TL;DR for PR firm leaders
- Built for 5-40 person PR firms running monthly retainers, product-launch projects, and crisis engagements side by side.
- Track hours by activity (strategy, outreach, writing, reporting) so retainer billing stands up to procurement scrutiny.
- Branded portal replaces Asana + Toggl + HoneyBook + FreshBooks + shared coverage trackers.
- Flat $39-$79/month pricing with unlimited seats — including the freelancers you bring in for launch surges.
- Keep Cision, Muck Rack, or Meltwater for journalist data; AgencyPro is the ops layer.
Built for How PR Firms Actually Bill
Strategy hours, pitching hours, writing hours, reporting hours — each at different rates, each rolling up to a retainer. AgencyPro tracks the work without making your team feel surveilled.
Track journalist pitches, follow-ups, response status, and resulting coverage as discrete activity per client. Log time per pitch so you can see exactly what each placement cost in hours — not just whether it ran.
PR work is hours-heavy: media strategy, executive prep, message development, and crisis counsel. Track time per activity at different rates (junior, senior, partner) so retainer burn is always visible and overages get caught early.
Bill monthly retainers for ongoing media relations and reputation work, project fees for product launches and crisis engagements, and hours-over-cap as overage. All three models live on a single client record.
Route press releases, pitches, byline drafts, and crisis statements through structured approval queues. Track who signed off, when, and which version — critical for compliance-heavy industries and crisis response.
Upload coverage data (placements, impressions, sentiment, share of voice) into client portal reports. Pair the narrative with hours invested to show clients exactly what their retainer bought them this month.
Spin up a crisis workspace in minutes with pre-built templates: holding statement, stakeholder map, message tree, talking points, journalist FAQ. Log every hour and decision under one project for clean post-crisis reporting.
Clients log into a portal at your domain to see active pitches, upcoming announcements, coverage reports, message libraries, and invoices. No more attaching the same coverage tracker spreadsheet to four different emails.
Store approved boilerplates, executive bios, headshots, fact sheets, media lists, and crisis playbooks per client. New account staff get oriented in an hour rather than digging through Drive for current versions.
How a PR Agency Uses AgencyPro Across a Typical Engagement
A 7-step lifecycle from discovery through monthly reconciliation, designed for hours-based PR retainers with project work woven in.
Discovery and Audit
Audit the client's current media coverage, message positioning, journalist relationships, and reputation baseline. Output: a 90-day PR plan the client signs off on inside the portal.
Engagement Setup in AgencyPro
Create the client workspace, configure the retainer with hour allocations per activity (strategy, outreach, writing, reporting), invite stakeholders, and load boilerplates plus bios into the asset library.
Message Development and Approval
Draft key messages, FAQs, and talking points. Route through the client approval queue. Hours log against the strategy bucket.
Media List and Pitch Development
Build the target media list from Cision or Muck Rack. Draft tailored pitches, route through internal review, then send. Each pitch is a tracked activity tied to a journalist record.
Pitch Execution and Follow-Up
Send pitches, log responses, schedule follow-ups, manage interviews. Hours log per pitch so cost-per-placement is visible after the fact.
Coverage Capture and Reporting
Log placements as they run with reach, sentiment, and share-of-voice data. Reports assemble inside the portal with hours-by-activity overlay so the retainer story is always clear.
Monthly Retainer Reconciliation
Match logged hours against the retainer allocation, flag overage with documentation, and invoice. Crisis or surge weeks reconcile cleanly because every hour was tagged in real time.
Common Scenarios at a PR Firm
Three recurring patterns most PR firms hit every quarter. Here is how each flows through AgencyPro.
1. Running a $12K/month retainer for a B2B tech client
A B2B SaaS company on a 12-month retainer covering thought leadership, product PR, and ongoing media relations.
In AgencyPro:
- Retainer configured at 60 hours/month split 18 strategy / 22 outreach / 12 writing / 8 reporting.
- Three sub-projects: Thought Leadership, Product PR, Crisis Standby.
- Monthly cadence: 2 byline drafts, 8-10 pitches, 1 round of executive prep, 1 monthly report.
- Every pitch tracks as an activity with journalist link, hours logged, and outcome (responded, declined, ran).
- Coverage feeds the portal weekly so the head of comms sees momentum without waiting for the monthly report.
Outcome: defensible retainer reporting and visible cost-per-placement.
2. Spinning up a crisis response on a Tuesday afternoon
A client gets blindsided by a regulatory action; the head of comms calls at 2pm needing immediate help.
In AgencyPro:
- Open a Crisis project from the template; holding statement, stakeholder map, message tree, and journalist FAQ instantiate in 90 seconds.
- Senior counsel logs hours under Strategy; the writing team drafts the holding statement under Writing; the partner reviews and routes legal through the approval queue.
- By end of day, the holding statement is published, three top reporters have been briefed, and every hour is logged against the crisis budget.
- The next morning the client sees the full timeline in the portal and approves the next-48-hours plan.
Outcome: clean billing for the crisis surge with full audit trail for legal.
3. Coordinating a product launch with a 6-week ramp
A consumer brand launching a new line wants an embargoed product launch with national tech press and trade coverage.
In AgencyPro:
- Open a Product Launch project with phases: messaging → press kit → embargo list → pitching → launch day → coverage roundup.
- Each phase has its own hour budget and approval gate.
- Embargo list lives in the client portal; the brand team approves who gets briefed under embargo before pitches go out.
- Launch day, hours track by activity; the partner can see at noon whether the team is over or under budget for the day.
- Post-launch, the coverage roundup assembles inside the portal in 25 minutes instead of 3 hours of slide-building.
Outcome: organized launch with margin protection on a fixed-fee project.
The PR Agency Stack AgencyPro Replaces
Most PR firms run 5-7 SaaS tools to manage a single client. Here is how that stack maps to AgencyPro.
| What you use today | Typical monthly cost (10 seats) | AgencyPro feature that replaces it |
|---|---|---|
| Asana / Trello / Monday | $100-$240 | Projects, tasks, pitch tracking, approval queues |
| Toggl / Harvest | $90-$110 | Hours-based time tracking by activity and staff level |
| HoneyBook / Dubsado | $59-$80 | Proposals, SOWs, e-signature, onboarding |
| FreshBooks / QuickBooks Self-Employed | $30-$80 | Recurring retainer invoicing and overage billing |
| SuperOkay / ClientPortal.io | $40-$80 | Branded client portal with coverage dashboards |
| Google Drive folders | Included | Per-client asset library for boilerplates and bios |
| Estimated total replaced | $319-$590/month | AgencyPro Basic at $39/month (flat) |
You keep: Cision, Muck Rack, or Meltwater for journalist database and monitoring; Coveragebook for clipping; your accounting tool.
The Pricing Math for a 10-Person PR Firm
A worked example for the typical PR ops stack vs. AgencyPro. Excludes Cision/Muck Rack which you keep on both sides.
Status quo: 10-person PR firm ops stack
- Asana Premium (10 seats): $110/mo
- Toggl (10 seats): $90/mo
- HoneyBook: $59/mo
- FreshBooks Plus: $55/mo
- SuperOkay: $59/mo
Total: ~$373/month • $4,476/year
On AgencyPro
- AgencyPro Basic: $39/mo (flat, unlimited seats)
- Includes: projects, tasks, time, retainers, portal, intake forms, SOWs, asset library
- Add freelancers during launch surges without changing the bill
Total: $39/month • $468/year
Savings: ~$294/month, ~$3,528/year
The bigger lift for PR firms is usually the 10-15 hours/week of partner time reclaimed from reconciling Toggl exports against Asana projects against client retainers.
Migrating From Asana, Toggl, or a Spreadsheet System
PR firms typically arrive at AgencyPro from one of three setups.
From Asana plus Toggl plus HoneyBook
Export active client projects and recent time logs. Rebuild 2-3 core PR templates (retainer, product launch, crisis) and clone per active client. Most firms migrate client by client over 3-4 weeks. Historical time logs stay in Toggl as archive.
From a legacy PR-specific agency tool
Older PR platforms can be heavy and feel dated. Export active retainers, in-flight projects, and recent invoices. Rebuild in AgencyPro and run parallel for one billing cycle. Most firms cut over fully after one clean month.
From a Google Sheet plus email setup
This is the easiest migration. Use AgencyPro\'s PR retainer template as the starting point and recreate each active client from the sheet (typically 30-40 minutes per client). Send the portal invite. Within two weeks, the team stops opening the spreadsheet.
What Changes When Every PR Hour Is Tracked
PR firms running AgencyPro report tighter retainer billing, faster approvals, and clearer cost-per-placement visibility.
Bill Real Hours, Not Round-Number Estimates
Track strategy, writing, pitching, and reporting hours separately so retainer invoices stand up to procurement scrutiny.
Catch Crisis-Driven Overage Before It Eats Margin
Crisis work blows through retainers fast. Real-time tracking flags the spike on day one instead of at month-end.
Cut Coverage Report Assembly From Hours to Minutes
Upload Cision exports and placement data straight into the portal instead of building slide decks every month.
Defend Retainer Pricing With Effort Data
Show clients how many hours went into strategy, outreach, and writing when they push back on the monthly fee.
Speed Up Multi-Stakeholder Approvals
In-house comms, legal, and executive review live in one approval queue instead of three email threads.
Scale Without Losing Account Quality
Templates and asset libraries let new account staff ramp up in days, not months.
Saved weekly on coverage reports
Retainer renewal rates
Average invoice creation time
Based on average results reported by agencies using AgencyPro
A Real Scenario: 12-Person Tech PR Firm
A 12-person PR firm focused on B2B tech and fintech clients, running 15 retainer relationships between $6K and $18K/month. They came to AgencyPro from a Trello + Toggl + QuickBooks + shared-Drive setup.
The challenge
Retainer disputes were a recurring problem because clients couldn\'t see what hours were being burned where. Trello held projects, Toggl held hours, neither tied to the retainer cap. The managing director spent 12 hours every month reconciling time logs against retainers, and three accounts had silently slipped underwater on margin.
What changed in AgencyPro
- Hours tagged by activity (strategy, outreach, writing, reporting) with junior/senior/partner rates.
- Retainers configured with overage alerts at 80 percent.
- Coverage reports assembled in the portal in 25 minutes vs. 90 minutes of slide-building.
- Activity-level margin analysis revealed media training was their highest-margin service but priced as a throw-in. Three retainers got repriced.
Measurable outcome (first 90 days)
- ~10 hours/week of MD time reclaimed from reconciliation.
- Tool spend reduced from ~$360/month to $39/month.
- Two retainer overages totaling roughly $4,200 invoiced and paid.
- One launch project completed 15 percent under budget thanks to live hour tracking.
Scenario based on patterns reported by AgencyPro customers; specific numbers will vary.
Is AgencyPro Right for Your PR Firm?
An honest read on when AgencyPro fits a PR firm and when it does not.
AgencyPro might NOT be the right fit if:
- •You are a solo PR consultant with 1-3 clients. HoneyBook or Bonsai will do the job at lighter cost.
- •You are a 100+ person multi-office PR network. A finance-integrated platform like Workamajig will fit your structure better.
- •You need a journalist database. AgencyPro tracks pitches and placements; Cision and Muck Rack own the journalist data.
- •You only run press release distribution. A wire service plus a billing tool is probably enough.
- •You need integrated media monitoring. Pair AgencyPro with Meltwater, Cision, or Talkwalker for monitoring.
AgencyPro is a great fit if:
- •You run a 5-40 person PR firm. Mix of retainers, product launches, and occasional crisis work.
- •Your retainers are bleeding margin. Track every hour by activity to catch overages early.
- •You handle compliance-heavy industries. Audit-friendly approval queues for financial, healthcare, or regulated tech work.
- •You want clients to self-serve on coverage status. Branded portal cuts "any pickups yet?" emails.
- •You bring in freelancers for surges. Flat-rate seats mean you can add capacity without budget conversations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Get answers to common questions about our platform.
How does AgencyPro handle the hours-heavy nature of PR billing?
Every activity logs time at a rate tied to the staff member and category (strategy, writing, pitching, reporting). A retainer is just a cap on those hours; AgencyPro burns the retainer down in real time and alerts you when you hit 80 percent. Overages get flagged with full activity context for clean conversations with the client.
Does AgencyPro replace Cision, Muck Rack, or Meltwater?
No. Those tools own the journalist database and monitoring side. AgencyPro is the agency operating system: time tracking, retainers, pitch tracking, approvals, client portal, invoicing, and reporting. Export coverage data and journalist lists from Cision or Muck Rack into AgencyPro so the client sees one unified view.
How does crisis comms work in AgencyPro?
Open a crisis workspace from the template (holding statement, stakeholder map, message tree, journalist FAQ, talking points). Every team member logs hours under the crisis project. Approvals route through legal and executives via the queue. Post-crisis, you have one tidy archive of decisions, hours, and outcomes — useful for both client billing and future preparedness.
Can I track pitches and placements per journalist?
Yes. Each journalist record holds pitch history, response rate, prior coverage, and notes. Pitches log as activities; placements log against them with reach, sentiment, and share-of-voice data. After a quarter, you can see which journalists actually convert and which take 4 pitches to acknowledge.
How does AgencyPro support specialty practices like financial, healthcare, or tech PR?
The workflow is industry-agnostic, but the template system lets you build templates per practice — financial earnings cycle, healthcare HIPAA-aware approvals, tech product launch. Each practice has its own message libraries, approver chains, and reporting cadence.
Can I show real-time coverage status to client stakeholders?
The portal shows active pitches, scheduled interviews, recently-run placements, and the live retainer burn. Different stakeholder roles see different levels of detail; the head of comms might see everything while a product lead only sees pitches related to their launch.
How does AgencyPro handle agency-of-record relationships with multiple practice leads?
A single client record can have multiple sub-projects (corporate comms, product PR, executive thought leadership) each with their own retainer allocation, lead, and reporting cadence. The CMO sees consolidated reporting; each practice lead sees their own slice.
Is AgencyPro a fit for a boutique PR firm with under 10 people?
Yes. Smaller PR firms use AgencyPro to look more disciplined to procurement-driven clients than competitors running on email and spreadsheets. The flat-rate pricing means you do not pay more as you grow from 5 to 12 people.
Resources for PR Agencies
Guides, calculators, and use cases for PR firms scaling their ops.
Retainer Pricing Calculator
Price your PR retainers profitably.
Profit Margin Calculator
See which PR services drive the best margin.
How to Prevent Scope Creep
Practical scope language for PR retainers.
Agency Lead Generation Strategies
How modern PR firms build pipeline.
Content Agencies
For content-led shops adding PR.
Influencer Marketing Agencies
For influencer-led communications.
Branding Agencies
For brand-led shops adding PR practices.
Healthcare Marketing Agencies
For regulated healthcare comms.