International payments for a marketing agency: client budgets, ad spend and creator payouts
A marketing agency moves three different kinds of money: client budgets that pass through, media spend paid to platforms, and its own fee. Keep them apart from the first invoice. One multi-currency business account in USD and EUR, corporate cards for ad spend, and one rail per payout currency is the working setup.
Three kinds of money an agency moves
Most of the money that passes through a marketing agency does not belong to the agency. A client sends a media budget, the agency spends it on advertising platforms, and only the management fee is the agency's own revenue. On top of that, the agency pays creators, publishers and freelance contractors, often in other countries and other currencies.
When all three sit in one account under one reference format, two things go wrong. The accountant cannot tell revenue from pass-through funds without opening every transaction. And when a payment provider asks why a large sum arrived and left again, the answer is spread across emails, invoices and platform receipts instead of being visible in the records.
| Money | Whose it is | Where it should sit | What it must never be mixed with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client media budget | The client's | A separate account or currency section for client funds | The agency's fee and operating costs |
| Media spend | The client's, spent on its behalf | Corporate cards funded from the client funds | Agency subscriptions, travel and other own expenses |
| Agency fee | The agency's | The agency's operating account | Client budgets waiting to be spent |
The rails behind these flows are covered in ACH, Wire, SWIFT and SEPA explained. This article is about how the money is arranged once it is inside the agency.
Client budgets that pass through you
A client budget is a liability until it is spent. Treat it that way in the records. The simplest arrangement is a dedicated account, or a dedicated currency section of a multi-currency business account, that only ever receives client budgets and only ever pays media spend and creator fees for those clients.
- A separate invoice series for media budgets, distinct from the series for the agency fee, so the two never share a number.
- A reference per client and campaign on every incoming budget and every outgoing payment linked to it.
- A separate line in the statement for each client budget, so the balance held for each client is readable without a spreadsheet.
Invoice the budget in the currency the client pays in. A client in the SEPA area pays in euro, a client in the United States pays in dollars. Receiving in the client's own currency removes a conversion before the money is even spent. The account details, invoice wording and documents a client abroad expects are covered in what to set up before a client abroad pays you.
Covering ad spend with corporate cards
Advertising platforms are usually paid by card. For an agency, the card is a spending tool attached to client funds. The question to settle first is which account funds the card.
If one card serves every client and is topped up from the operating account, the agency is lending its own money to clients between invoices, and the statement shows one stream of platform charges with no link to any campaign. A cleaner setup is a card per client, or per group of clients, funded from the client funds section. Each charge then sits next to the budget it came from.
Paying creators, publishers and freelance contractors
Creator and contractor payouts are where an agency's currencies multiply. Pay each recipient on the rail that fits their currency, and use one reference format for every payout: client, campaign and the recipient's invoice number. That way a creator fee can be traced back to the budget that paid for it.
| Recipient | Currency | Rail |
|---|---|---|
| Creator in the EU | EUR | SEPA |
| Contractor in the US | USD | ACH or Wire |
| Elsewhere | USD | SWIFT |
At ArtPay, USD moves via ACH and Wire through SSB Bank and via SWIFT through Portage Bank, and EUR moves via SEPA through ClearBank. Conversion between USD and EUR is available when a budget arrives in one currency and a creator is paid in the other. The step-by-step routine for a payout run is in how finance teams run payout day.
What the accountant needs at month-end
Month-end at an agency is mostly matching. Each client budget has to be matched to the media spend and creator fees it paid for, and whatever is left has to be shown as still held for the client. Three habits make that possible without a long reconciliation.
- One record per payment. No combined transfers that cover several clients or campaigns.
- Matching names. The name on the invoice, the contract and the payment is the same legal name, on both sides.
- One reference format. Client, campaign and invoice number, in the same order, on every incoming and outgoing payment.
The cost of each route also belongs in the month-end picture: receiving a budget, converting it and paying it out each carry a fee. The route cost worksheet helps to add these up for each client before the next campaign starts.
What changes at scale
With five clients, a misplaced reference is a short email. With fifty, the trouble grows with the number of things to match. Every client adds a budget, a card, a set of creators and a currency pair, and each of them multiplies the entries the accountant has to reconcile.
- A client register with legal name, country, billing currency and the funds section each client pays into.
- A creator and contractor register with currency, rail and confirmed payment details for each recipient.
- A written fee for each route, so the cost of every budget is known before it arrives.
- A named manager at your provider, so a question about a specific payment reaches someone who knows how the agency works.
ArtPay's fee is a transparent fixed fee, confirmed in a written quote before the account is activated. Eligibility is reviewed for each business, so the structure of client funds, cards and payouts is best described at the first conversation.
| Item | Done when |
|---|---|
| Client funds section | Client budgets land somewhere the agency fee never does |
| Invoice series | Budgets and agency fees are numbered separately |
| Card funding | Each card is funded from the client funds it spends |
| Payout rails | Every creator and contractor has a confirmed currency and rail |
| Reference format | Client, campaign and invoice number on every payment |
Some agencies also receive part of their revenue in digital assets. That revenue follows the same rules: a contract, an invoice and a clear record. ArtPay offers settlement of digital-asset revenue (USDT, USDC) into USD or EUR on the company account.
Who this is for
Marketing, media and performance agencies with clients, platforms and creators in other countries. ArtPay is not a bank and not a card acquirer: it does not process card payments on a client's website. See business accounts for agencies and SaaS.
Questions
How should an agency separate client ad budgets from its own revenue?
Hold client budgets in a separate account or currency section that only receives budgets and only pays media spend and creator fees. Give budgets their own invoice series, put a client and campaign reference on every payment, and keep one record per payment.
Can we pay influencers and creators in their own currency?
Yes. Pay each creator on the rail that fits their currency: euro by SEPA in the EU, dollars by ACH or Wire in the United States, and dollars by SWIFT elsewhere. Use one reference format for every payout so each fee traces back to a client budget.
Can a partner network or performance agency use ArtPay?
Yes. ArtPay provides a business account in USD and EUR for partner networks, performance and media buying agencies: client money arrives via ACH, Wire, SWIFT or SEPA, partners and contractors are paid from the same account, and corporate cards cover advertising spend. Eligibility is reviewed for each business, and the fee is confirmed in a written quote.
Does ArtPay issue corporate cards?
Yes. ArtPay provides corporate cards for eligible businesses, for team and advertising spend. Cards are issued to registered companies, not to individuals. Eligibility is reviewed for each business, and the fee is confirmed in a written quote.
This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Payment rules and timings vary by bank and country; confirm the details for your route with your provider.