How agencies get paid by clients and fund their ad accounts
Five clients, five ad accounts, one personal card. That setup works until the card declines on a Friday night and five campaigns pause at once. It also means you're often paying for a client's ads before the client has paid you.
Here's a cleaner way to run the money side of an agency in Pakistan, Bangladesh or Egypt.
The three setups most agencies start with
Your own card on every account. Fast to set up. Every client's spend goes through one local card, so one decline or one limit hits everyone. You also convert local currency to USD on every payment.
The client's card on their own account. No fronting, but you're chasing clients for card details, and their card fails as often as yours.
Client pays you, you pay the platforms. The cleanest model. The problem is usually the money route. The client pays in USD, it lands as local currency, and you convert it back to USD to pay Meta. You lose money twice on money that was never yours.
Get paid first, in USD
Ask clients to pay the ad budget up front, separately from your fee, into USD account details. US clients pay by ACH, the way they pay most suppliers. UK and European clients can pay to a GBP or EUR IBAN.
With nsave, receiving has a 0% fee. The money lands in your account and stays in USD.
If you haven't set up account details yet, start with the guide for your country: Pakistan, Bangladesh or Egypt.
Fund the ad accounts from the same balance
Add your nsave USD Visa card as the payment method on each client ad account.
- 0% fee on USD charges.
- 1% to 1.5% FX fee if the ad account bills in another currency.
- No card limits.
The middle line is the one agencies miss. If a client's ad account was created in PKR, BDT or EGP, every charge carries the FX fee. For accounts you control, set them up to bill in USD. Here's how to decide.
Keep client spend apart from your margin
Client ad budgets aren't your revenue. Treat them that way.
- Invoice the ad budget and your management fee as separate lines.
- Track spend per client from the platform's billing page, not from memory.
- Reconcile each month: budget received, spend charged, balance carried over or refunded.
- Keep a buffer of one week's spend per client so a slow-paying client doesn't stop their own campaign.
How you invoice and record client ad budgets for tax depends on your country and your business structure. Ask an accountant.
What this fixes, and what it doesn't
It removes the double conversion, the FX fee on USD charges, and the cash you were fronting. It doesn't change how Meta, Google or TikTok review payments, or their billing thresholds. Payments can still fail on the platform side, for example when a bank verification step isn't completed. See Facebook ads payment failed? for those.
The numbers on one client
A client pays a $3,000 monthly ad budget.
| Local route | nsave route | |
|---|---|---|
| Client pays | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| Arrives as | $2,700Local currency, after the bank's spread | $3000USD, 0% fee |
| You pay Meta | $2,600Converted back to USD, plus your card's FX fee | $3,000USD, 0% fee |
| Average Process Fee | $400 on $3,00010-13% | $3,0000% if the ad account bills in USD |
For the full calculation with your own bank's numbers, read You get paid in USD. Why convert it twice?
FAQ
Can I run several clients' ad accounts on one nsave card?
Yes. There are no card limits, and Meta, Google and TikTok let you use the same card on several ad accounts.
Should the client or the agency own the ad account?
Most agencies prefer the client to own the ad account and give the agency access. Paying for it is a separate question from owning it. Agree both in your contract.
Do I need a business account?
Not to get started. If you invoice as a company, look at nsave business accounts.
Can clients pay me in euros or pounds?
Yes. You can receive to a EUR or GBP IBAN.
