Creative Services
Project-level profitability tracking, subcontractor 1099 management, and tax strategy for agencies, designers, and production companies.
The Industry
A marketing agency owner in Tampa takes on a $15,000 brand identity project. She pays a freelance photographer $2,000, a copywriter $1,200, and buys $300 in stock assets. That leaves $11,500, which sounds like a strong margin. The project was scoped for six weeks but stretched to ten with three extra rounds of revisions the client kept requesting. She spent 95 hours on it personally. After allocating two and a half months of software subscriptions, insurance, and coworking space overhead, the real profit was around $3,500. She priced the next identity project the same way because she never actually ran the numbers.
Creative businesses run on project timelines that rarely align with cash flow. You collect a 50% deposit upfront, pay your freelancers during production, and chase the final 50% after delivery. Some clients pay on time. Many don’t. Retainer clients offer some stability but those arrangements often involve more hours than originally agreed to, and nobody recalculates whether the retainer still makes sense six months in. Software subscriptions, equipment upgrades, and contractor payments create steady outflows while income arrives in lumps tied to project completion and client approval.
Who This Covers
Who This Covers
Marketing agencies, graphic designers, web designers, video production companies, photographers, branding studios, content creators, social media managers. Any creative business in the Tampa Bay area billing by project or retainer and managing freelancers alongside the work.
What Makes It Complex
What Makes It Complex
Project-based billing with varying scopes and timelines. Frequent use of freelancers and subcontractors who need 1099s at year end. Software subscriptions that quietly add up each month. Deposits and milestone billing that create revenue recognition timing questions. Equipment purchases that need proper depreciation. Irregular income with busy months followed by stretches where new work hasn’t landed yet.
What We Handle
Project tracking means every expense gets coded to a specific client or job. Freelancer payments, stock photo purchases, printing costs, software allocated to a particular project. You see what each project actually cost, not just what came in. QuickBooks gets set up to track by project so your reports show profitability per client, per project type, and per month. Retainer clients get reviewed against actual hours so you know if the arrangement still makes sense or needs renegotiation.
Subcontractors get W-9s collected and payments tracked throughout the year so 1099 preparation in January is straightforward instead of a scramble through bank statements. Tax returns capture equipment depreciation on cameras, computers, and production gear. Home office deductions get calculated correctly for those working from a dedicated studio space. Entity structure gets reviewed because many creative professionals stay as sole proprietors longer than they should, missing out on S-Corp tax savings once income reaches a level where the election makes sense.
Project Profitability and Freelancer Tracking
Project Profitability and Freelancer Tracking
Every expense tied to a project or client. Freelancer and subcontractor payments tracked for 1099 compliance with W-9s collected before payment goes out. Revenue recognized when work is performed, not when deposits arrive. QuickBooks configured for project-based reporting that shows which clients and work types generate real profit after all costs.
Tax Preparation and Business Structure
Tax Preparation and Business Structure
Business and personal tax returns filed with all creative-industry deductions captured. Equipment depreciation scheduled properly for cameras, computers, and production gear. Home office deductions calculated. S-Corp election evaluated based on your income level. Quarterly estimated taxes set around actual income patterns instead of guesswork that leads to penalties or overpayment.
What Goes Wrong
Most creative professionals price by project without knowing what the last similar project actually cost after all expenses. A web designer charges $4,000 for a standard business website. Sounds profitable until you count the 50 hours of design and development, 8 hours of client calls, 6 hours of revisions that weren’t in the original scope, a $400 payment to a developer for a custom feature, and $150 in plugin licenses. The effective hourly rate drops below what they’d earn working for someone else. Without project-level tracking there’s no way to see this happening, so the same pricing gets used on the next project and the next one after that.
Subcontractor payments add up through the year but nobody tracks who received what. January arrives and you need to issue 1099s. Now you’re digging through bank statements trying to identify every freelancer who received $600 or more. Some don’t have W-9s on file. Others were paid through Venmo and the records are scattered. Meanwhile, quarterly tax estimates were never set up because income varies so much month to month that the owner figured they’d just deal with it at year end. April arrives and the tax bill is five figures with no cash saved because the last two months were slow.
Pricing Without Data
Pricing Without Data
No project-level cost tracking means every estimate is a guess. Scope creep goes uncounted. Extra revision rounds, “quick” additions, and free strategy calls erode margins without being visible. You think you earned $8,000 on a project when the real profit was $3,200 after freelancers, overhead, and the unbilled hours spent managing the client relationship.
Tax and Compliance Gaps
Tax and Compliance Gaps
Freelancer payments not tracked during the year leading to a 1099 scramble every January. No quarterly estimates resulting in a large tax bill with penalties tacked on. Equipment expensed incorrectly instead of being depreciated. Home office deductions missed or calculated wrong. Entity structure never revisited as income grows past the point where an S-Corp election would save thousands in self-employment tax.
What Changes
Every project has a clear cost picture. You know that branding projects average 38% margin while social media retainers run at 52%. You stop taking on work types that consistently lose money, or you reprice them based on actual data. Scope creep becomes visible because you’re comparing quoted hours against actual hours. When a client asks for a fourth round of revisions, you have numbers showing what that costs and can have an honest conversation about adjusting the project fee.
Tax preparation happens with clean books and every deduction captured. Equipment is depreciated on the right schedule. Freelancers get 1099s on time without a panic. Quarterly estimates are calculated based on your actual income timing so April doesn’t bring a surprise bill. If your income supports it, restructuring as an S-Corp can meaningfully reduce self-employment taxes. You get financial visibility that helps you decide when to hire your first full-time employee, when to invest in new equipment, and when to say no to work that doesn’t pay what it should.
Informed Pricing and Better Clients
Informed Pricing and Better Clients
Historical project data drives pricing decisions. You see which client types and project categories make money consistently. Retainer agreements get evaluated against actual hours so you can renegotiate or end arrangements that no longer work. New proposals reflect what the work truly costs, and you stop undercharging because you finally have the numbers to back up your rates.
Clean Compliance and Tax Savings
Clean Compliance and Tax Savings
1099s handled without a January panic. Quarterly estimates preventing year-end tax surprises. Equipment depreciation and home office deductions captured properly. Entity structure optimized for your income level. Financial statements that show real performance month to month so you can plan growth with confidence instead of reacting to whatever the bank balance says today.
Tampa Bay's Small Business CPA Firm
First Step:
A Short Conversation
Tell us about your business and where you need support. We'll walk through your situation, answer your questions, and give you a clear quote.
