Invoicing as a Social Media Manager

Social media work runs on a rhythm: a steady monthly management fee, the ad spend you front for the client, and the occasional campaign sprint on top. Fee-Lion lets you set that retainer once, rebill ad spend cleanly, and add campaign work as line items — so billing runs itself while you stay in the content.

Set the monthly retainer on autopilot

Your management fee is the same number every month, so it should never need a reminder. Build it as a recurring invoice and let auto-pay close the loop.

1. From the Invoices sidebar, create a recurring invoice for your client.
2. Add a line item for your management fee — a fee (qty × rate), like “Social Media Management — Monthly” at your flat rate.
3. Set the cadence to Monthly and pick the day it sends (the 1st keeps your cash flow predictable).
4. Confirm your tax and payment terms — set workspace defaults once at Settings → Preferences so every invoice inherits them.
5. Invite the client to enroll in auto-pay so their card is charged automatically each cycle.

Once auto-pay is on, the retainer bills, charges, and reconciles without you touching it. Money lands straight in your own Stripe account.

Tip: Keep the recurring invoice strictly for your flat management fee. Anything variable — ad spend, extra campaigns — goes on a separate one-off invoice so your retainer amount never wobbles and clients always recognize it.

Pass through ad spend without eating the cost

When you front Meta or Google ad budgets, that money is the client’s — not your margin. Track it as an expense, then rebill it so you’re reimbursed to the cent.

1. Open Expenses and record the ad spend as you pay it, attaching the receipt.
2. Attribute the expense to the client’s project so it shows up in their margin and never gets lost.
3. Rebill the expense to your client — it drops onto an invoice as a billable line, so you recover exactly what you spent.

• Use a clear category like “Ad Spend” so platform fees stay separate from your fee in reports.
• If you pre-fund the same budget every month, save it as a recurring expense and rebill on the same schedule.
• Snap and log spend the moment it happens — chasing receipts at month-end is how pass-through dollars quietly vanish.

Add campaign work on top of the retainer

Launches, paid sprints, and one-off creative aren’t part of the flat fee. Quote them, get a yes, and bill them as add-ons.

1. Build an estimate for the campaign — use tasks (hours × rate) for strategy and content, units for deliverables like a set of reels.
2. Send it for approval; the client says yes in their portal with a magic link, no login required.
3. Convert the approved estimate to an invoice in one click, or to a project if it’s a bigger build.
4. Add discounts or surcharges for rush timelines or bundled retainer clients.

The client hits the Pay button, pays by card, and you’re funded — separate from the monthly retainer, with a clean record of what each piece cost.

Tip: Tag campaign invoices (like “campaign” or a client name) so you can drill down later and see how much add-on work each retainer client really generates.

What’s next

• Set up a monthly retainer with recurring invoices
• Turn on auto-pay
• Rebill an expense to your client
• Connect Stripe to get paid