Every agency term, in plain English.
The operations, pricing and client terms agencies use every day - retainers, SOWs, scope creep, MRR, utilisation and more. Each one is a plain-English definition with a real example, a formula where it helps, and links to the tools and templates that put it to work.
110 terms
Terms starting with A
Account management
The ongoing work of keeping a client successful, informed and happy after the sale - the relationship side that drives retention and growth.
read →Accounts receivable (AR)
The money clients owe an agency for work already invoiced but not yet paid. A large or ageing balance is a cash-flow warning sign.
read →Agency of record (AOR)
A formal, ongoing arrangement in which a client names one agency as its primary, exclusive provider for a discipline - like advertising or PR.
read →Annual recurring revenue (ARR)
The value of an agency's recurring revenue expressed over a year - essentially MRR multiplied by twelve. A headline measure of the recurring book.
read →Average revenue per account (ARPA)
The average recurring revenue each client brings in - total recurring revenue divided by the number of clients.
read →Terms starting with B
Bench time
Paid time when a team member has no billable client work - the costly gap between projects that drags on utilisation and margin.
read →Billable hours
Hours worked that can be charged to a client, as opposed to internal or non-billable time. Tracked to protect margin and inform pricing.
read →Blended rate
A single average hourly rate across a mixed team (junior to senior), used to simplify pricing and quoting.
read →Brand guidelines
A document defining how a brand should look and sound - logo use, colours, typography, tone of voice - so it stays consistent everywhere.
read →Break-even point
The level of revenue or billable work at which an agency covers all its costs - below it you lose money, above it you profit.
read →Terms starting with C
Capacity planning
Matching the team's available billable hours to the work in the pipeline, to avoid both overload and idle time.
read →Case study
A short story of a client result - the problem, what the agency did, and the outcome - used as proof to win similar work.
read →Cash flow
The timing of money moving in and out of an agency. A profitable agency can still fail if cash runs out before clients pay.
read →Change order
A written, approved record of any change to a project's scope, timeline or fee before the extra work begins. The antidote to scope creep.
read →Churn
The rate at which clients (or recurring revenue) leave over a period. For agencies, lower churn compounds into far higher lifetime value.
read →Client intake
The steps a firm takes to take on a new client - collecting their details and documents, running any required checks, agreeing the terms and setting them up in the firm's systems.
read →Client onboarding
The process of welcoming a new client - collecting assets and access, setting expectations and kicking off - so delivery starts fast and churn risk drops.
read →Client portal
A secure, branded space where a client logs in to see deliverables, files, invoices and updates instead of chasing them over email.
read →Client retention
The share of clients an agency keeps over a period - the flip side of churn, and the foundation of stable, compounding revenue.
read →Client status report
A regular update that shows a client what has progressed, what is next, and any risks or decisions needed - so they stay informed without chasing.
read →Content calendar
A schedule of what content will be produced and published, when and where - the plan that keeps an ongoing content engagement on track.
read →Cost of delivery
The direct cost of producing client work - mostly the billable time of the people doing it, plus any project-specific expenses.
read →Cost-plus pricing
Setting a price by taking the cost to deliver and adding a fixed markup or margin on top. Simple, but it ignores the value the work creates for the client.
read →Creative brief
A short document that aligns an agency and client on the goals, audience, message and constraints of a creative project before work begins.
read →Cross-sell
Selling an existing client a different, complementary service alongside what they already buy - widening the relationship.
read →Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
The average cost of winning a new client, including sales and marketing time and spend. Compared against lifetime value to check that growth is profitable.
read →Customer lifetime value (LTV)
The total revenue an agency expects to earn from a client over the whole relationship. A core input for how much you can afford to spend winning clients.
read →Terms starting with D
Definition of done
A shared, explicit checklist of what must be true for a deliverable or task to count as complete - removing ambiguity over 'finished'.
read →Deliverable
A specific, tangible output an agency commits to producing - a report, design, campaign or asset - usually with an acceptance criterion.
read →Deposit
An upfront payment a client makes before work begins, securing the booking and funding the early stages of a project.
read →Discount
A reduction from the standard price, given to win or keep a client. Easy to offer, but it comes straight out of margin and can anchor expectations low.
read →Discovery call
An early conversation where an agency digs into a prospect's goals, problems and constraints before proposing or pricing any work.
read →Terms starting with E
Effective hourly rate
What a piece of work actually earns per hour once you divide the fee by the hours it really took - regardless of how it was priced.
read →Engagement letter
A letter that sets out what a firm will do for a client, what it won't do, who is responsible for what, and how fees work - signed before the work starts. Accounting and law firms are often expected to use one by their professional bodies.
read →Escalation
The agreed path for raising a problem - a missed deadline, a complaint, a blocker - to someone with the authority to resolve it.
read →Terms starting with F
Fixed-fee pricing
Charging one agreed price for a defined scope of work, regardless of the hours it takes. Gives the client certainty and puts overrun risk on the agency.
read →Freelancer
An independent contractor an agency hires on a flexible, per-project basis to add skills or capacity without a permanent hire.
read →Full-time equivalent (FTE)
A way of expressing mixed full-time, part-time and freelance hours as a number of full-time people, used for capacity and cost planning.
read →Terms starting with G
Gantt chart
A visual timeline that shows a project's tasks, their durations and how they overlap or depend on each other.
read →Gross margin
The share of revenue left after the direct cost of delivering the work (mostly billable staff time). The clearest measure of whether projects are profitable.
read →Terms starting with H
Terms starting with I
Ideal client profile (ICP)
A clear definition of the clients an agency serves best - by industry, size, budget and needs - used to focus sales and marketing.
read →Indemnification
A contract clause where one party agrees to cover the other's losses if certain things go wrong - a core way agencies and clients allocate risk.
read →Integration
A connection between two apps so data moves from one to the other automatically, instead of someone copying it across by hand.
read →Intellectual property (IP)
The ownership rights to creative and technical work - designs, code, copy, brand assets. Agency contracts must say who owns what, and when.
read →Internal tool
Software built for a firm's own team to use - a dashboard, a form, a tracker or a small app - shaped to how that team works rather than bought off the shelf.
read →Invoice
The document an agency issues to request payment for work done - listing the services, amounts, terms and due date.
read →Terms starting with K
Kickoff
The first working session of a project, where the agency and client align on goals, scope, roles and timeline before delivery begins.
read →Kill fee
A pre-agreed payment owed if a client cancels a project partway through, compensating the agency for reserved time and work already done.
read →Knowledge base
A central, organised store of an agency's documented processes, templates and answers - so information is found, not re-asked.
read →Terms starting with L
Lead generation
The work of attracting and capturing potential clients - through content, outreach, referrals or ads - to feed the sales pipeline.
read →Lead qualification
Assessing whether a lead is a genuine fit and likely to buy - by budget, need, authority and timing - before investing time in pursuing them.
read →Letter of intent (LOI)
A short document signalling that a client intends to proceed, often used to start work before the full contract is signed.
read →Liability cap
A contract clause limiting the total amount one party can be held financially responsible for - usually capped at the fees paid.
read →Terms starting with M
Markup
The amount added to a cost to reach a selling price, usually expressed as a percentage of the cost - how agencies make margin on time and pass-through costs.
read →Master service agreement (MSA)
The overarching legal contract that sets the standing terms (liability, IP, confidentiality) between agency and client. Individual projects run as SOWs underneath it.
read →Matter management
How a law firm or legal team organises each case or piece of legal work - a 'matter' - with its documents, deadlines, people, time and billing kept together.
read →Milestone
A significant checkpoint in a project, usually marking the completion of key deliverables and often tied to a payment or approval.
read →MRR (monthly recurring revenue)
The predictable revenue an agency earns each month from retainers and recurring work. The foundation of stable agency finances.
read →Terms starting with N
Net profit margin
The share of revenue left as profit after all costs - delivery and overheads - are subtracted. The bottom-line measure of agency profitability.
read →Net promoter score (NPS)
A measure of client loyalty, based on how likely clients are to recommend the agency, scored from -100 to +100.
read →Net revenue retention (NRR)
The percentage of recurring revenue retained from existing clients over time, including expansion and minus churn. Above 100% means you grow even without new clients.
read →Niche
A focused specialism - a specific industry, service or audience - that an agency builds its positioning and expertise around.
read →Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)
A contract in which the parties agree to keep shared confidential information private. Common before an agency and prospect exchange sensitive details.
read →Non-solicitation clause
A contract clause stopping one party from poaching the other's clients or staff for a set period - common when agencies use subcontractors or freelancers.
read →Terms starting with O
Ops audit
A short, structured look at how a firm actually runs - its apps, its workflows and the hours its people lose to manual work - ending in a ranked list of what to fix first.
read →Overhead
The ongoing costs of running an agency that are not tied to delivering a specific project - rent, software, admin salaries and the like.
read →Terms starting with P
Pass-through costs
Third-party expenses an agency incurs on a client's behalf - media spend, software, print, stock - then bills back, often with a markup.
read →Payment terms
The agreed rules for how and when a client pays - amounts, due dates, deposits and what happens if an invoice is late.
read →Pitch
An agency's persuasive presentation of how it would solve a prospect's problem - the moment it makes the case to win the work.
read →Positioning
How an agency is perceived in the market relative to alternatives - the distinct space it owns in a prospect's mind.
read →Practice management software
Software that runs the day-to-day of a professional firm - clients, jobs, deadlines, time, billing and documents - in one place. Common in accounting and law firms.
read →Pricing tiers
Packaging a service into several priced options - often good, better and best - so clients choose a level rather than haggle over one number.
read →Productized service
A service packaged with a fixed scope, price and process so it can be sold and delivered repeatably, like a product. Improves margin and scalability.
read →Professional services automation (PSA)
Software that brings together the running of a services firm - projects, resourcing, time tracking, billing and reporting - so they share one set of data.
read →Project management
The discipline of planning, coordinating and tracking a project's scope, timeline, resources and people so it ships on time and on budget.
read →Proposal
The document an agency sends to win a project - setting out the client's problem, the proposed approach, deliverables, timeline and price.
read →Terms starting with R
RACI
A responsibility matrix (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) that clarifies who owns what on a project - useful for client and internal clarity.
read →Rate card
A published list of an agency's standard hourly or daily rates by role, used as a starting point for quotes and negotiations.
read →Realization rate
The share of worked hours that actually get billed and paid, after write-offs and discounts. Where planned revenue leaks away before it reaches an invoice.
read →Referral
A new prospect introduced by an existing client or contact - typically the highest-converting, lowest-cost source of agency work.
read →Request for proposal (RFP)
A formal document a prospective client issues inviting agencies to bid for a project, setting out requirements, scope and selection criteria.
read →Retainer
A recurring arrangement where a client pays a fixed monthly fee for an agreed set of services or capacity, rather than per-project. Retainers give agencies predictable revenue and clients priority access.
read →Retrospective
A structured review after a project or sprint, where the team reflects on what went well, what did not, and what to improve next time.
read →Revenue per employee
Total revenue divided by the number of full-time staff - a quick benchmark of how productively an agency turns people into income.
read →Revenue run rate
A projection of annual revenue based on current performance - taking a recent period and extending it across a full year.
read →Revision round
One agreed cycle of client feedback and changes on a deliverable. Capping the number of rounds is how agencies stop endless tweaking.
read →Run plan
Forge's monthly plan: we build your tools and then look after them - watching them, fixing them when your apps change and building what you ask for next - on your own accounts.
read →Terms starting with S
Sales pipeline
The set of potential deals an agency is working, organised by stage from first contact to signed - a forward view of likely new revenue.
read →Scope creep
The gradual expansion of a project beyond its agreed scope without matching changes to time or fee - the most common margin killer for agencies. Controlled with explicit out-of-scope clauses and change orders.
read →Scope of work
The specific work included in an engagement - the deliverables, boundaries and exclusions. A clear scope is the main defence against scope creep.
read →Service catalog
A defined menu of the services an agency offers, often with set scopes and prices - making it clear what clients can buy and for how much.
read →Service level agreement (SLA)
A commitment to defined service standards - like response or turnaround times - usually attached to a retainer or support arrangement.
read →Sign-off
A client's formal approval that a deliverable or stage is accepted - the agreed point at which it is considered done.
read →Sprint
A short, fixed block of time - often one or two weeks - in which a team commits to completing an agreed set of work.
read →Stakeholder
Anyone with an interest in or influence over a project - the client's decision-makers, end users, and the agency's own team.
read →Standard operating procedure (SOP)
A documented, step-by-step process for a recurring task, so it is done the same way every time regardless of who does it.
read →Statement of work (SOW)
A formal document defining the scope, deliverables, timeline and payment for a specific project between an agency and client. Often sits under a broader MSA.
read →Subcontractor
An external specialist or agency brought in to deliver part of a project, usually under the lead agency's brand and contract.
read →Terms starting with T
Termination clause
The part of a contract setting out how either side can end the engagement - notice period, final payments and what happens to work in progress.
read →Testimonial
A short endorsement from a happy client, used as social proof to build trust and win new work.
read →Time and materials (T&M)
A pricing model where the client pays for the actual hours worked plus any expenses, rather than a fixed price. Flexible, but it puts overrun risk on the client.
read →Time tracking
Logging the hours team members spend on each client and task, so an agency can bill accurately, measure utilisation and price future work.
read →Trust accounting
Keeping money held on behalf of clients separate from the firm's own money, and recording every movement of it. Law firms and some other professional firms must do this under their regulator's rules.
read →Terms starting with U
Terms starting with V
Terms starting with W
White label
Delivering a tool or service under the agency's own brand, so the client only ever sees the agency - not the underlying provider.
read →Win rate
The share of proposals or qualified opportunities an agency converts into signed work. A core measure of sales effectiveness.
read →Work in progress (WIP)
Work an agency has started but not yet billed - effort already spent that has not turned into an invoice or cash.
read →Stop defining the work. Start running it.
Forge builds and looks after the tools behind these terms - client portals, onboarding flows, time trackers - from a few plain-language questions.