Industry
The deposit patterns, seasonality and timing that decide how funders read a file from a Canadian business in marketing agencies.
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Short answer: Agencies sell staff time as retainers or projects and often pass client ad spend through their accounts, which inflates gross deposits. Funders read retainer versus project revenue, pass-through ad spend, client concentration and freelancer costs. Hiring ahead of a new retainer is the most common use.
Key facts
Related: Business Funding by Industry in Canada: 91 Guides · Business Funding Requirements in Canada · Documents Needed for Business Funding in Canada · Revenue-Based Financing in Canada: How It Works · Funding Readiness Score Canada: Free 30-Second Check
Agencies sell staff time, billed as retainers or projects, and often move client ad spend through their accounts.
Budgets reset in January and often in April for clients with fiscal years. Summer can be slower.
Revenue-based financing suits steady retainers. Factoring can fit large unpaid invoices.
A digital marketing agency depositing about $85,000 a month asks for $30,000 to hire a senior strategist for two new retainers. At a 1.22 factor the payback is $36,600, a cost of $6,600. Over roughly 6 months that is about $290 per business day, or close to 7% of monthly deposits.
Every figure on this page is illustrative arithmetic in Canadian dollars. It is not an offer, a quote or a promise of approval.
Agency deposits arrive as retainer payments early in the month, project payments at milestones and reimbursements for media. Payroll and contractor invoices go out regularly. A reviewer separates margin from pass-through to see how much room a payment has.
Canadian agencies often serve clients across provinces and the United States, with GST/HST applying differently to exported services. Agencies billing US clients in US dollars face currency swings.
Whatever the trade, the review is built on the business's own bank statements: how much arrives, how steadily, what is left after fixed costs and how the account is managed through a slower stretch. A short note that names your busiest and quietest months, any one-off deposits and what the money is for usually answers the follow-up questions before they are asked.
Reviewed by the Merchant Fund Express team on October 12, 2026. Official pages checked as of that date.
Yes. They are the most predictable part of agency revenue.
It passes through, so a reviewer looks at the agency's margin.
It is read closely.
Educational information only. It is not legal, tax or accounting advice.
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