become a problem.
Payables and expenses — Bills and expenses are captured as they arrive, matched to the right job or category, and paid on schedule. Nothing is reconstructed from a bank statement months later.
Payroll and contractor pay — Pay is recorded accurately and on time: planners and PR staff on salary, with freelancers per campaign. Salary, hourly, and contractor arrangements each have their own treatment, and all of it reconciles monthly.
Monthly close and reports — Each month closes with reconciliation of the bank, cards, and key accounts, plus a short report: income, spending, receivables, and payables, in plain language.
Tax-season preparation — Records are maintained so tax preparation is straightforward: placement costs and retainer profitability are reviewed monthly. Deductions are categorised as they occur, and the year-end file is ready when the accountant asks for it.

The systems media agencies businesses actually run

Built on your stack, not on top of it

The tools are the ones accountants expect: Xero and media-buying reports, with bank feeds connected and receipts captured digitally. The bookkeeper works in the business's own books, not in a separate spreadsheet that nobody reconciles.

One limit is worth stating plainly: this page is general information about services, not accounting or tax advice. The bookkeeper's job is to keep records accurate and current so the owner's accountant can advise on solid ground.

Start with cleanup and one close. If the report answers the owner's real questions, the monthly rhythm continues from there.

The calendar is set by placement costs and retainer profitability are reviewed monthly. The business serves brands and publishers needing coverage. Billing follows the pattern of monthly retainers plus placement invoices as campaigns run.

How it works

From kickoff to delivery for media agencies

Books review and cleanup
Existing books are reviewed: what is categorised, what is reconciled, and what is missing. Cleanup comes before routine, so the monthly close starts from true balances. For media agencies, that includes retainers, placement fees, and production costs, split by client.
Chart and routines set up
The chart of accounts and monthly routines are set up around the business's real activity, with categorisation rules and a receipt routine the owner can actually follow. For media agencies, that includes monthly retainers plus placement invoices as campaigns run.
Monthly close
Each month closes on a rhythm: transactions categorised, accounts reconciled, invoices and payables reviewed, and a short report produced for the owner. For media agencies, that includes planners and PR staff on salary, with freelancers per campaign.
Tax-season readiness
Records are kept ready all year, so tax season is a handover of organised files to the accountant, not a frantic reconstruction of twelve months. For media agencies, that includes placement costs and retainer profitability are reviewed monthly.

Why Omer

Why hire Omer

Your books, your access — work happens in the owner's own accounting software, fully visible at any time For media agencies, that means retainers, placement fees, and production costs, split by client.
Reports the owner can read — income, spending, receivables, and payables in plain language, not ledger dumps For media agencies, that means monthly retainers plus placement invoices as campaigns run.
One clean close before any long commitment — the first month proves the routine before the rhythm continues For media agencies, that means planners and PR staff on salary, with freelancers per campaign.
Receivables watched, not discovered — ageing reviewed monthly, so late payers surface early For media agencies, that means retainers, placement fees, and production costs, split by client.
Books that are current, not reconstructed — monthly categorisation and reconciliation keep the record true all year For media agencies, that means monthly retainers plus placement invoices as campaigns run.

Outcomes

What changes in practice

The measure is not pages of reports. It is whether the owner can answer, at any point in the month, what the business earned, what it spent, what it is owed, and what tax and payroll obligations are coming.

Billing follows the pattern of monthly retainers plus placement invoices as campaigns run. The books live in Xero and media-buying reports. The business sells media planning, buying, and public relations.

That is the standard this engagement is measured against: reconciled books and readable reports, not hours logged. <a href="/hire/">Browse all hire engagements</a> or <a href="/contact.html">discuss your books</a> directly.

FAQ

Questions, answered

What does the monthly report show?

Income, spending, receivables, and payables in plain language, with unusual items flagged for the owner. No ledger dumps, just the picture needed to decide.

What happens at tax time?

The accountant receives organised, reconciled records for the year, with deductions categorised as they occurred, instead of a reconstruction project.

What does the chart of accounts cover for media agencies?

The books here cover retainers, placement fees, and production costs, split by client. Categories follow how the business actually earns and spends, so monthly reports read as business sense rather than accounting jargon.

How does invoicing work for media agencies?

Monthly retainers plus placement invoices as campaigns run. Outstanding invoices are reviewed monthly, so late payers surface while a follow-up can still recover them.

How often are the books updated?

Transactions are categorised through the month, and the books close monthly with reconciliation and a short report. Nothing is left to accumulate until year-end.

Currently available for select engagements