What Is a Retainer Plan?
A retainer plan is a template that defines:Monthly Hours
How many hours of work the client gets per month
Monthly Cost
The fixed retainer fee charged each month
Sold Day Rate
Calculated profitability metric (cost ÷ hours ÷ 7.5)
Plan Name
The tier name (e.g., “Starter”, “Growth”, “Scale”)
Standard Plan Tiers
Most agencies set up tiered plans for different client sizes:| Plan | Monthly Hours | Monthly Cost | Sold Day Rate | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 20 hours | £2,000 | £750/day | Small clients, maintenance work |
| Growth | 60 hours | £5,000 | £625/day | Standard ongoing clients |
| Scale | 120 hours | £9,000 | £563/day | Larger clients, multiple projects |
| Enterprise | 200 hours | £14,000 | £525/day | Major accounts, dedicated capacity |
These are example tiers. Each agency sets their own plan structure, pricing, and naming based on their business model.
Why Day Rates Decrease with Volume
Notice that larger plans have lower day rates? This is standard tiered pricing:- Volume discount: Clients committing to more hours get better rates
- Efficiency at scale: Larger engagements reduce context switching
- Relationship value: Bigger clients are worth better pricing
How Plans Work
Assignment
Clients are assigned to plans when they’re created or updated:- Choose a plan from the dropdown during client setup
- Optional overrides allow custom pricing per client
- No plan is also valid—some clients are project-only (no retainer)
PM Deduction
When a client is assigned a plan, 15% of the hours are automatically reserved for project management:Net Available Hours
- Plan: 60 hours/month
- PM deduction: 9 hours (15%)
- Available for deliverable work: 51 hours
- Sprint planning
- Client communication
- Status updates
- Scope management
- QA coordination
Monthly Cycle
Plans operate on calendar-month cycles:1
Month Start
Full allocation becomes available (e.g., 60 hours)
PM deduction applied (e.g., 51 hours net available)
2
During the Month
Work is completed and billable hours deducted from allocation
Client sees real-time remaining balance
3
Month End
Unused hours expire (no rollover by default)
New allocation starts next month
Plan Overrides
Plans are templates, but clients often need custom pricing. Plan overrides allow client-specific adjustments:When to Use Overrides
Negotiated Deals
Negotiated Deals
A client negotiates custom pricing based on their specific situation.Example: Client wants 60 hours at £4,500/month instead of standard £5,000
Grandfathered Rates
Grandfathered Rates
Long-standing clients keep old pricing when plans change.Example: Plan increased to £5,500, but existing client stays at £5,000
Special Arrangements
Special Arrangements
Unique situations like:
- Non-profit discounts
- Strategic partnership pricing
- Trial periods with reduced rates
Temporary Adjustments
Temporary Adjustments
Short-term changes:
- Reduced hours during quiet season
- Increased capacity for project push
- Bridge pricing during transitions
How Overrides Work
When creating or editing a client, you can override:- Monthly Hours Override
- Monthly Cost Override
- Both Overrides
Overrides the plan’s standard hours allocation.Example:
- Plan: Growth (60 hours)
- Override: 75 hours
- Client gets 75 hours/month instead of 60
- If override is set → use override value
- If override is null → use plan value
- Overrides are optional—leaving blank uses the plan default
Managing Plans
Creating Plans
Plans are managed in the Admin section:- Navigate to Admin → Plans
- Click “Add Plan”
- Enter:
- Name: The tier name (e.g., “Growth”)
- Monthly Hours: Hours allocated (e.g., 60)
- Monthly Cost: Retainer fee in pounds (e.g., 5000)
- Save
Editing Plans
When you edit a plan, all clients on that plan are affected unless they have overrides:- Edit hours → All clients get new allocation (next billing period)
- Edit cost → All clients pay new fee (next billing period)
- Clients with overrides are unaffected
Deleting Plans
When deleting a plan, you must handle existing clients: Option 1: Assign Replacement Plan- Select another plan to move clients to
- All clients on deleted plan are reassigned
- Overrides are preserved
- Clients become “no plan” (project-only)
- Existing retainer data is preserved for history
- Requires manual reassignment later
You cannot delete a plan with clients unless you specify what to do with them. This prevents accidental data loss.
Project-Only Clients
Not all clients need retainers. Project-only clients have:- No plan assigned (
planId = null) - No monthly allocation
- Work is quoted and billed per project
- Still tracked in CharleOS for capacity planning
- One-off projects
- New clients in trial phase
- Fixed-price project work
- Clients transitioning off retainers
Plan Utilization
Plans include utilization tracking to help with client management:Utilization Calculation
- Plan: 60 hours (51 hours after PM deduction)
- Used: 45 hours
- Utilization: 45 ÷ 51 × 100 = 88%
Utilization Bands
| Range | Status | Indicator | What It Means |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-75% | Normal | ● Green | Healthy usage, capacity available |
| 75-90% | Approaching | ● Amber | Getting close to allocation |
| 90-100% | Near Limit | ● Amber | Almost at capacity |
| Greater than 100% | Over | ● Red | Exceeded allocation, upsell opportunity |
When Utilization Is Too Low
Under 50% consistently:- Client isn’t using their allocation
- Consider downselling to smaller plan
- Find opportunities to use remaining hours
- May indicate engagement issues
When Utilization Is Too High
Over 90% consistently:- Client needs more capacity
- Upsell to larger plan
- Scope discussions needed
- Risk of client dissatisfaction
Real-World Examples
Example 1: Standard Client on Growth Plan
Setup:- Plan: Growth (60 hours, £5,000/month)
- No overrides
- PM deduction: 9 hours (15%)
- Net available: 51 hours
- Used: 42 hours (82% utilization)
- Status: Healthy
- Used: 56 hours (110% utilization)
- Action: CSM discusses upsell to Scale plan
Example 2: Client with Custom Pricing
Setup:- Plan: Growth (60 hours, £5,000/month)
- Override: 75 hours, £5,500/month
- Effective sold day rate: £550/day (vs plan’s £625)
- Reason: Long-term client, negotiated volume discount
- Client gets 75 hours/month
- Pays £5,500/month
- Plan can be edited without affecting this client’s pricing
Example 3: Non-Profit Discount
Setup:- Plan: Growth (60 hours, £5,000/month)
- Override: Cost only → £3,500/month
- Hours stay at 60
- Reason: Charitable pricing
- Client gets standard 60 hours
- Pays £3,500 (30% discount)
- Effective sold day rate: £437.50/day
Plan Strategy Considerations
When designing your plan structure:Number of Tiers
Number of Tiers
Too few (1-2 plans):
- Simple to manage
- May not fit all client sizes
- Miss upsell opportunities
- Confusing for clients
- Analysis paralysis
- Hard to manage
Volume Discounting
Volume Discounting
Larger plans should have:
- Lower per-hour rates (incentive to commit more)
- But higher absolute revenue and profit
- Starter: £100/hr × 20 hrs = £2,000 revenue
- Growth: £83/hr × 60 hrs = £5,000 revenue ✓
Plan Naming
Plan Naming
Use names that:
- Suggest growth (Starter → Growth → Scale)
- Are client-friendly (not internal jargon)
- Allow for additions (don’t use “Ultimate” too early)
- Tier 1, Tier 2 (boring, no emotion)
- Names that box you in (can’t add tiers)
Minimum Viable Plan
Minimum Viable Plan
Your smallest plan should be:
- Large enough to be profitable
- Small enough to be accessible
- A natural entry point for new clients