agency retainer calculator
Price a profitable agency retainer from delivery hours, hourly cost and target margin. Free retainer pricing calculator for agencies.
Enter your numbers
Live results
Minimum monthly retainer
$3,600.00
Effective hourly rate
$120.00
True delivery cost
$2,340.00
Monthly profit
$1,260.00
What this calculator does
The Agency Retainer Calculator prices a retainer from the inside out: estimated monthly delivery hours, your blended hourly cost, overhead allocation, and the profit margin you want to keep. The output is the minimum retainer to quote, the effective client hourly rate, and the monthly profit at that price. Use it before every proposal to stop quoting from gut feel, when repricing legacy clients whose scope has crept, and when deciding whether a prospect’s budget can ever be serviced profitably. Pair it with a client profitability review each quarter: retainers priced years ago at old cost structures are the most common source of hidden agency losses.
How to use this calculator
- 1
Estimate monthly delivery hours across everyone touching the account.
- 2
Enter blended hourly cost, overhead percentage, and target profit margin.
- 3
Quote at or above the minimum retainer; revisit when scope or costs change.
Why this matters for agencies
Most unprofitable retainers were unprofitable on day one - they were just never priced against real delivery cost. Pricing from hours, cost and target margin makes every quote defensible and every scope-creep conversation objective.
Frequently asked questions
What profit margin should an agency target on retainers?
Healthy agencies target 30-50% gross margin per retainer. Below 20%, one scope creep or staff change turns the account unprofitable.
What is a blended hourly cost?
The weighted average cost per delivery hour across everyone touching the account - senior strategist hours cost more than coordinator hours. Total loaded salaries of the delivery team divided by their billable hours is a quick approximation.
How do I handle scope creep on a fixed retainer?
Recalculate with the real hours being delivered. If the effective hourly rate has fallen below your cost, the data makes the repricing conversation for you.
Should reporting time be included in retainer hours?
Yes - and it is usually underestimated. Manual reporting commonly consumes 2-4 hours per client per month; automating it is often the fastest margin improvement available.
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