Advertising management invoice
Invoice template for ad agencies and PPC freelancers: ad account setup, bid optimization and conversion tracking setup. Download it as Excel or Word.
Templates by industry
- Ad account setup
- Bid optimization
- Conversion tracking setup
Preparation guide
Example workflow
Confirm scope and quantities
Example: reconcile the approval and work record for "Ad account setup" to establish the quantity for this invoice.
Record delivery and acceptance
Check completion for every line, including "Conversion tracking setup". Deliver the activity log, results with reporting periods and data sources, and a list of next actions.
Send the billing record
Send the final charges, delivery reference and due date to the customer, then reconcile payment against the invoice number.
Agencies and freelancers who manage pay-per-click campaigns use this invoice to bill their own work on the ad accounts: the setup, the ongoing bid changes and the tracking that shows which clicks became sales or leads. The money paid to the ad platforms is not part of that fee. If you advance the spend on the client’s behalf, it goes on a separate line, so the fee and the media cost are never read as one figure.
Fields to prepare
- Deliverables and line items
- Ad account setup, Bid optimization, Conversion tracking setup: record the quantities actually supplied and the service period.
- Ad account setup
- Bill setup once, at the start, and list the accounts or campaigns you built so the same work does not reappear next month.
- Bid optimization
- Name the period the optimization covers, usually the calendar month, and how many campaigns were managed in it.
- Conversion tracking setup
- List the conversion events you configured, such as purchases or form submissions, and note any that still wait on the client’s developer.
- Channels and activity volume
- List the accounts, sites or campaigns and the number of publishing, analysis or optimization tasks.
- Period and reporting basis
- Set the service period, comparison baseline, client-supplied data and report delivery date.
- Scope to agree
- Record managed accounts and campaigns, the optimization period and configured conversion events; distinguish media spend.
Before sending
- Does “Ad account setup” show the quantity actually supplied, not the quantity first quoted?
- Is “Bid optimization” charged at the rate the customer agreed to, with any change approved?
- Is “Conversion tracking setup” finished and accepted, or does it belong on a later invoice?
Show 3 more
- Identify whether media spend, paid tools and content production are included.
- Base acceptance on agreed work and reports without treating a ranking or revenue result as a guaranteed deliverable.
- Match completed work to the order or approval record, and confirm the payment due date and amounts already received.
Worked example with sample figures
The figures below are invented to show how the template adds up: 3 lines in USD, with an example tax rate of 8%.
| Item | Quantity × unit price | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Ad account setup | 5 × $650.00 | $3,250.00 |
| Bid optimization | 10 × $180.00 | $1,800.00 |
| Conversion tracking setup | 2 × $2,400.00 | $4,800.00 |
| Subtotal | $9,850.00 | |
| Sales tax (8%) | $788.00 | |
| Total | $10,638.00 | |
Net amount $9,850.00, sales tax $788.00, total payable $10,638.00.
What the document must show
The details an invoice has to show, and why each one matters, are set out in the guide below.
The sales tax depends on where the work is supplied, so set the rate that applies to your customer before sending.
Official rate reference: US government: state and local taxes
Full requirements: How to write an invoice: a step-by-step example
Frequently asked questions
How do I invoice a management fee set as a percentage of ad spend?
Write the month’s spend and the agreed percentage in the line description, and enter the resulting fee as the price with a quantity of one. Take the spend figure from the platform’s billing report for the same dates, so the client can check the base you calculated from.
What if the platform charges the client’s card directly?
Then the spend never passes through your books and stays off this invoice. Add a sentence in the notes that media costs are paid by the client to the platform, so nobody in the client’s accounts team expects to find them here.
How should a minimum monthly fee appear?
If your fee is the higher of a percentage and a fixed minimum, bill whichever applied that month and say which in the line, for example that the minimum applied because spend was low. Showing both would double the fee in the total.
How is the sales tax worked out on this invoice?
The worked example above uses an example rate of 8%: $788.00 on a net amount of $9,850.00, for a total of $10,638.00. The editor recalculates all three when you change a quantity, a price or the country.
Is this template free?
Yes. You can fill in this template and print it or save it as a PDF without an account, and there is no payment step and no watermark on the document. Saving it to your account and downloading Excel or Word files need a free account.
Read next
Reading for the Advertising management invoice: How to write an invoice: a step-by-step example and Credit note vs invoice (and credit memo): how to issue one. The VAT and GST calculator works out the tax line for you.