Test the yes before you give it
Payroll runs the same every month; the revenue arrives in lumps. Retainers, hours, payroll and cash become one baseline — automatically from your accounting, your CRM and the hours your team already logs in Toggl. Then put the next hire, the pitch you're weighing or the retainer on the table on top of it, and see what each one carries before you commit.
Cashflow Forecast
| Jul 26 | Aug 26 | Sep 26 | Oct 26 | Nov 26 | Dec 26 | Jan 27 | Feb 27 | Mar 27 | Apr 27 | May 27 |
| Revenue | |||||||||||
Retainers | €54,400€54,400 | €61,200€61,200 | €61,200€61,200 | €61,200€0 | €75,700€0 | €75,700€0 | €75,700€0 | €75,700€0 | €75,700€0 | €75,700€0 | €75,700€0 |
Active retainersHubSpot | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Average monthly feeManual | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 |
Project revenue | €28,000€28,000 | €28,000€28,000 | €28,000€28,000 | €28,000€0 | €28,000€0 | €28,000€0 | €28,000€0 | €28,000€0 | €28,000€0 | €28,000€0 | €28,000€0 |
| Total revenue | €82,400 | €89,200 | €89,200 | €89,200 | €103,700 | €103,700 | €103,700 | €103,700 | €103,700 | €103,700 | €103,700 |
| Operating expenses | |||||||||||
Payroll | −€71,000−€71,000 | −€71,000−€71,000 | −€71,000−€71,000 | −€71,000€0 | −€76,800€0 | −€84,700€0 | −€84,700€0 | −€84,700€0 | −€84,700€0 | −€84,700€0 | −€84,700€0 |
| 6000 · Salaries | −€58,400 | −€58,400 | −€58,400 | −€58,400 | −€64,200 | −€64,200 | −€64,200 | −€64,200 | −€64,200 | −€64,200 | −€64,200 |
| 6020 · Freelancers | −€12,600 | −€12,600 | −€12,600 | −€12,600 | −€12,600 | −€12,600 | −€12,600 | −€12,600 | −€12,600 | −€12,600 | −€12,600 |
| Total operating expenses | −€71,000 | −€71,000 | −€71,000 | −€71,000 | −€76,800 | −€84,700 | −€84,700 | −€84,700 | −€84,700 | −€84,700 | −€84,700 |
Trusted by agencies
The status quo
Your agency could grow faster than it does.
What's missing isn't demand — it's a number behind the yes. And the numbers that would give you one sit in your time tracker, your payroll journal and your accountant's file, never in the same place.
Which retainer still carries itself — and which no longer does?
The fee is the same every month. The hours behind it aren't, and nobody works out when the two turn into a loss.
When is the right moment to grow the team?
More people means more capacity means more retainers — but the salary starts on day one and the utilisation follows later.
Can the retainer, the hire and the tool upgrade go together?
Each is a yes on its own. Together they're a question only data can answer.
What's missing isn't another report. It's a base that runs forward — and holds still while you test a yes against it.
The challenge
Why decisions in an agency are so hard to call
Six things make an agency hard to read. Anything you want to decide against — hire, pitch, say yes — has to handle every one of them first.
A retainer is flat, the work behind it isn't
The fee is the same every month. The hours drift up quarter by quarter, and the effective rate slides under the one you priced without anyone noticing.Capacity arrives before the revenue does
You hire to win the next retainer, but the salary starts on day one and the retainer starts when it starts. The gap in between is the whole risk.Freelancers and media scale with the work
Bought-in hours and media budget aren't fixed costs and aren't overheads — they move with the month, so a busy month costs more before it earns more.New business is lumpy
One retainer won or lost is a visible step in the revenue line. Averaging that into a smooth growth rate makes the plan wrong in both directions.Project revenue invoices in milestones
A third on signature, a third at delivery, a third on sign-off — three dates that have nothing to do with the months the work happened in.Decisions never come one at a time
The hire, the new retainer and the tool upgrade are each a yes on their own. Whether all three together still work is a different question, and it needs one plan to answer it.So it takes more than a utilisation report. It takes a base that handles all six by design — and holds up when you test a decision against it.
The solution
One model of your agency — and every yes tested on it
Foreqast isn't three separate tools. It's one model of your agency's money — prebuilt from your accounting data, sharpened by every hour that syncs into it, and built to be the thing your next yes gets measured against.
What you connect
Based on your accounting
Actuals, accruals and open items — already assigned to an account.
DATEV
Improve with additional data
Logged hours per client, salary per person, new-business pipeline.
TogglHubSpot
Perfectionize with your assumptions
Retainer fees, payment terms, planned roles, freelance budget.
9 retainers live€6,800 / monthHire from April
Forecast
| Jun 26 | Jul 26 | Aug 26 | Sep 26 | Oct 26 | Nov 26 | Dec 26 | Jan 27 | Feb 27 | Mar 27 |
| Revenue | ||||||||||
Retainers | €54,400€54,400 | €61,200€61,200 | €61,200€61,200 | €61,200€61,200 | €61,200€0 | €61,200€0 | €61,200€0 | €61,200€0 | €61,200€0 | €61,200€0 |
Active retainersHubSpot | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
Monthly fee | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 | €6,800 |
Project revenue | €28,000€28,000 | €28,000€28,000 | €28,000€28,000 | €28,000€28,000 | €28,000€0 | €28,000€0 | €28,000€0 | €28,000€0 | €28,000€0 | €28,000€0 |
| Cost of revenue | ||||||||||
Freelancers & production | −€12,600−€12,600 | −€12,600−€12,600 | −€12,600−€12,600 | −€12,600−€12,600 | −€12,600€0 | −€12,600€0 | −€12,600€0 | −€12,600€0 | −€12,600€0 | −€12,600€0 |
| Gross profit | €69,800 | €76,600 | €76,600 | €76,600 | €76,600 | €76,600 | €76,600 | €76,600 | €76,600 | €76,600 |
| Operating expenses | ||||||||||
Payroll | −€58,400−€58,400 | −€58,400−€58,400 | −€58,400−€58,400 | −€58,400−€58,400 | −€58,400€0 | −€64,200€0 | −€64,200€0 | −€64,200€0 | −€64,200€0 | −€64,200€0 |
Tools & licences | −€3,400−€3,400 | −€3,400−€3,400 | −€3,400−€3,400 | −€3,400−€3,400 | −€3,400€0 | −€3,400€0 | −€3,400€0 | −€3,400€0 | −€3,400€0 | −€3,400€0 |
| Cash | €156,000 | €170,800 | €185,600 | €200,400 | €215,200 | €224,200 | €233,200 | €242,200 | €251,200 | €260,200 |
| Open invoices | €38,080 | €42,840 | €42,840 | €42,840 | €42,840 | €42,840 | €42,840 | €42,840 | €42,840 | €42,840 |
| Retainer hours | 464 h | 558 h | 594 h | 612 h | 612 h | 612 h | 612 h | 612 h | 612 h | 612 h |
| Effective hourly rate | €117.24 | €109.68 | €103.03 | €100.00 | €100.00 | €100.00 | €100.00 | €100.00 | €100.00 | €100.00 |
| Operating margin | €8,000 | €14,800 | €14,800 | €14,800 | €14,800 | €9,000 | €9,000 | €9,000 | €9,000 | €9,000 |
Capabilities
Which month can I afford the hire?
How much money do I have, including open invoices?
How many hours did the retainers really take?
What is my effective hourly rate?
What's left after freelancers and payroll?
The decisions
Now start working with your numbers
Hold the fee against the hours
The effective rate tells you inside the month whether a retainer still carries — not at the next renewal.
The fee, and what it really costs
| Jul 26 | Aug 26 | Sep 26 | Oct 26 | Nov 26 | Dec 26 |
| Revenue | ||||||
Retainer · Aurora | €4,900€4,900 | €4,900€4,900 | €4,900€4,900 | €4,900€0 | €4,900€0 | €4,900€0 |
Fixed monthly fee | €4,900 | €4,900 | €4,900 | €4,900 | €4,900 | €4,900 |
HoursToggl | 42 h | 39 h | 44 h | 44 h | 44 h | 44 h |
Effective rate | €117 | €126 | €111 | €111 | €111 | €111 |
Retainer · Nordwind | €2,600€2,600 | €2,600€2,600 | €2,600€2,600 | €2,600€0 | €2,600€0 | €2,600€0 |
Project work | €2,300€2,300 | €2,300€2,300 | €2,300€2,300 | €2,300€0 | €2,300€0 | €2,300€0 |
| Total revenue | €9,800 | €9,800 | €9,800 | €9,800 | €9,800 | €9,800 |
Grow the team in the right month
Salary from month one, utilisation later — you see the point where the two cross.
Payroll & hiring plan
| Aug 26 | Sep 26 | Oct 26 | Nov 26 | Dec 26 | Jan 27 |
| Operating expenses | ||||||
Payroll | −€57,600−€57,600 | −€57,600−€57,600 | −€57,600€0 | −€65,280€0 | −€65,280€0 | −€65,280€0 |
| 6000 · Salaries | −€48,000 | −€48,000 | −€48,000 | −€54,400 | −€54,400 | −€54,400 |
| 6010 · Employer contributions | −€9,600 | −€9,600 | −€9,600 | −€10,880 | −€10,880 | −€10,880 |
Freelancers | −€7,200−€7,200 | −€7,200−€7,200 | −€7,200€0 | −€7,200€0 | −€7,200€0 | −€7,200€0 |
Tools & software | −€2,400−€2,400 | −€2,400−€2,400 | −€2,400€0 | −€2,400€0 | −€2,400€0 | −€2,400€0 |
| Total operating expenses | −€67,200 | −€67,200 | −€67,200 | −€74,880 | −€74,880 | −€74,880 |
New Role
Hiring planRole
Start
Monthly salary
Fully loaded €7,680 / mo — employer contributions included.
Cost three decisions together
Turn them on alone or together and compare the forecast with and without.
Impact before you commit
| Aug 26 | Sep 26 | Oct 26 | Nov 26 | Dec 26 | Jan 27 |
| Change in cash | −€3,700 | −€3,700 | −€3,700 | −€2,700 | −€2,700 | −€2,700 |
| Cumulative cash | €144,300 | €140,600 | €136,900 | €134,200 | €131,500 | €128,800 |
Contract changes
Team changes
That puts every number in one model. What follows is the daily work with it — one decision at a time.
Retainers & margin
Plan the fee — and see what it really costs in hours.
A retainer is a fixed number: the same fee every month, however much work went in. Foreqast plans it as exactly that — a fixed monthly fee per client that sits in the forecast without anyone maintaining it. The tracked hours run underneath, not as revenue but as the check: €4,900 against this month's hours is an effective rate of €111, versus the €120 you priced it at. When it slips below, you know inside the month rather than at the next renewal.
The fee, and what it really costs
| Jul 26 | Aug 26 | Sep 26 | Oct 26 | Nov 26 | Dec 26 |
| Revenue | ||||||
Retainer · Aurora | €4,900€4,900 | €4,900€4,900 | €4,900€4,900 | €4,900€0 | €4,900€0 | €4,900€0 |
Fixed monthly fee | €4,900 | €4,900 | €4,900 | €4,900 | €4,900 | €4,900 |
HoursToggl | 42 h | 39 h | 44 h | 44 h | 44 h | 44 h |
Effective rate | €117 | €126 | €111 | €111 | €111 | €111 |
Retainer · Nordwind | €2,600€2,600 | €2,600€2,600 | €2,600€2,600 | €2,600€0 | €2,600€0 | €2,600€0 |
Project work | €2,300€2,300 | €2,300€2,300 | €2,300€2,300 | €2,300€0 | €2,300€0 | €2,300€0 |
| Total revenue | €9,800 | €9,800 | €9,800 | €9,800 | €9,800 | €9,800 |
Scaling
Grow the team the month the numbers say yes.
For an agency, growth is mostly capacity: more people, more retainers you can run at once. Create the role as a test hire — start month, hourly wage, contracted week — and it forecasts immediately, without anyone being employed. Salary from month one, utilisation later: you see the point where those cross, and move the start date until it works. An extra ad budget is tested beside it on the same model, if the pipeline rather than the capacity is your constraint.
Payroll & hiring plan
| Aug 26 | Sep 26 | Oct 26 | Nov 26 | Dec 26 | Jan 27 |
| Operating expenses | ||||||
Payroll | −€57,600−€57,600 | −€57,600−€57,600 | −€57,600€0 | −€65,280€0 | −€65,280€0 | −€65,280€0 |
| 6000 · Salaries | −€48,000 | −€48,000 | −€48,000 | −€54,400 | −€54,400 | −€54,400 |
| 6010 · Employer contributions | −€9,600 | −€9,600 | −€9,600 | −€10,880 | −€10,880 | −€10,880 |
Freelancers | −€7,200−€7,200 | −€7,200−€7,200 | −€7,200€0 | −€7,200€0 | −€7,200€0 | −€7,200€0 |
Tools & software | −€2,400−€2,400 | −€2,400−€2,400 | −€2,400€0 | −€2,400€0 | −€2,400€0 | −€2,400€0 |
| Total operating expenses | −€67,200 | −€67,200 | −€67,200 | −€74,880 | −€74,880 | −€74,880 |
New Role
Hiring planRole
Start
Monthly salary
Fully loaded €7,680 / mo — employer contributions included.
Costs & decisions
Test decisions and see the impact on profit and cash flow — before you commit.
Every recurring cost is its own line and every change its own switch: a hire, a cancelled tool, a new retainer. Turn them on alone or together and compare the forecast with and without. The switch above the table gives you both sides of it: the profit view says what the month actually earns, the cash view says when the money moves and which month gets tight. None of it touches your plan until you keep it.
Decisions
Create decisionDecisions on
First lands Nov 2026
Monthly, once settled
Better off every month
Over 12 months
Everything switched on, added up
Ad-budget changes
No planned spend steps
Contract changes
Team changes
Your configuration
Choose how accurate your forecast should be
It depends on what you give it — so here's the whole ledger, and you can click through it. Every input carries a fixed weight, and only the things you have to keep current cost you time. Accounting alone already reads Solid, at zero hours a week. Add the retainers and your time tracking and it reads Max.
One-time setup
Integrations
Ongoing tracking
Your forecast quality and automation
Success stories
Agencies deciding on the numbers
How other agencies cost payroll, retainers and the decisions in between — in their own words.
PLECOM4 min read
How PLECOM separates its own money from its clients' ad budgets
An eCommerce agency running retainers, shop builds and client ad budgets through one account. PLECOM connected accounting to Foreqast and now plans against a cash curve where pass-through spend is money that was never theirs.
12 months
of cash visibility
Arclane3 min read
How Arclane knows which month a project pays for itself
A software agency whose revenue arrives in milestones and whose costs run every single day. Arclane connected accounting and now plans developer capacity against a cash curve that already contains every signed milestone.
12 months
of cash visibility
Watchbaze4 min read
How Watchbaze sizes every restock before the money leaves the account
A Shopify watch shop where each restock ties up five figures for weeks. Watchbaze connected accounting and shop to Foreqast and now orders against a cash position it can see twelve months out, instead of against a bank balance.
20 min
to first forecast
Works with your stack
Accounting, CRM and time tracking
Time to value
Set up in 15 minutes — after that you decide on live numbers
It takes one guided setup: a handful of questions about how your agency works, and your accounting connected. Foreqast generates the forecast from there — no model to build, no template to fill in. From then on every yes has a number behind it.
- 15 min
Complete the guided setup
Foreqast asks how your agency earns and spends — retainers, projects, freelancers, payroll and contracts — and you connect your accounting. That is the whole setup.
- Automatic
Your forecast is generated
Your bookings arrive already categorized, get accrued day by day and roll twelve months forward. The forecast builds itself — and stays current with every sync.
- From day one
Start making decisions
Retainers, payroll and the tight weeks are there. Test the hire, the freelance budget or a lost client against them before you commit.
Usable from the guided setup alone, sharper with every step after it: connect your time tracking · connect HR and payroll · connect CRM and new business · keep freelance budget and tools current
Why Foreqast
All the data, none of the upkeep
A spreadsheet holds every number you put in it — including payroll, which you roll forward by hand. An FP&A tool can do everything, but its setup takes longer than your longest project. Foreqast joins the two: the data from your accounting and your time tracking, carried forward automatically, and a decision you can switch on and off against it.
| Spreadsheets | Enterprise FP&A | Foreqast | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data basis | Anything you type in | After the implementation | Real accounting data |
| Retainer planning | A row per client | With a contract module | Fee, start, billing day |
| Effective hourly rate | Only if you import hours | Via an integration project | Fee ÷ tracked hours |
| Payroll | Rolled forward by hand | A workforce module | Per person, with dates |
| Freelancers & media | Estimated as overheads | As variable cost | Variable, per client |
| Cash and profit view | Whatever you model | Both, maintained apart | Both, one switch apart |
| Several decisions together | Costed one at a time | Versioned scenarios | Switches, compared live |
| Upkeep a week | Around 8 hours | A role of its own | Fully automatic |
| Setup | Days to weeks | Longer than your longest project | 20 minutes |
| Price | Free | Five figures a year | From €39/month |
The short version: a spreadsheet has the flexibility, but you maintain it. The FP&A tool has the depth, but nobody on the team will open it. Foreqast has both — and costs less.
FAQ
The questions agencies ask
What agencies want to know before they start — answered briefly. The long version lives in the documentation and the academy.
Still have a question?
The documentation explains every field; the academy walks the whole way from actuals to a finished plan.
Do I need finance skills?
No. The structure comes from your accounting — you set drivers and read the result.
How are retainers modelled?
As a fixed monthly fee per client with a start, end and billing date — it sits in the forecast without upkeep and lands in the cash flow on the right day.
Where does the effective hourly rate come from?
The fee divided by the hours tracked that month. When it slips below the rate you priced, you see it inside the month.
Can I test several decisions at once?
Yes. You can keep several decisions active in parallel and compare the forecast with and without them.
Do I see margin per project member?
Hourly cost per member and per-member time tracking are on the roadmap. Today you plan at project and client level.
Are employer contributions included?
Automatic employer contributions and payroll taxes are on the roadmap. Today you plan with fully loaded cost per role.
How are freelancers planned?
As a variable block that grows with the work — not as an overhead that looks the same every month.
Does the plan use real payment terms?
Yes. Open invoices enter the plan on their payment term, not their invoice date.
How fast is setup?
About 20 minutes — connect accounting, add your retainers, your team and your projects.
Is my data secure?
Your data is encrypted in transit and at rest, and only ever used to build your own forecast.
Run the numbers before you say yes
Connect your accounting, get your baseline in minutes, then test the hire, the pitch and the retainer against it before you commit. Free to start.
14 days free · no card required