01 / Free agency template
Set the review boundary
Record the client, reporting period, fee and scope reference. A monthly fee compared with six weeks of hours produces a misleading picture. Decide whether the review is about the completed period, the next period or both, and keep those views distinguishable.
Retainers differ. Some reserve a defined amount of time, others buy recurring deliverables or an ongoing service. The template does not assume that unused hours automatically roll over or that every extra request is billable. Use the actual agreement as the commercial baseline.
02 / Free agency template
Review what the client received
List the meaningful deliverables, decisions and service activity completed during the period. Identify work waiting on client inputs and approved changes. Avoid judging the relationship only by task count: ten small tasks may require less effort than one difficult implementation.
Compare the work with the client's current priorities. A retainer can be operationally efficient while producing work the client no longer values. The review should therefore cover both delivery economics and whether the recurring plan still addresses the intended need.
03 / Free agency template
Compare effort with the available economics
Summarize actual delivery hours using a consistent cost definition. Include account management, revisions and coordination when they belong to the service. Keep direct expenses separate unless already included in the rate used for the calculation.
For an illustrative $5,000 monthly fee, a 40% target direct margin leaves $3,000 available for labour under a labour-only model. At $50 cost per hour, that supports 60 delivery hours. Expenses, payment fees and overhead reduce what remains unless already included. Replace the sample fee, cost rate and margin target with your own figures.
04 / Free agency template
Explain the variance before changing the offer
If actual hours exceed the plan, examine the cause. Additional channels, more stakeholders, unclear feedback or a complex one-off request imply different responses. Separate a temporary investment from a recurring mismatch that will continue next month.
Record the underlying decision. The agency may revise the service boundary, improve the review process, agree a different fee or schedule a separate project. Do not automatically remove service value to make a spreadsheet target look better without discussing the change with the client.
05 / Free agency template
Plan the next period against real capacity
List the next period's committed deliverables and client dependencies, then compare them with the team's available capacity. A commercially acceptable hour budget does not mean a particular person has those hours free. Keep staffing feasibility and project economics as two linked checks.
Agree the review cadence and any change to priorities. If the relationship depends on a named client approver, confirm their availability. Carry unresolved decisions forward with owners rather than repeating them as vague risks in every monthly report.
06 / Free agency template
Keep the record useful for renewal
Store each completed review with the period and the agreement reference. Over time, the history can show changes in scope, effort and client priorities. Use it to prepare a renewal discussion with evidence instead of relying on the last difficult week.
The editable download is an internal review worksheet by default. Prepare a client-facing summary with the information appropriate to the relationship. Internal cost and margin analysis need not be included in the communication that proposes a revised plan.
THE PRACTICAL DETAILS
Questions, answered.
Is this only for hourly retainers?+
No. It can review deliverable-based or ongoing-service retainers. Interpret hours as delivery effort, not automatically as the commercial unit sold.
Do unused hours roll over?+
Unused hours roll over only when your agreement includes that option. Record the agreed rollover or expiry rule in the template.
Can a retainer be profitable but overloaded?+
Yes. The fee may support the delivery cost while the assigned team lacks capacity. Review economics and staffing separately.
Should the client receive the full worksheet?+
Use judgment. The internal cost analysis and the client-facing service discussion may need different versions.
