Marketing Agencies – Limited Companies

Specialist accounting for marketing, digital and creative agencies running through a UK limited company – retainers, projects, media spend and freelancers all handled properly.

Who this is for

This package is designed for limited companies such as:

  • Full-service marketing agencies
  • Digital and performance agencies (SEO, PPC, paid social)
  • Social media & content marketing agencies
  • Branding, creative and campaign agencies
  • Small “boutique” agencies with distributed or remote teams

Typical income and billing models

  • Monthly retainers for ongoing strategy and delivery
  • Project fees for campaigns, launches and rebrands
  • Day-rate or hourly consulting for strategy work
  • Pass-through media spend where ad costs are recharged to clients
  • Hybrid models – retainers + performance bonuses or success fees

We help you separate your true agency fee income from ad spend and other pass-through costs so margins and profitability by client are clear.

Common allowable expenses for marketing agencies

As long as they are wholly and exclusively for the business, typical allowable expenses include:

  • Salaries for employees on PAYE (creative, account management, strategy, ops)
  • Freelancers and subcontractors – copywriters, designers, media buyers, developers
  • Software – SEO tools, PPC platforms, analytics, email, CRM and scheduling tools
  • Design software – Adobe Creative Cloud, Figma, Canva Pro and similar
  • Web hosting and domains for your own site and landing pages
  • Office costs – rent, co-working, utilities, stationery and equipment
  • Hardware – laptops, monitors, cameras, microphones and lighting for content
  • Team expenses – reasonable travel to client meetings, events and conferences
  • Professional indemnity and business insurance
  • Marketing your own agency – ads, sponsorships, networking memberships

Client media spend (Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, programmatic, etc.) is normally treated as a cost of sale or, if paid directly by the client, kept out of the accounts. We’ll help you set this up correctly from the start.

Retainers, revenue recognition and WIP

Agencies often have a mix of long-term retainers and shorter projects. We take a practical approach:

  • Matching retainer income to the period the work relates to
  • Recognising project revenue as key milestones are completed
  • Keeping work-in-progress (WIP) simple while still showing true profit

What we need from you to file accounts & CT600

To prepare year-end accounts and your corporation tax return, we ask for:

  • Business bank statements (and any company credit/finance accounts)
  • A list of main clients with retainer values and key projects for the year
  • Sales invoices and credit notes issued to clients
  • Purchase invoices for software, freelancers, media spend and other costs
  • Payroll reports for all employees
  • Details of any significant equipment or asset purchases
  • Platform summaries (Google Ads, Meta Ads, etc.) if media spend flows through your company

We then reconcile income and expenses, confirm the treatment of media spend, calculate corporation tax and file your accounts and CT600 with HMRC and Companies House.

Fixed-Fee Package for Marketing Agencies Ltd

£875 + VAT
Typical fee for a small to mid-size agency
(fee income up to £300k, 1–3 directors, clean digital records).
  • Preparation of year-end statutory accounts
  • Corporation tax return (CT600) and submission to HMRC
  • Companies House micro/small accounts filing
  • Director payroll for up to 3 directors
  • Review of media spend vs fee income classification
  • Basic margin analysis by top clients (using your data)
  • Email support up to filing deadlines
Add-ons (only if needed)
+ from £40 + VAT/month for bookkeeping (bank feed + invoice processing)
+ £35 + VAT per quarterly VAT return (MTD compliant)
+ from £35 + VAT/month for payroll (more than 3 employees)
+ from £250 + VAT for monthly / quarterly management accounts
+ bespoke quote for fee income above £300k or multi-entity groups
Start my agency accounts Book a 15-minute discovery call
Quick FAQs for Marketing Agencies
Q: Are ad costs (Google/Meta) my expense or the client’s?
A: If your company pays the platforms and recharges the client, we’ll normally treat this as cost of sales with matching income. If clients pay platforms directly, we keep it outside your P&L and focus on your fee income only.
Q: Can I claim for conferences, events and networking?
A: Where these are genuinely for business (training, networking, prospecting) they’re usually allowable. Pure entertainment of clients is more restricted – we’ll explain the differences in plain English.
Q: We use lots of freelancers – is that a problem for HMRC?
A: No, many agencies are built around freelancers. We’ll help you understand when people should be on PAYE vs self-employed and make sure payments are recorded correctly for tax.
Q: I work from home most of the time – can I claim home office costs?
A: Yes. We can use either HMRC’s flat-rate or a fair proportion of actual costs (rent, utilities, broadband). We’ll pick whichever is sensible for you.
Q: Our revenue is lumpy with big projects – will that cause tax issues?
A: Not if it’s accounted for properly. We’ll help you time revenue recognition and project costs so profit and corporation tax make sense year to year.