Industry playbook
IT services & digital agencies
How IT services firms and agencies automate retainers, project billing and GST with hisabkitab
Imagine a 25-person digital marketing and web development agency with monthly retainer clients, fixed-price website projects and a few ongoing app maintenance contracts. Clients are spread across several states, most deduct TDS, and the founders spend more time chasing invoices than they would like.
See hisabkitab for IT services & digital agencies →
The challenges
Why service businesses still struggle with billing
Retainers that are invoiced late
Monthly retainers should be billed on the first of every month, but in a busy agency invoices go out on the tenth, or not at all for a client who changed scope. Every late invoice pushes cash further away.
Project profit nobody tracks
Fixed-price projects run over, freelancers are added, and tools are bought for one client. Without project tagging, the agency cannot see which clients or project types are profitable and which simply keep the team busy.
TDS deducted by every client
Clients deduct TDS on fees and pay the net amount. Unless every receipt records the TDS, receivables look inflated and TDS credits are not reconciled with the tax credit statement at year-end.
GST by client location
Billing a client in the same state needs CGST and SGST, while a client in another state needs IGST. When client details are typed by hand, the wrong tax type slips through and shows up in GSTR-1.
Collections and cash flow
Payroll is fixed while client payments are not. Founders lack a clear forward view of what is due in the next 30 to 60 days, so hiring and spending decisions are made blind.
A day in the life
A day before vs after hisabkitab
Before
Someone remembers to copy last month's invoice in a spreadsheet and edit the month.
Project costs and freelancer bills sit in general expense ledgers.
Client payments are recorded at net value, with TDS ignored until year-end.
Founders check the bank balance to decide whether they can hire.
With hisabkitab
Retainer invoices are created automatically each month through Recurring Invoice and sent on WhatsApp and email.
Every invoice and cost is tagged to a project, showing profit by client.
Receipts record TDS deducted, so receivables and TDS credits both reconcile.
Client details are auto-filled from GSTIN, so CGST/SGST or IGST is applied correctly.
Solutions
How hisabkitab solves it
Late retainer invoices
Recurring Invoice + Auto-mail + Auto-WhatsApp
Set each retainer once; invoices are generated on schedule and delivered automatically, with payment reminders following on the due date.
Invisible project profit
Custom Field (Transaction level) for Project + Bill-wise Profit Report
Tag invoices and costs with a project or client code to see which accounts and project types actually make money.
TDS reconciliation
TDS at voucher level + TDS Report
Record TDS deducted on each client receipt and TDS you deduct on freelancer payments. The TDS Report supports both your filings and year-end reconciliation.
Wrong tax type
Auto-fill from GSTIN
Type the client's GSTIN to pull legal name, address and state from the GST database; hisabkitab applies CGST + SGST or IGST from the state code.
Cash planning
Cashflow Forecasting (Advanced) + Customer Ageing
See ageing today and, on Advanced, project 30/60/90-day inflows from retainers and open invoices.
Founder questions
Hisabkitab AI assistant + MCP connector (Advanced)
Ask in plain language which clients are overdue, or connect your books to Claude or ChatGPT through the MCP connector for analysis.
Freelancer and vendor bills
OCR Purchase Bill Import (Advanced) + TDS at voucher level
Freelancer and tool invoices are captured quickly, tagged to projects and paid with TDS applied where required, so project costs are complete.
Inside the software
Built for your books
Custom formula example
Fee = Hours × Hourly rate (for time-and-material work). Example: 62 hours × ₹1,800 = ₹1,11,600 for a month's maintenance work.
4-level grouping
Services: Digital Marketing → Retainer → Performance Ads → Monthly. Customers: Industry → State → Account manager → Client.
Reports you’ll use
Customer Ageing Report · TDS Report · Bill-wise Profit Report · Party-wise Sales Report · GST Report · Cash Flow
Compliance notes
Most IT and digital marketing services are taxed at 18% GST, with the type of tax decided by the place of supply, usually the client's registered location for business clients. Business clients deduct income-tax TDS on fees and technical services at rates notified under current law, and you may need to deduct TDS on payments to freelancers and contractors. Agencies above the e-invoicing threshold must generate IRNs for B2B invoices.
Recommended plan
The plan that fits
Boost
₹4,999/year, exclusive of 18% GST (or ₹9,999 for 3 years)
Recurring Invoice, transaction-level project fields, Bill-wise Profit Report and Auto-WhatsApp on Boost cover most agencies. Larger firms wanting cashflow forecasting, Audit Trail, AI bank statement import, Hisabkitab AI or the Claude/ChatGPT MCP connector should choose Advanced.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Can hisabkitab send retainer invoices automatically every month?
Yes. Recurring Invoice on Boost generates retainer invoices on the schedule you set and sends them by email and WhatsApp. Payment reminders follow automatically. You only edit an invoice when the scope changes, instead of rebuilding it every month. Clients receive invoices on the same day every month.
How do I track TDS deducted by clients?
When you record a client payment, enter the TDS they deducted. The invoice is fully settled, the TDS sits in a receivable ledger, and the TDS Report shows totals by client and quarter. At year-end you compare it with your tax credit statement instead of hunting through bank entries.
Will hisabkitab apply IGST for out-of-state clients?
Yes. Enter the client's GSTIN and hisabkitab fetches their details from the GST database. It reads the state code and applies CGST + SGST for clients in your state or IGST for clients in another state, so the tax type on every invoice is correct.
Can I see profit by client or project?
Yes. Tag every invoice and project cost, including freelancer bills and tool subscriptions, with a project or client code. The Bill-wise Profit Report and project-tagged ledgers show which clients and project types deserve more attention and which need repricing. The picture is usually surprising.
Can I connect my accounts to Claude or ChatGPT?
Yes, on Advanced. hisabkitab offers an MCP connector so you can ask Claude or ChatGPT questions about your own books, alongside the built-in Hisabkitab AI assistant. Founders use it to ask about overdue clients, monthly revenue or expense trends without exporting spreadsheets.
Invoice on the first, get paid on time
Book a demo and we will set up your retainers as recurring invoices, project tags on bills and TDS tracking on receipts.
