Proposal templates Retainer
A retainer proposal sells the arrangement: what the client gets each month, what it costs, and how it starts and ends. The retainer agreement is the contract that governs it once it's running. This page is the proposal; the retainer agreement template is the contract.
85% of the small digital and SEO agencies in SparkToro's survey prefer retainers. The arguments they cause cluster at the edges: unused hours, extra work creeping in under a flat fee, and how either side leaves. Each one has a line in this template.
The PDF is free and needs no account. Sending it as a link instead adds read tracking and a tamper-evident e-signature — free plan, no credit card.
Type a client, a fee and a timeline and watch this proposal fill in. No account, no email.
Example figure — illustrative, not a pricing recommendation.
For Your client$5,000
Use this template freeRuns in your browser — nothing you type is saved or sent, or carried into the editor.
Prepared for Your client
PreviewMonthly retainer proposal
Monthly investment
Illustrative figure.
Each month includes
+ 1 more in the full proposal
Signature
Your client signs here once you send it.
How the payments and terms read to your client
First monthDeposit
Billed in advance; later months on the same date
Due on signing
$5,000.00
100%
The retainer is billed monthly in advance, from the date this proposal is signed. The minimum term is 3 months. After that, either side can end it with 30 days' written notice. Unused hours carry over to the following month only, then expire. Rates are reviewed once a year, with 30 days' notice of any change. Ownership of the final work passes to you once every invoice under this proposal is paid in full. Drafts and unused concepts stay ours.
Every section below exists to answer a question your client is silently asking. Use the example copy as a starting point and replace the specifics.
Karl Sakas advises building retainers around outcomes or priorities rather than a rigid list of deliverables. Start with what the months are for.
“Over the next six months: grow sign-ups from organic search, publish consistently, and fix the technical issues from the audit. We'll review progress against these every quarter.”
Workstreams plus a capacity limit. Sakas warns about the 'unlimited' trap: an hours cap or a fixed output count is what keeps a flat fee sustainable.
“Up to 20 hours a month across content, technical SEO and reporting. Typically that's four articles, one technical fix sprint, a monthly report and a 30-minute review call. Not included: redesigns and other one-off projects, which we quote separately.”
Request channel, response times and reporting. Keep a usage record: in a 2011 New York case over unpaid monthly retainer fees, the plaintiff won with daily reports showing the work performed.
“Requests come through the shared board and we reply within one business day. Each monthly report shows the hours used, what they went on, and what's planned next.”
One monthly fee, billed in advance. Consulting Success's advice is to invoice at the start of each month for that month's work, not at the end. Show any setup or audit fee as its own line.
“Monthly retainer: [amount], billed in advance on the same date each month. Work beyond 20 hours is agreed first and billed at [hourly rate].”
Agiled calls an unstated rollover assumption the most common retainer argument: if the contract is silent, the client assumes hours roll over. Real contracts range from rolling over for the life of the account to expiring every month. A one-month carry-over is a common compromise, but that's convention, not data.
“Unused hours carry over to the following month only, then expire. Unused hours don't carry past the end of the retainer.”
A minimum term pays for onboarding; notice gives both sides a clean exit. Three months then 30 days' notice is a vendor convention, not a measured norm. AIGA's form requires 30 days' notice before a rate change.
“The minimum term is 3 months. After that, either side can end it with 30 days' written notice. Rates are reviewed once a year, with 30 days' notice of any change.”
Example pricing section
Monthly retainer, up to 20 hours (example)
$2,000 / month
Overage, agreed in advance
$110 / hour
First month, invoiced on signing
$2,000
Minimum commitment (3 months)
$6,000
In ApeiroCraft the payment schedule becomes invoices after signing — the deposit invoice is drafted the moment they sign.
The proposal sells the arrangement: goals, what each month includes, the price, and how it starts and ends. The agreement is the contract that governs it: ownership, confidentiality, liability and governing law. Many freelancers send the proposal first and the agreement once the client says yes; some sign both together.
See the retainer agreement template →In advance is the practitioner default: invoice at the start of each month for that month's work. There's no measured data on how creative retainers actually split between the two. Overage is usually billed in arrears, once the hours are known.
Whatever you choose, write it down. Contracts range from rolling hours over for the life of the account to expiring them every month. A one-month carry-over is a common compromise; this template uses it, and says unused hours don't survive the end of the retainer.
Vendor templates commonly suggest 3 months, then month-to-month with 30 days' written notice, and one UK template calls 3 to 6 months standard. Neither figure comes from data. Set the minimum at the point where onboarding has paid for itself.
No, not yet. ApeiroCraft has no recurring billing. When the client signs, it drafts the first month's invoice for you to send. You invoice later months yourself, from the same workspace, on the date the terms give. If you need automatic monthly card charges, use a billing tool alongside ApeiroCraft for now.
This template as a tracked, e-signable link — with the invoice one click away once your client says yes.
Use this template freeStill deciding? Talk to the founder
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