Client Portal for Advertising Agencies
An approval trail on every brief and creative round: proposals, production visibility, client sign-off, and invoicing, working alongside a dedicated proofing tool for frame-by-frame creative feedback.
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4.8/5★★★★★rating · 6 reviews on G2By Sharifur Rahman, Founder of Taskip · Last updated October 19, 2026
What Advertising Agencies Actually Need From a Client Portal
Taskip, client portal software for agencies, is best for advertising agencies that want briefs, proposals, client comms, projects and invoicing in one tool, flat from $12/mo. It works alongside Filestage or GoVisually for frame-accurate creative proofing, not instead of them. Campaigns stall for reasons that have nothing to do with the creative itself: a brief buried in an inbox, a fourth revision round nobody agreed to, or an invoice sent weeks after delivery. Taskip keeps an approval trail on every brief and creative round, and runs the proposal, the production board, and the invoice in one place your client can actually log into, with a single magic link and no password to create or remember.
What is a client portal for advertising agencies?
A client portal for advertising agencies is a branded workspace where each client follows their campaign from brief to delivery. They see production status, approve creative rounds, sign off on the final cut, and pay invoices, alongside whatever dedicated proofing tool handles frame-by-frame video or print markup. Taskip runs the relationship and the record, not the pixel-level annotation, in one workspace instead of email threads, spreadsheets, and a separate invoicing tool.
Built Around How Advertising Campaigns Actually Run
Five stages, one workspace, and a client who can see exactly where their campaign stands without a status-update email.
- 01
Brief
The client brief lands with budget, channels, and deadline, logged before creative work starts.
- 02
Concept
Creative concepts and a proposal go out for sign-off before production begins.
- 03
Production
The team builds the asset, TV, print, OOH, or digital, on a board the client can watch.
- 04
Client Review
Deliverables go out for feedback and approval, tied to the round they belong to.
- 05
Delivered
The campaign ships and the invoice goes out referencing exactly what was approved.
What to Look For in a Client Portal for Advertising Agencies
Demos all show a login and a status bar, so a feature list says little about what happens when five reviewers touch one campaign. These are the eight things that actually decide whether it survives contact with a real campaign, whichever tool you end up choosing.
It handles version feedback, not just file storage
Advertising creative goes through rounds, an industry benchmark put email-based approval cycles at roughly 32 days against 18 for teams running a structured workflow. A portal has to show which version a comment belongs to, or "check the notes on v3" becomes a scavenger hunt through email.
Source: Cway, 2026 Artwork Approval BenchmarkAccess without another password
A brand manager or CMO signing off a cut will not set up an account to do it. Use magic-link access, so the review request opens the campaign directly.
Source: Baymard Institute, password requirements researchProposals and contracts before the brief starts
Agencies live or die on how fast a signed proposal turns into a production start date. If the portal cannot send the contract, the signed media plan still travels through a second tool.
Invoicing tied to the campaign it belongs to
When invoices sit apart from the approval record, an argument about the final cut becomes an argument about the bill.
A CRM view across accounts, not just one campaign
You need to see which accounts are up for renewal, which are at risk, and what every open proposal promised, not just the status of the campaign in front of you.
Real white-label, not a logo slot
Ask for a custom domain, not only a logo field. A CMO approving a campaign under another company's web address is a small credibility cost you are paying for nothing.
Pricing that does not punish growth
Per-seat pricing scales with your team. For an agency running production, accounts, and creative staff through the same tool, a flat rate is usually cheaper by the third or fourth hire.
It stays current without manual updating
A portal you edit by hand shows last week's production status while the media plan has already moved on. It has to be where the campaign actually lives, not a mirror of it.
Do You Need a Full Client Portal, or Just a Proofing Tool?
For an advertising agency the honest starting question is not build versus buy, it is whether creative review alone covers what you need. Here is the real range of options.
A shared Drive or Dropbox folder
- Best for
- One brand account with a single reviewer, where you can still follow who approved what from the inbox.
- Cost
- Free.
- Tradeoff
- Comments are not tied to a version, the only gate is a shared link, and nobody can show which round legal signed off. "Final_v3_REAL_FINAL" is not an approval trail.
A guest seat in your project tool
- Best for
- You already pay for ClickUp, Monday, or Airtable and just want the client to see production status alongside a separate proofing tool.
- Cost
- Often free. Most project tools include guest or viewer seats, or add them cheaply, so advertising agencies share creative status without a new subscription.
- Tradeoff
- The client enters your internal tool rather than a branded space, with no proposal, invoice or e-signature behind it. One loosened permission lets a guest reorder a production board they were only meant to watch.
A Notion campaign hub
- Best for
- A few brand accounts and a team happy to retype the media plan status between review rounds.
- Cost
- Free to build yourself, or a one-time purchase for a template.
- Tradeoff
- A shared page is not a client login, and it has no invoicing or e-signature. Each production round has to be retyped by someone, so the page lags behind whichever round the creatives are actually on.
A dedicated proofing tool alone
- Best for
- Agencies whose main client-facing deliverable genuinely is frame-by-frame creative review, and everything else happens over email.
- Cost
- Roughly $12 to $350 a month depending on the tool and team size.
- Tradeoff
- It is built for one job. Proposals, contracts, account status, and invoicing all live somewhere else, which puts you back into the fragmented stack you were trying to avoid.
An off-the-shelf portal, paired with a proofing tool
- Best for
- A growing roster of accounts where briefs, proposals, production visibility, and invoicing all need one home.
- Cost
- From $12 to $200 a month for the portal side, depending on whether the vendor charges per seat.
- Tradeoff
- A recurring cost and someone else's roadmap, plus you are still paying for a proofing tool separately for the creative review itself. What you get back is vendor-run hosting, patching and upkeep, so none of that lands on your production team.
A custom-built portal
- Best for
- Agencies with their own dev team and an approval workflow that no packaged tool supports.
- Cost
- A custom build means building brief intake, creative approvals, client login and billing yourself. Plan for a bill well above a subscription and a long wait, measured in months, before anyone uses it.
- Tradeoff
- The portal becomes another product your people look after, and each day on it is a day without a billable campaign. Year one gets planned; year two is where the maintenance bill appears.
The short answer
Rough rule: if the only thing your client ever does is mark up a video or a print layout, a dedicated proofing tool alone is enough, and a full portal is overhead. Once proposals, account visibility across campaigns, or invoicing become real friction, pair a dedicated portal with whatever proofing tool already handles frame-by-frame creative review, rather than trying to make either tool do both jobs.
How the Main Options Compare
Taskip is not a frame-by-frame proofing tool, and pretending otherwise wastes your time. The table shows what each option handles and what it leaves out.
| Option | Best for | Pricing model | White-label | Invoicing built in | Frame-accurate creative proofing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taskip | Advertising agencies that want briefs, proposals, client comms, projects and invoicing in one tool, flat from $12/mo | Flat, from $12/mo | Yes, custom domain | Yes | No, works alongside Filestage or GoVisually |
| Filestage | Agencies running standardized, multi-stage creative review at scale | Flat tiers, from $199/mo billed monthly | Not publicly confirmed | No | Yes, this is its core |
| GoVisually | Smaller studios wanting fast, simple creative review | Per user | Limited, logo and colors | No | Yes, this is its core |
| SuiteDash | White-label depth and automation that come with a heavier setup before the first campaign is in | Flat tiers | Yes, extensive | Yes | No |
| Assembly (formerly Copilot) | Productized services that want a polished, branded client experience | Charged by contacts and internal users, from $29/mo billed annually | Yes | Yes | No |
| A shared Drive folder | Single brand account, approvals tracked by hand | Free | No | No | No, and no version history either |
Prices checked October 2026 on each vendor's pricing page. Tiers change, so confirm current pricing before deciding. Most agencies that need both a portal and frame-accurate proofing end up running one of each rather than choosing between them.
Why Client Portals Fail at Advertising Agencies
The common objection is "my client just marks up the video, that is all they need," and it is usually half right. Approval chains with several reviewers are where they usually stall. Four reasons follow, each with its fix.
It cannot show which version a comment belongs to
FixDo not try to force frame-by-frame video or print markup into a general portal. Keep pinned creative feedback in a dedicated proofing tool and use the portal for the round-level approval record and everything around it.
The client view is a production board, not a list of decisions
FixA brand manager should see three things: which campaign stage is live, whose sign-off is still outstanding, and what is waiting on them. Production detail stays on your side.
The approval status is stale, so reviewers chase each other by email
FixHold the media plan and each production round inside the portal. A status you retype lags by the next review, and then the brand team goes back to email.
No reviewer has a standing task waiting for them
FixGive each reviewer an action every round: the next cut to approve, the invoice to pay, or the follow-up brief to read. A portal that only stores creative files is opened once and dropped.
How Taskip Works for Advertising Agencies
Turn Briefs Into Signed Campaigns
Handle selling from the first brief through to a signed campaign contract.
- Custom pipeline stages from brief to signed campaign
- Drag-and-drop deal management with campaign value
- Campaign proposals and contracts issued from the same workspace
- Automated follow-up tasks and reminders
Client Feedback in One Thread
Notes on each creative round, from brief questions to final-cut comments, stay on one campaign thread instead of drifting across email and Slack.
- One thread per client campaign, not per channel
- Reviewer feedback and approvals dated and linked to the creative round
- Creative team chatter stays off the thread the client sees
Campaigns Your Client Can Actually See
Campaign progress shown in a fully white-labeled portal, with your internal production board kept out of view.
- A board per client campaign, shaped for the client's view rather than the studio's
- Brief, concept, production, and review stages the client can follow
- Files, brand assets, and creative deliverables filed against the right campaign
Invoicing Tied to the Work
The part of an agency that compounds: billing that runs on its own.
- Invoices tied to the campaign and the round that triggered them
- Automated reminders so payments never sit unanswered
- Clients pay each campaign invoice by card or PayPal from inside the portal
How Client Sign-Off Works in Taskip
Most disputes with an advertising client are about what was approved, not what was delivered. Taskip stores the proposal, every approved round, and the cost attached to each.
- Step 1
Propose
Scope and pricing go out as a signable proposal from the portal the client will use for the whole campaign.
- Step 2
Brief
Intake forms collect the brief, budget, channels, and deadline before production starts.
- Step 3
Review
Reviewer comments on a deliverable are timestamped on one project thread, and your replies sit right beside them.
- Step 4
Approve
A round marked approved is closed, and the next production round opens behind it.
- Step 5
Invoice
Each invoice names the approved round or milestone that released it.
In plain terms: Taskip keeps the proposal, the campaign thread, the sign-offs and the invoices that follow from them. It does not render frame-by-frame video markup or pixel-level print annotation the way a dedicated proofing tool does. Agencies pair Taskip with a proofing tool for that, and keep the relationship, the approvals, and the billing here.
7h
saved per week by cutting down on admin work
85%
of agencies see smoother teamwork and faster execution
25%
increase in on-time client deliverables
$12/mo
flat starting price, not billed per client
Real results
RIVERA Marketing: 2× client capacity, 4 → 8 active projects
Media Fees vs Management Fees: How to Bill Advertising Clients
Clients often see one invoice and assume all of it is your fee. Separating media spend from your management fee keeps your margin clear and the relationship trusted.
Bill media spend on its own line
Pass ad spend through at cost, or with a disclosed markup, on a separate invoice line so clients see exactly what went to the platforms.
Invoice the management fee as a retainer
Charge your management or creative fee on a recurring invoice that does not move with how much media runs that month.
Agree the model in the contract
Write the fee model, whether a percentage of spend, a flat retainer or a hybrid, into the advertising agency contract before the first campaign.
Keep approvals next to the invoice
The approved brief and creative sign-off live in the same portal, so any billing question has the record right beside it.
Templates & Tools for Advertising Agencies
Everything Advertising Agencies Need in One Platform
White-Label the Whole Experience
- Your logo, your colors, your custom domain
- Taskip branding hidden on brand-side screens (included on Growing Agency and Agency Pro, paid add-on on Freelancer and Startup Team)
- Brand teams sign in to your agency's portal, not to a vendor's product
Client Intake Without the Back and Forth
- Forms for briefs, brand assets, and campaign goals
- Collect everything before production starts, not mid-campaign
- Everything filed against the right client automatically
Proposals and Contracts Before Kickoff
- Issue a campaign proposal, then convert it to an invoice once accepted
- Signed campaign contract and deposit invoice in a single step
- Scope changes mid-campaign become a new quote with its own paper trail
One Workspace for the Whole Team
- Role-based permissions for creatives, producers, and account managers
- Internal discussion separate from client-facing threads
- Hours logged per client for hourly billing or retainer tracking
Advertising Agencies Love Taskip
“This serves as an all-in-one agency management solution for me. I enjoy communicating with clients and team members directly within this app.”
Bulbul Ahmed
Founder, BinaryFusion
Taskip Features for Advertising Agencies
FAQs: Taskip for Advertising Agencies
What is a client portal for an advertising agency?
A client portal for advertising agencies is a branded workspace where each client follows their campaign from brief to delivery. They see production status, review and approve creative rounds, sign proposals, and pay invoices, alongside whatever dedicated proofing tool handles frame-by-frame markup. For the agency, it replaces the mix of email, spreadsheets, chat apps, and a separate invoicing tool most campaigns get managed with.
Is a client portal the same as a proofing tool?
No, and a product that markets itself as both usually does one job poorly. A proofing tool like Filestage or GoVisually shows frame-by-frame video comments and pixel-level print annotation. A client portal is the workspace for everything around the creative: proposals, briefs, account status, and invoicing. Agencies that want creative proofing and a client record in one place normally keep a proofing tool and a portal side by side.
What should an advertising agency client portal include?
Six things, at minimum: a proposal and contract flow before the brief starts, intake forms for the brief and brand assets, client-visible production status, a record of approved creative rounds, invoicing tied to the campaign, and support requests for ad-hoc work. Taskip covers all six, and pairs with whatever proofing tool already handles frame-by-frame review.
Can brand clients review campaigns on our own domain?
Yes, the portal runs on your custom domain with your logo and colors on any paid plan, so brief, concept and final-cut approvals stay in your branded space. Taskip branding is removed entirely on Growing Agency ($59/month) and Agency Pro, and is a paid add-on on Freelancer and Startup Team. A CMO approving a cut sees your agency at every step.
How does invoicing work across multiple campaigns?
Each invoice ties back to the campaign and the round that triggered it, so a client asking "what is this charge for" gets an answer instead of a guess. Extra requests from the brand team arrive as support tickets rather than stray email, and retainer work is billed on a recurring schedule.
How much does a client portal for advertising agencies cost?
Production, approvals and billing on Taskip start at $12/mo flat, without a per-client charge. A client portal for advertising agencies generally runs from around $12 to $200 a month, separate from whatever you already pay for creative proofing. The bigger variable is the pricing model: flat-rate tools charge the same whether you have three accounts or thirty, while per-seat tools multiply as your team grows. Briefs, proposals, the production board, creative sign-offs and invoices live in one workspace, which otherwise takes 8+ tools.
Should I just use a proofing tool instead of a full portal?
If the only thing your client ever does is mark up a video or a print layout, yes, a dedicated proofing tool alone is enough, and a full portal is overhead. Once proposals, account visibility across campaigns, or invoicing start creating real friction, that is the point to add a dedicated portal alongside the proofing tool, not instead of it.
Will brand managers and CMOs log in, or just reply to the review email?
Only if the portal makes the approval chain easier than replying to email. Portals fail for four predictable reasons: they try to duplicate what a proofing tool already does, they expose your internal production board instead of client decisions, the status goes stale because someone has to update it by hand, and there is no recurring reason to return. Fix those and adoption follows.
Does this work alongside Filestage or GoVisually?
Yes. Taskip does not render frame-by-frame video comments or pixel-level print annotation, so agencies pair it with a dedicated proofing tool for that and use Taskip for the proposal, the brief, the account, and the invoice around it.
Is there a free client portal for advertising agencies?
There are free tiers and free proofing tools for one or two clients, and they can be enough at that scale. The usual limits on the portal side are no white-labeling, no invoicing, caps on clients, and no approval record, which is the piece that matters most when a campaign scope gets disputed. If you are running several concurrent accounts, the cost of a paid portal is typically less than one unbilled hour a month spent chasing approvals across email.