Billing

Billing is an Anglo-Saxon term that, in the context of advertising and communications agencies, has two main meanings. In a strategic sense, it indicates the total turnover or business volume that an agency manages or invoices to its clients over a certain period (usually a year).

In everyday operational language, it refers more simply to the invoicing process, i.e., the administrative act of issuing invoices for services rendered.

What is it used for / Why is it important

As a metric (business volume), billing is a key indicator of an agency's health and size. It is used to:

• Measure growth: Comparing the billing year-on-year allows for evaluating the business trend.

• Establish rankings: Industry magazines (e.g., AdAge, Campaign) compile agency rankings based on their annual billing.

• Evaluate market strength: High billing suggests that the agency manages important clients or a large number of clients.

As a process (invoicing), it is the fundamental activity that converts creative work into economic revenue for the company.

When is it used / In what context is it useful

The term is constantly used in two contexts:

1. Strategic/Financial: In year-end reports, presentations to partners, press articles that analyse the agency market (e.g., "Agency X closed the year with 10 million in billing").

2. Operational/Administrative: In daily communications between departments (e.g., "The account department must give the go-ahead to the billing for project Y", "The billing office has issued the invoice").

Practical example

Example 1 (Metric): An industry article headlines: "Publicis Groupe reaches its highest ever billing in 2024". This means that their total turnover was the highest ever.

Example 2 (Process): A Project Manager writes an email: "Client has approved the work. We can send the first tranche for billing as per the contract". This means: "We can issue the invoice for the first payment on account".