Project-native books
Revenue and costs are organized by client, project, service line, and team so margins are visible.
Agency finance operations
Know which projects actually make money.
Empire runs the finance back office for creative, digital, and development agencies: project P&Ls, cash flow forecasts, contractor compliance, invoicing controls, monthly close, and tax support built around how agency work really happens.
100%Project-level margin visibility across client work.
Day 5Target monthly close delivery for recurring packages.
Cash-awareForecast retainers, milestones, and late invoice risk.
Blended project margin
0%
Revenue, payroll, contractors, software, media spend, and overhead are allocated into a single agency profitability view.
Project profitability
LiveNike Q4 campaign
+22%
Sequoia rebrand
+15%
Stripe Webflow dev
-5%
Client invoices
Current
Open AR$182K
Contractor docs94%
Projects watched27
Built for agencies using
HarvestQuickBooksGustoStripe
HarvestQuickBooksXeroGustoRampBill.comStripeAsanaClickUpFloatHarvestQuickBooksXeroGustoRampBill.comStripeAsanaClickUpFloat
Project profitability
Stop guessing whether the work was worth it.
Agency economics get blurry when revenue, payroll, contractors, software, media, revisions, and retainers live in separate tools. Empire turns them into a project-level view your leadership team can actually use.
Revenue and costs allocated by client project
See which accounts create healthy margin and which ones quietly drain capacity.
Retainer, milestone, and time-and-materials support
Handle different billing models without forcing agency work into a generic bookkeeping template.
Cash flow forecasts tied to invoice terms
Plan around Net-30, late clients, upfront retainers, large project milestones, payroll, and contractor runs.
Project margin
Measure
Assign payroll, contractor, and vendor costs to each client project to see true margin.
32%
Overrun alerts
Catch
Spot projects burning budget before the final invoice proves the work was underpriced.
-5%
Invoice control
Collect
Track open AR, milestones, retainers, and follow-up timing so cash does not lag delivery.
$182K
Contractor compliance
Prepare
Keep W-9s, W-8BENs, 1099s, and contractor records organized before year-end.
94%
Agency workflow
From scattered project data to clean monthly decisions.
A finance rhythm designed for agencies that sell retainers, scoped projects, sprints, and complex client work.
01
Connect stack
Accounting, payroll, time tracking, invoicing, cards, project management, and banking tools are connected or collected.
02
Map clients
Revenue, payroll, contractors, software, media, and vendors are mapped by client, project, team, and service line.
03
Track delivery
Budgets, utilization, invoices, retainers, late payments, and margin risk are reviewed before close is finalized.
04
Review cash
Cash collections, payroll, contractor runs, AR, AP, and tax obligations are forecasted against the next few months.
05
Report monthly
Leadership receives clean books, project P&Ls, cash flow context, contractor status, and tax-ready schedules.
Billing controls
Bring invoices, retainers, contractors, and cash into one view.
Agency finance breaks when delivery, billing, and bookkeeping happen in silos. Empire coordinates the close with the reality of project work.
Invoice and AR visibility
Retainers, milestones, overdue balances, and follow-up timing tracked against operating cash.
Contractor and tax readiness
W-9s, W-8BENs, 1099s, payroll, and project-related tax backup prepared throughout the year.
Monthly agency control room
UpdatedOpen client invoices
Project P&Ls
Contractor records
Tax support
Why choose Empire
Built for agency finance, not generic bookkeeping.
We understand retainers, scoped projects, contractors, revisions, variable cash collection, utilization, and the tax complexity that comes with modern agency work.
Billing control
Retainers, milestones, overdue invoices, deferred revenue, and AR follow-ups are tracked consistently.
Contractor readiness
Keep vendor records, contractor docs, payment tracking, and year-end filings from becoming a scramble.
Tax and reporting
Monthly close, business tax support, deductions, sales tax review, and owner-ready reporting stay connected.
Comparison
Agency finance needs more than transaction coding.
Empire gives your agency a finance operating rhythm that connects project profitability, cash collection, contractors, tax, and leadership reporting.
Capability
Empire for agencies
Traditional bookkeeping
Project margin
Revenue and costs tracked by client, project, and service line
Often limited to company-wide P&L categories
Cash collection
AR, retainers, milestones, and overdue invoices reviewed with cash flow
Invoices and books may be treated as separate workflows
Contractors
W-9s, W-8BENs, 1099 support, payments, and project allocation organized
Year-end filing often becomes a document chase
Leadership reporting
Monthly close with margin, cash, AR, tax, and project context
Static reports with limited operating context
QUESTIONS, ANSWERED
Agency finance without the spreadsheet fog.
Straight answers for owners and operators who need cleaner project margins, better cash flow, contractor compliance, and tax-ready books.
Agency perspective
Trusted by ambitious operators.
Run a more profitable agency.
Get the financial clarity to price work better, protect margin, collect faster, and scale with confidence.