Retainer agreement, monthly marketing

Monthly retainer agreement

A studio sells a physio practice twenty four hours a month. Almost every clause exists to answer one question that ordinary contracts duck: what happens to the hours nobody used.

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Retainer agreement
From 1 October 2026

Monthly Marketing Retainer

Between Fieldnote Studio and Vantage Physio

Prepared by
Fieldnote Studio Pty Ltd
Date
From 1 October 2026
The arrangement
$3,480
Monthly fee
24
Hours included
6 months
Minimum term
30 days
Notice

This agreement is made on 18 September 2026 between Fieldnote Studio Pty Ltd, ABN 84 220 611 305, of 3 Errol Street, North Melbourne VIC 3051, called the Studio, and Vantage Physio Pty Ltd, ABN 17 559 300 428, of 88 Puckle Street, Moonee Ponds VIC 3039, called the Practice. Aisha Verrall, practice principal, is the approver for the Practice.

1. What the retainer covers
Workstream
Hours
What that buys in a normal month
Content
8
Two articles, written, edited, published, with images
Email
4
One newsletter written, built and sent, plus list hygiene
Social
6
Twelve posts across two channels, scheduled, plus comment triage
Search and listings
3
Business profile, local listings and one page of on site work
Reporting
3
A one page report and a 45 minute call each month
Total
24
The hours included in the monthly fee
1.1
The split can move
The workstream hours above are a plan, not a quota. Hours may be moved between workstreams in any month by agreement on the monthly call, as long as the total stays at 24.
2. How hours are counted
2.1
Measurement
Time is recorded in 15 minute units against the workstream it belongs to. Writing, editing, building, scheduling, reporting and the monthly call are all counted. Internal administration and invoicing are not.
2.2
The monthly statement
A statement of hours used by workstream is sent with each invoice, listing the date and the task for anything over one hour. The Practice may query any entry within 14 days.
2.3
Revisions inside the retainer
Two rounds of amendments on any deliverable are inside the estimated hours for it. A third round is still done, and still counted, which is usually where a month runs over.
3. Rollover and extra hours
3.1
Rollover
Up to 6 unused hours roll into the following month only. They do not accumulate beyond that, they are used before the new month allocation, and they have no cash value on termination.
3.2
Extra hours
Work beyond 24 hours, plus any rollover, is charged at $145 an hour. The Studio asks for approval by email before passing the included hours, and work pauses rather than continuing unapproved.
3.3
The warning point
The Studio tells the Practice when 20 hours have been used in a month, so there is time to decide between deferring something and approving extra hours.
4. Response times
Request
First response
Delivered
Something is wrong or offline
Within 2 hours on a business day
Same business day
A task inside the plan
1 business day
Within 5 business days
A new piece of work needing scope
3 business days
Quoted, then scheduled
4.1
Business hours
Business hours are 9am to 5pm on weekdays, excluding Victorian public holidays. Nothing in this agreement is an after hours or weekend service.
5. What is not included
Advertising spend
Search and social budgets are paid by the Practice on its own card. The Studio does not mark up media and does not hold the account.
Photography and video
Shoots are quoted per job. Stock images inside the retainer come from a library the Studio already licenses.
Website rebuild
Edits to existing pages are included. A new site, a new template or a booking system change is a separate project.
Print and merchandise
Artwork can be prepared inside the hours. Printing, delivery and any proofing visit are billed at cost.
6. Fee, term and notice
6.1
Fee and invoicing
The fee is $3,480 a month plus GST, invoiced on the first business day of the month and due within 7 days. The fee is payable whether or not the full 24 hours are used.
6.2
Minimum term
Six months from 1 October 2026. Marketing worth measuring does not resolve in six weeks, and the first two months are largely setup, which is why the floor exists.
6.3
After the minimum term
The agreement continues month to month. Either party may end it with 30 days written notice, effective at the end of a calendar month.
6.4
Fee changes
The fee may be reviewed once every 12 months, with 60 days written notice. If the Practice does not accept a change it may end the agreement on the date it would take effect, without the 30 day notice.
7. Pausing, reviewing and ending
7.1
Pausing
The Practice may pause once in any 12 months for up to two months, with 30 days notice. The slot is held, no fee is charged for the paused months, and the minimum term extends by the length of the pause.
7.2
Quarterly review
Every three months the parties review what was published, what it produced and whether the workstream split is still right. The review takes the place of the monthly call in that month rather than adding to it.
7.3
On the way out
Within 10 business days of the last day, the Studio hands over drafts in progress, the content calendar, image files and administrative access to every account it created, and removes its own access.
8. General
8.1
Ownership
Articles, emails, posts and artwork produced under this agreement belong to the Practice once the month they were produced in has been paid for. The Studio keeps its templates, checklists and internal tooling.
8.2
Approval and accuracy
The Practice approves all clinical claims before publication. The Studio does not write or approve health advice, and will not publish a claim it has been unable to have approved.
8.3
Independent businesses
The Studio is not an employee or agent of the Practice, works for other clients including other health practices outside a five kilometre radius, and pays its own tax and insurance.
A retainer is not a discount on hours
The hourly figure inside this fee is the same $145 charged for extra hours. What the Practice buys with a retainer is reserved capacity, a response time and someone who already knows the business, not a cheaper rate.
Schedule, the first quarter
Month
Focus
Planned output
October
Winter injury content and listing cleanup
Two articles, one newsletter, twelve posts, listings audit
November
New patient offer
Two articles, one newsletter, twelve posts, landing page copy
December
Holiday hours and rebooking
Two articles, one newsletter, twelve posts, a rebooking email series

The quarter plan is agreed at the monthly call and can change. It is written down so that a month with nothing planned cannot quietly become a month with nothing delivered.

Signed by both parties. The first invoice issues on 1 October 2026 and work begins the same week.

For Fieldnote Studio Pty Ltd
Name
:
Position
:
Date
:
For Vantage Physio Pty Ltd
Name
:
Position
:
Date
:

Section by section

What each section is for, so you can keep the ones you need and drop the rest.

Cover
A masthead cover naming both businesses and the month the arrangement starts.
The arrangement
Fee, included hours, minimum term and notice as four figures, then the parties and the single named approver.
What the retainer covers
Five workstreams with their monthly hours and a plain description of the output each one produces, totalling the included hours.
How hours are counted
Fifteen minute units, what is counted and what is not, the monthly statement, and the query window on it.
Revisions inside the retainer
Two rounds sit inside the estimate for a deliverable, and the honest note that a third round is where a month usually runs over.
Rollover and extra hours
Six hours carried for one month, an approval step before the cap is passed, and a warning at twenty hours.
Response times
Three request types with a first response time and a delivery time each, and a definition of business hours.
What is not included
Advertising spend, photography, website rebuilds and print, each with how it would be handled instead.
Fee, term and notice
Invoicing timing, the six month floor with the reason for it, month to month afterwards, and a fee review with an exit if it is not accepted.
Pausing and review
One pause of up to two months in a year with the term extended, and a quarterly review that replaces that month's call.
On the way out
Ten business days to hand over drafts, the content calendar, image files and account access, and to remove the studio's own access.
First quarter schedule
Three months with a focus and the planned output for each, so an empty month cannot pass unnoticed.

Clauses in this document

What makes this document work

The hours are split before the month starts

Twenty four hours divided across content, email, social, listings and reporting, with what each block buys written beside it. A retainer with no plan becomes a monthly argument about value.

It answers what happens to unused time

Six hours roll into the next month only, are used before the new allocation, and have no cash value at the end. Three sentences that settle the most common dispute in this kind of arrangement.

There is a warning point, not just a cap

At twenty hours the client is told, which leaves room to defer something or approve extra time. Work pauses at the cap rather than continuing unapproved and appearing on an invoice.

Questions people ask

What should a retainer agreement include?

The fee, what it buys in hours or in output, how time is measured and reported, what happens to unused and extra hours, response times, the minimum term, and how either side gets out.

How does the client know before a month runs over?

Clause 3.3 sets a warning point: the studio says so when 20 of the 24 hours are used, which leaves time to defer a task or approve extra hours at $145 each. Work then pauses at the limit rather than running on unapproved. Up to 6 unused hours carry into the next month only, so a quiet month softens a busy one without building a bank.

Why have a minimum term?

Because the first two months of most retainers are setup, and neither side can judge the work by then. This agreement says that plainly rather than treating the floor as a commercial trick.

Is a retainer cheaper than paying by the hour?

Not here, and the agreement says so in a note at the end. The rate inside the fee is the same as the overage rate. What the fee buys is reserved capacity, a response time and someone who already knows the business.

What response times does the retainer commit to?

This agreement sets them out in their own section rather than leaving them to expectation. A retainer without response times is where the relationship sours, because the client assumes priority and the agency assumes a queue. Naming the acknowledgement time and the turnaround makes both sides measurable against the same standard.

What happens at the end of a retainer?

The agreement has an on the way out section covering handover of files, access and work in progress. Retainers end, often amicably, and the handover is what decides whether the client speaks well of the agency afterwards. Agreeing it at the start costs nothing while everybody is still pleased with each other.

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