Agency Retainer Calculator
Price your retainer profitably by factoring in team hours, overhead, margins, and optional ad management fees.
Team roles
Adjust hours and hourly costs. (Role names are fixed for now.)
Strategist
Account Manager
Designer
Copywriter
Ad management fee
Optional % of ad spend.
Results
Recommended retainer
$2,356
Target margin: 20.0%
Total hours/month
28.0
Effective hourly rate
$84
Labor cost
$1,450
Total cost with overhead: $1,885
Ad management fee
$750
Profit / month
$1,221
Total monthly revenue
$3,106
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The agency retainer calculator helps marketing agencies and creative studios price their monthly retainers profitably. Many agencies underprice because they estimate hours without accounting for overhead, scope creep, or the non-billable time required to manage each account. This tool factors in team hours by role, overhead costs, desired profit margin, and optional ad management fees to recommend a retainer price that covers your costs and delivers the margin you need.
How to calculate a retainer price
1) Labor cost = Σ(Role hourly cost × role hours/month) 2) Total cost with overhead = Labor cost × (1 + Overhead %) 3) Retainer at target margin = Total cost ÷ (1 - Margin %) 4) Optional ad fee = Ad spend × Ad fee %
FAQ
How do I price an agency retainer?expand_more
What overhead should agencies include?expand_more
What profit margin should an agency target?expand_more
Should I charge a % of ad spend?expand_more
How do I avoid scope creep?expand_more
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Need help implementing automation?
If these numbers look meaningful, we can help you automate the underlying workflows—so you capture the savings.