OnBrioResource
Agency & Freelancer Glossary
30 essential terms every agency owner and freelancer should know.
A
- Account Manager
- The primary point of contact responsible for a client relationship, coordinating delivery, communication, and renewals across a portfolio of accounts. In smaller agencies the founder often plays this role directly; as teams grow, dedicated account managers reduce the risk of dropped context during handoffs. Related: Client onboarding.
- Approval Workflow
- A defined process for reviewing and approving deliverables before they are finalized. It specifies who reviews work, in what order, and what constitutes an approved state. OnBrio’s built-in approval tools let you send work directly inside the client portal and capture timestamped sign-offs. Related: Client portal.
- ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue)
- MRR × 12: the annualized recurring revenue of a business. ARR gives a yearly view of predictable income from retainers and subscriptions, and is commonly used when reporting growth to investors or benchmarking against industry peers. Related: MRR.
- Average Project Value (APV)
- The mean revenue generated per project over a given period, calculated as total project revenue divided by the number of projects closed. Tracking APV over time reveals whether pricing increases, upsells, or a shift to bigger clients are actually moving the needle. Related: LTV, Upsell.
B
- Billable Hours
- Hours spent on client work that can be invoiced. Billable hours are tracked against a specific client or project and converted into invoice line items at the agreed rate. OnBrio’s time tracking tool logs hours per task and generates invoices from those entries in one click. Related: Time tracking, Non-billable hours.
- Burn Rate
- The rate at which a business spends its cash reserves before generating positive cash flow, typically measured as net cash spent per month. Agencies watch burn rate alongside cash-flow forecasting to know how many months of runway remain if new revenue slows. Related: Cash-flow forecasting.
C
- CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
- The total cost of winning a new client, including marketing spend, sales time, and any tools or events involved. Formula: total sales and marketing spend ÷ number of new clients acquired in the same period. Tracking CAC alongside LTV reveals whether your growth is profitable. Related: LTV.
- Cash-Flow Forecasting
- Projecting future cash inflows and outflows, usually over 30, 60, and 90-day windows, based on outstanding invoices, recurring billing schedules, and expected expenses. Agencies use it to anticipate shortfalls before they happen, rather than reacting to a low bank balance. Related: Burn rate, MRR.
- Change Order
- A formal document that modifies the agreed scope, timeline, or cost of a project. A change order should describe the additional work, cost impact, and revised timeline, and must be signed before extra work begins. It is the primary defense against scope creep. Related: Scope creep.
- Churn
- The percentage of clients who stop working with you in a given period. Monthly churn = clients lost ÷ clients at start of period × 100. High churn signals problems in onboarding, delivery quality, or value communication. Lower churn directly increases ARR and LTV. Related: ARR, LTV.
- Client Onboarding
- The structured process of welcoming a new client after they sign, covering portal access, a kickoff meeting, information gathering, and template setup. Strong onboarding reduces early churn and sets clear expectations. Related: Churn, How to Onboard Clients as an Agency.
- Client Portal
- A secure online workspace where a client can view project status, access shared files, review and approve deliverables, sign documents, and pay invoices without needing access to internal tools. OnBrio’s client portal can be white-labeled with your own domain and branding. Related: Client portal feature.
- Contract
- A legally binding agreement that defines the terms of an engagement, including scope, payment, IP rights, revision limits, confidentiality, and termination conditions. Related: How to Create a Freelance Contract.
- CRM (Client Relationship Management)
- A system for managing relationships and interactions with clients and prospects, including contacts, deal stages, communications, and follow-ups. Related: Best CRM for Agencies.
- Cross-Sell
- Selling an existing client an additional, related service beyond what they originally purchased, for example adding ongoing SEO to a web design engagement. Cross-selling is generally cheaper than acquiring a new client and raises average project value over the life of the relationship. Related: Upsell, Average project value.
D
- Deliverable
- A specific output or work product agreed upon in a contract or SOW. Deliverables should be named precisely, with explicit acceptance criteria such as format, revision rounds, and sign-off process to prevent disputes. Related: Statement of Work, Client portal approvals.
- Deposit
- An upfront payment collected before work begins, used to secure a booking, cover initial costs, and reduce the risk of non-payment after delivery. Deposits are common in project-based work like events, photography, and design, and are typically a fixed percentage of the total project value. Related: Milestone billing, Invoicing feature.
- Discovery Call
- An early conversation with a prospective client to understand their goals, challenges, budget, and timeline before preparing a proposal. A structured discovery process prevents wasted proposals and sets clearer scope. Related: Proposal, How to Run a Discovery Call.
E
- E-Signature
- A legally binding digital signature applied without printing or scanning. Under the ESIGN Act in the US and eIDAS in the EU, an e-signature carries the same legal weight as a handwritten signature when captured with a timestamp, IP address, and identity verification. Related: Proposals with e-signature.
G
- Gantt Chart
- A timeline-based project plan showing tasks, durations, start and end dates, and dependencies. It makes it easy to visualize what is happening when and what blocks what, and is commonly used alongside Kanban boards. Related: Kanban.
I
- Invoice
- A document sent to a client requesting payment for services rendered, listing the work performed, amounts owed, payment terms, and due date. OnBrio generates invoices from time entries or fixed-price projects and collects payment in the client portal. Related: Invoicing feature.
K
- Kanban
- A visual project management system using columns such as To Do, In Progress, and Done, with cards representing tasks and their current status. Kanban makes work in progress visible and highlights bottlenecks. Related: Gantt chart.
- Kickoff Meeting
- The first formal meeting after a contract is signed, used to align the client and team on goals, process, communication norms, and timelines. A structured kickoff reduces back-and-forth in the first weeks and prevents early churn. Related: Contract, Churn.
L
- Late Fee
- A charge added to an invoice when payment is not received by its due date, intended to discourage overdue payments and compensate for delayed cash flow. Late fees are typically a flat amount or a percentage of the invoice total, and should be disclosed in the signed contract or engagement letter before they are enforced. Related: Net-30.
- Lead Magnet
- A free resource, such as a template, checklist, or guide, offered in exchange for a prospect's contact information. Agencies use lead magnets to build a pipeline of warm prospects before they ever book a discovery call. Related: Discovery call.
- LTV (Lifetime Value)
- The total revenue a client generates over the entire relationship. LTV ÷ CAC is one of the most important ratios for evaluating business health. A ratio above 3:1 is generally considered healthy for service businesses. Related: CAC.
M
- Master Service Agreement (MSA)
- An overarching contract that sets the general terms of an ongoing client relationship: payment terms, confidentiality, liability, and dispute resolution. Once an MSA is signed, individual engagements are scoped with a shorter statement of work, avoiding a full contract negotiation for every new project. Related: SOW, Contract.
- Milestone Billing
- A billing structure where invoices are tied to the completion of specific project phases or deliverables rather than a fixed calendar date. A common structure is 50% on signing, 25% at midpoint, and 25% on final delivery. Related: Deliverable.
- MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue)
- The predictable monthly revenue from recurring clients or subscriptions. MRR equals the sum of all active monthly retainer amounts. Growing MRR reduces revenue volatility and makes the business easier to plan and scale. Annualized MRR is ARR. Related: Retainer, ARR.
N
- NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)
- A legal contract in which parties agree not to share confidential information disclosed during a working relationship. Agencies commonly sign an NDA before a discovery call or proposal that requires exposure to a client's internal data, product plans, or trade secrets. Related: Master service agreement.
- Net-30 / Net-15
- Payment terms specifying that an invoice is due 30 or 15 days after the invoice date or date of delivery. Net-30 is the most common standard, while shorter terms such as Net-15 or Due on Receipt improve cash flow. Related: Invoice.
- Non-Billable Hours
- Internal time spent on admin, pitches, internal meetings, and professional development that cannot be charged to clients. Tracking non-billable hours reveals the true cost of running the business and helps improve billable-hour ratios. Related: Billable hours, Time tracking.
P
- Project Brief
- A short document outlining a project’s goals, audience, deliverables, timeline, and constraints. Produced before a SOW is written, a brief aligns the client and team on what success looks like and prevents costly misalignment. Related: Deliverable, Statement of Work.
- Project Margin
- The percentage of project revenue remaining after subtracting direct costs, such as labor and subcontractors: (revenue − direct costs) ÷ revenue × 100. Tracking margin per project, rather than only total revenue, reveals which types of work are actually profitable. Related: Billable hours, Average project value.
- Proposal
- A sales document sent to a prospective client presenting the recommended approach, scope, timeline, and pricing for a specific engagement. A proposal is not a contract by itself, but becomes binding when signed. Related: OnBrio Proposals, How to Write a Freelance Proposal.
R
- Retainer
- A recurring fee, typically monthly, paid by a client in exchange for a defined set of services or a committed block of time. Retainers provide revenue predictability and budget certainty. Unlike project billing, retainer hours are often use it or lose it unless rollover terms are agreed. Related: MRR.
S
- Sales Pipeline
- A visual representation of prospective clients organized by stage, from initial contact through discovery call, proposal, and closed deal. A well-maintained pipeline shows exactly how many prospects are at each stage and forecasts likely revenue before deals close. Related: CRM, Discovery call.
- Scope Creep
- The gradual expansion of a project’s scope beyond what was originally agreed, usually without additional compensation. The primary defenses are a detailed out-of-scope list in the SOW, a defined revision-round limit, and a change-order process. Related: Statement of Work, Change order, How to Prevent Scope Creep.
- Service Agreement
- A contract defining the services a provider will deliver to a client, along with payment terms, timelines, and each party's responsibilities. For a single project, a service agreement and a statement of work are often combined into one signed document. Related: SOW, Master service agreement.
- Statement of Work (SOW)
- A document attached to or referenced in a contract that defines the specific work to be done, including deliverables, timeline, milestones, payment schedule, roles, assumptions, exclusions, and acceptance criteria. The SOW is the primary document used to judge whether the agreed work was delivered. Related: Contract, Deliverable, Free SOW template, How to Write a Statement of Work.
- Statement of Account
- A summary document listing all invoices, payments, and outstanding balances for a client over a given period. Sending a statement of account periodically helps clients reconcile their records and surfaces any overdue balances before they become a dispute. Related: Invoicing feature.
- Subcontractor
- A freelancer or specialist agency brought in to perform specific parts of a project under your direction. You remain the primary point of contact and are responsible to the client for the subcontractor’s work. Subcontractors should sign their own contract or SOW with your business. Related: Contract, Statement of Work.
T
- Task Dependency
- A relationship between two tasks where one cannot start until the other finishes, used in project timelines to reflect real sequencing constraints, for example design approval before development begins. Gantt charts visualize dependencies so a delay in one task automatically shows its downstream impact. Related: Gantt chart.
- Time Tracking
- The practice of recording how much time is spent on specific tasks, projects, or clients. Time tracking enables billable-hour invoicing, reveals which clients or project types are most profitable, and helps identify time lost to non-billable work. Related: Billable hours, Non-billable hours, Time tracking feature.
W
- White-Label
- A product or service created by one company that another rebrands and presents as its own. In agency software, a white-label client portal runs under your own domain, logo, and colors, so clients see your brand rather than the vendor’s. Related: Client portal, White-label feature, White-Label Client Portal Guide.
Put these terms into practice.
OnBrio brings proposals, contracts, SOWs, retainers, time tracking, and client portals into one workspace.