Agency Management in ClickUp
ClickUp gives agencies a centralized workspace to manage clients, projects, and operations from first contact through delivery and billing. This guide shows you step by step how to set up your account, organize work, and report on performance so your entire team can collaborate efficiently.
Why use ClickUp for agency operations
Agencies juggle multiple clients, deadlines, and teams. With the right setup, ClickUp helps you:
- Standardize client onboarding and project delivery.
- Track budgets, hours, and billable work.
- Collaborate in one place instead of using scattered tools.
- Report on performance for both clients and internal teams.
The following sections walk through a practical configuration tailored to agencies of any size.
Plan your ClickUp Workspace structure
Before you start building, decide how to structure your Workspace for clarity and reporting. Agencies commonly use the following hierarchy:
- Workspace: Your entire agency.
- Spaces: Broad categories, such as Clients, Operations, and Sales.
- Folders: Groups of similar Lists, such as client groups or service lines.
- Lists: Specific clients, retainers, or projects.
- Tasks: Actionable items and deliverables.
This structure keeps each client organized while still letting you roll up data across campaigns and accounts.
Set up a ClickUp Space for clients
Start by creating a dedicated Space for all client-facing work. For example, name it Client Delivery or Accounts. In this Space, you can:
- Group clients by type (e.g., Enterprise, SMB, Internal).
- Separate ongoing retainers from one-off projects.
- Use templates so every new client follows the same process.
Create Folders for client segments in ClickUp
Within your client Space, create Folders to group similar accounts. Some common approaches include:
- By client tier: Enterprise, Mid-Market, SMB.
- By service: Paid Media, SEO, Creative, Development.
- By region: North America, EMEA, APAC.
Choose the structure that best fits your reporting and staffing needs, then apply it consistently.
Build client Lists in ClickUp
Each client or major engagement should have its own List. A List is where you track:
- Active campaigns and deliverables.
- Client-specific documentation.
- Status, timelines, and budgets.
Use client Lists to keep all tasks, views, and docs connected to the same account.
Standardize client onboarding with ClickUp templates
Templates help you deliver a predictable client experience. Create a reusable List template for onboarding new clients.
Design an onboarding workflow in ClickUp
In your onboarding List template, add tasks for each stage of the process, such as:
- Signed agreement and intake form.
- Kickoff meeting and discovery.
- Access and permissions (analytics, ad accounts, CMS).
- Strategy and campaign planning.
- Initial deliverables and approvals.
Convert this List into a template so your team can spin up a full onboarding process for every new client in one click.
Add custom fields for client details in ClickUp
Use custom fields to store key account information directly on the List or tasks, such as:
- Contract value and billing frequency.
- Primary contacts and communication channels.
- Service tier or package.
- Start dates, renewal dates, and notice periods.
These fields make it easy to filter, sort, and report on client data across your Workspace.
Manage ongoing projects and campaigns in ClickUp
Once clients are onboarded, continue using the same Space and Lists to plan and track all work. ClickUp offers multiple views so each role can see information in the way they prefer.
Use ClickUp views for project visibility
Inside each client List, configure a set of reusable views, such as:
- List view for detailed task management and bulk updates.
- Board view for kanban-style workflow by status or team.
- Calendar view for content schedules and launch dates.
- Gantt view for timelines and dependencies.
Save these views to your List templates so every client has the same structure from day one.
Track tasks and assignees clearly in ClickUp
For each project or campaign, create tasks that are:
- Assigned to specific team members with clear due dates.
- Organized by status (for example, To Do, In Progress, Review, Done).
- Documented with subtasks or checklists for repeatable steps.
This helps you avoid missed handoffs and ensures that responsibilities are easy to understand at a glance.
Collaborate with clients using ClickUp
Collaboration is essential for agency success. Use built-in tools to keep all communication tied to work items instead of scattered across email threads.
Use comments and mentions in ClickUp
Try these collaboration practices:
- Discuss feedback directly in task comments.
- @mention team members or stakeholders when you need input.
- Use threaded comments to track conversations on a single deliverable.
- Attach files and link assets so everything lives in one place.
This reduces confusion and creates a clear record of decisions.
Share views and reports from ClickUp with clients
When you want clients to see progress, you can:
- Share specific views with limited access.
- Use read-only views to prevent accidental edits.
- Export or present information from Dashboards during review calls.
Adjust what clients can see so you share the right level of detail without exposing internal work in progress.
Track time, budgets, and billing in ClickUp
Agencies often need to track hours and budget utilization across multiple projects. Build a consistent approach that your team can follow.
Set up time tracking in ClickUp
Enable time tracking in your Space or Workspace, then:
- Have team members log time directly on tasks.
- Use tags or custom fields for billable vs. non-billable hours.
- Filter by client, project, or assignee to understand workload.
Having structured time data helps with billing, forecasting, and staffing decisions.
Monitor budgets and retainers using ClickUp
Use custom fields to track financial metrics for each client or project, for example:
- Budget amount and currency.
- Hours allocated vs. hours used.
- Percentage of budget consumed.
- Retainer renewal dates.
Combine these fields with views and Dashboards to quickly see which accounts are on track and which need attention.
Report on agency performance with ClickUp Dashboards
Dashboards give leadership and account managers a high-level view of performance without digging into every List individually.
Build account management Dashboards in ClickUp
Create Dashboards that include widgets such as:
- Task completion charts by client or team.
- Time tracked by service line or project.
- Workload by assignee to identify capacity issues.
- Table widgets summarizing budget and status per client.
Use filters so a single Dashboard can show overall agency performance or focus on a single account.
Create internal operations Dashboards in ClickUp
In addition to client-facing views, set up Dashboards for internal operations. These might monitor:
- Utilization and staffing levels across the agency.
- Pipeline progress for new business.
- Turnaround times for key deliverables.
- Quality metrics like revision counts or missed deadlines.
These insights help leadership continuously improve processes and resourcing.
Optimize your agency workflows in ClickUp
Once your core structure is in place, refine your workflows to reduce manual work and keep data clean.
Automate routine steps in ClickUp
Use automation rules to:
- Change task status when due dates are updated.
- Assign reviewers automatically when work reaches a certain phase.
- Post comments or notify teams when high-priority tasks are created.
- Create recurring tasks for regular reporting or maintenance work.
Automations save time and reduce the risk of critical steps being skipped.
Maintain templates and standards in ClickUp
Review your templates and Space structure periodically to ensure they still match your services and team size. You can:
- Update onboarding templates when your process changes.
- Refine status options to better reflect your workflow.
- Adjust custom fields so reporting remains accurate and useful.
Regular maintenance keeps your Workspace aligned with how your agency actually works.
Next steps and additional resources
To deepen your implementation, review the official agency management guide at this ClickUp support article. You can also explore best-practice consulting and implementation support from specialist partners such as Consultevo.
With a clear Workspace structure, reusable templates, and thoughtful Dashboards, ClickUp can become the central hub for all your agency’s work, from client onboarding to reporting and long-term growth.
Need Help With ClickUp?
If you want expert help building, automating, or scaling your ClickUp workspace, work with ConsultEvo — trusted ClickUp Solution Partners.
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