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Firm operations agent

Retainer burn alerts

Hours and spend tracked against every retainer and fixed-fee project each week, and a warning to the account lead well before a budget runs out, with the numbers attached.

  • $12,500 fixed
  • Live in 3 to 6 weeks
  • Yours to keep
Let’s build your agent How it works
The review screen for Retainer burn alerts: four items, three done, and one (Past 80%) waiting for the account lead, who is asked: Brightwater is 91% through September’s hours, 9 days left. Raise it on the client call?
How it works

109 of 120 hours, nine days left. Still time to talk to the client.

Here’s a typical run, step by step: what automation handles, what the agent does, and the calls that stay with your team.

The workflow for Retainer burn alerts, in 5 steps. It starts with “Monday morning” and ends with “Burn logged, lead updated”. Each step lists what automation, the agent and your team do there.
Retainer burn alertsA typical run
Starts withMonday morningA new week starts, and last week’s time and expenses are closed in timekeeping and accounting.
Automation: Pulls last week’s hours from timekeeping and expenses from accounting, and lines them up against each retainer’s budget.
~10h/mo

Step 1 of 5Pull the week’s numbers

  • Automation

    Pulls last week’s hours from timekeeping and expenses from accounting, and lines them up against each retainer’s budget.

    Last week is closed, and each retainer’s budget is a number on its record.

Reads
  • Timekeeping
  • Accounting
Writes
  • Burn report

~10 hours a month back

The agent: Reads each entry’s note and marks work booked to the retainer that belongs elsewhere, like new site launch work logged as monthly social posts.
~9h/mo

Step 2 of 5Catch miscoded work

  • The agent

    Reads each entry’s note and marks work booked to the retainer that belongs elsewhere, like new site launch work logged as monthly social posts.

    The code says retainer, the note says “new site launch”. Only the note shows which budget it belongs to.

Reads
  • Timekeeping
Writes
  • Burn report

~9 hours a month back

Where teams differOut-of-scope work stays on the retainer until it’s agreed at some agencies. Others move it off straight away.

The agent: Uses the pace so far, the work already booked and the days left to see Brightwater going past its 120 hours before the month ends.
Automation: Anything past your warning line, like Brightwater at 109 of 120 hours with 9 days left, goes to its account lead.
~12h/mo

Step 3 of 5Project the month

  • The agent

    Uses the pace so far, the work already booked and the days left to see Brightwater going past its 120 hours before the month ends.

    Burn is never a straight line. A launch week or a holiday changes the pace, and the booked work shows it.

  • Automation

    Anything past your warning line, like Brightwater at 109 of 120 hours with 9 days left, goes to its account lead.

    With the line at 80%, 109 of 120 hours is past it.

Reads
  • Burn report
  • Project tool
Writes
  • Burn report

~12 hours a month back

IfYour team: Decides whether to raise it with Brightwater now, slow the work, or propose extra hours, with the burn and the projection to hand.
~3h/mo

Step 4 of 5Decide what to say

  • Your teamIf past the warning line

    Decides whether to raise it with Brightwater now, slow the work, or propose extra hours, with the burn and the projection to hand.

    What to tell a client about their budget depends on the relationship. That’s the account lead’s to judge.

Reads
  • Burn report
Writes
  • Practice management

~3 hours a month back

Where teams differWhether the client partner joins the conversation, and how early, is a firm-by-firm habit.

Automation: Logs every retainer’s burn and emails the report, with the warnings at the top and the budgets on track listed below.
~6h/mo

Step 5 of 5Send the burn report

  • Automation

    Logs every retainer’s burn and emails the report, with the warnings at the top and the budgets on track listed below.

    The report keeps one layout, so account leads know where to look.

Reads
  • Burn report
Writes
  • Email

~6 hours a month back

Ends withBurn logged, lead updatedEvery retainer in the Monday burn report, and Brightwater’s account lead deciding what to tell the client.
Total~40h/mo

What changes

Account leads hear a retainer is running hot with nine days to spare, not once it’s gone. The Monday burn report arrives already built.

  • 3steps automated
  • 2steps for the agent
  • 1call kept with your team

Pick any step to see what happens there and why it sits in that lane.

What it could be worth

~40 hours a month back

$28,800 a year in time

For an agency running about 45 retainers and fixed-fee projects at once, at $60 an hour. We work out yours from your own volumes before you sign.

Let’s build your agent
What we customize with you

One proven agent, plugged into how you work.

Every team does this job a little differently, so we set these five with the people who do it today. We’ve done this in dozens of businesses, so we know where teams usually differ and ask about those first.

The agent

Same for every client
  • Follows the same proven steps
  • A person on every exception
  • Every decision logged
  • Tested on your past work first
  • Never contacts a client about a budget

  1. Your systems

    Where the work comes in, and where the result goes.

    For this agentTime and expenses from your timekeeping and accounting tools, budgets from your practice management system.

  2. Your rules

    The limits and exceptions it works to.

    For this agentYour warning lines, like 80% of hours or spend, and how far ahead to project.

  3. Your team

    Who signs off, and who covers when they’re away.

    For this agentThe account lead for every warning, the client partner for any overrun.

  4. Your channels

    Where your team hears from it.

    For this agentSlack for warnings, a Monday burn report by email.

  5. Your output

    What it hands back, in the format you already use.

    For this agentA burn report for every retainer, and a warning with the numbers attached.

Timesheet and WIP check is its own agent in this catalog, and it feeds this one. Scope and fee conversations with the client stay with the account lead.

What you get

The agent, and everything that keeps it working.

  • The agentRunning on your systems, under your rules.
  • The review screenWhere the exceptions land for your account leads and delivery managers.
  • Your rulebookYour limits, exceptions and who signs off, in one place, often for the first time.
  • A test reportYour past retainers and fixed-fee projects, run through it and checked against the number.
  • The runbookHow it works, what to check, and what to do if it stops.
  • 30 days of tuningAfter it goes live, through a full month of your real retainers and fixed-fee projects.
The number we agree

Budgets that run out without a warning first, which should be none. We measure it before we start, and again at day 30.

How we get there

Live in 3 to 6 weeks. About seven hours of your time.

We do the building. Your side: access, three months of time, expenses and budgets by client, and a short weekly check-in.

  1. Before kickoff

    We send the access checklist.

    You, 2 hours. Access, an owner, and three months of time, expenses and budgets by client.

  2. Weeks 1 to 2

    We connect your systems and set it up.

    You, 1 hour. Walk us through your rules.

  3. Weeks 2 to 4

    We test it on your past retainers and fixed-fee projects.

    You, 1 hour. Review what it flagged.

  4. Weeks 3 to 6

    It runs beside your team, then goes live.

    You, 1¼ hours. Work from the review screen.

Then 30 days of tuning, with a short check-in each week, about two hours of yours. At day 30 we show you the number and hand everything over.

After it’s live

It keeps running whether or not we stay.

  • It runs in your accounts

    Your cloud, your systems, and an AI account in your name, billed by the provider at their rates.

  • Changes in the first 30 days are included

    A new rule, a changed limit, someone new signing off. That’s what tuning is for.

  • After that, your call

    Your team edits the rulebook, the care plan covers it, or a bigger change is quoted first.

Questions

About this agent.

Does it work on fixed-fee projects too?
Yes. For a fixed fee it tracks hours and spend against the budget behind the fee, and warns at the line you set.
Will it tell the client?
No. It warns the account lead with the numbers. What to say to the client, and when, is the lead’s call.
Our process isn’t quite like this. Will it still work?
That’s the usual case. The job looks the same in most businesses, but the details never do. We map how your team does it today, then set the rules, systems and approvals to match. That’s what most of the 3 to 6 weeks are for.
How do we agree the number?
Together, before any work starts. For this agent it’s the budgets that run out without a warning first, which should be none. We measure it before we start, and again at day 30.
What does it cost to run once it’s live?
Hosting and AI, paid straight to the providers, not through us. It usually runs 5x to 25x cheaper than doing the same work by hand, and we work out your figure from your real volumes before you sign.

Want to hear about a tight budget before the client does?

Tell us how your team handles retainers and fixed-fee projects today. We’ll show you this agent on examples like yours, and whether it fits the fixed price.

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  • 3 to 6 weeksto live, then 30 days of tuning
  • $12,500fixed, per agent
  • Yours to keepno license fees
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