Explain client advertising spend before an agency's accounting handover

Map who bought the advertising

An agency's advertising records should show who ordered the work, who paid the platform and which client the activity concerned. Start with that factual map before grouping all platform charges under marketing. Give the accountant the actual arrangements and ask what supporting information is needed. This preparation guide does not decide whether the agency is acting in a particular legal or accounting capacity or prescribe how client funds should be treated.

Consider a Cyprus agency managing campaigns for two clients. One client pays the advertising platform directly, while the agency's card pays charges relating to the other client's account. The agency also runs its own campaigns. A combined card total loses those distinctions. The useful handover separates the accounts and links each charge to the relevant source document and accepted client arrangement, leaving the professional to assess the actual position.

Identify each platform account and document source

Make a register showing the advertising account, business or client concerned, named customer on the platform documents and person authorised to retrieve them. Keep account access separate from the general bookkeeping brief. The accountant needs appropriate evidence, not the credentials of every advertising account. Ask which reports, invoices and payment records are required and how the team should provide them through the agreed channel.

Where the platform's billing name differs from the name the agency uses internally, preserve the relationship in the register. If a client changes agency or transfers account responsibility, record the actual date and the supporting instructions. Do not relabel old charges solely to make them fit the current account owner. Retaining the historical facts helps the team understand a later invoice or credit that concerns an earlier period.

Keep service fees separate in the explanation

Give the accountant the accepted agency proposal and identify the services it describes. If the agency bills a client for management work and also requests money relating to platform spend, make both parts understandable using the actual documents. Do not assume that an internal budget sheet determines the accounting treatment. The professional needs to review the agreement, invoicing and money movements rather than infer the arrangement from a convenient description.

For the two-client example, one invoice may concern only management services, while another set of records explains a payment connected with the client's campaign charges. Label the file so the accountant can ask a precise question. If the owner does not know whether a customer payment concerns the service fee or the media activity, mark that uncertainty and retrieve the relevant agreement before making the records look settled.

Trace credits and later adjustments

Platform credits, disputed charges and billing corrections belong with the account and period they concern. Retain the provider's actual notice and any resulting document. Explain when a credit affects a later payment rather than arriving as a separate bank receipt. A card statement can show the cash movement without explaining the campaign or client relationship behind it. Keep the source reference so the accountant can trace the difference.

If the agency passes an adjustment to the client, retain the communication and the corresponding customer paperwork. Ask the responsible professional which additional information is needed. Do not describe a platform credit as a client refund until the actual client arrangement and payment are clear. A short chronology can show the original charge, the platform's correction and the later client action without prescribing the financial conclusion.

Record budget changes as operational evidence

Keep the accepted campaign budget and later instructions where the business can retrieve them. The accountant may not need the full creative discussion, but a clear record of who authorised an increased spend can explain an unexpected bill. Separate an internal forecast from actual platform evidence. A planned budget is a purchasing control and should not be substituted for the charge that the provider actually issued.

Where a client disputes responsibility for a charge or says a budget increase was not accepted, preserve that disagreement and seek suitable legal assistance. Legally is relevant for exploring a professional engagement about the service agreement and communications. Keep the accounting team informed of the unresolved factual issue. A bookkeeping label should not be used to decide a commercial dispute that the parties have not resolved.

Give recurring work a manageable handover

Agree who downloads the platform documents and when the agency supplies them. If account managers hold the context, name a backup contact for absences. A central record index can reduce the repeated search for invoices without granting the whole finance team unrestricted campaign access. Ask the accountant which fields are essential so the process remains workable when the agency adds another client or platform.

Discuss the current Sumly workspace with Accountly as part of that arrangement. Confirm how documents, client references and explanations can be supplied, and which connections are actually available. This guide does not promise advertising-platform integration, client-money management or automatic allocation of charges. A consistent evidence flow can still make the service more efficient because the professional receives the facts behind the recurring payments.

Review the first month before scaling the process

Take one ordinary account and one account with a credit or disputed charge through the proposed handover. Ask which questions the accountant still cannot answer from the supplied material. Improve the source register or document references before repeating the process across every client. A trial using actual records reveals more than a generic promise that all media spend will be handled automatically.

Bring that example to the Accountly service overview discussion and confirm the accepted scope, inputs and any separate assessment. The result should let another colleague follow a charge from the provider document through the payment and the relevant client arrangement. That is a useful accounting foundation for an agency, whether the clients pay their platforms directly or the business has a more complicated purchasing arrangement that requires professional review.

Questions before you start