In every agency, there are common ways of keeping everyone in the agency informed. It's the mundane paperwork that is often vital to communicating properly within the agency.

Here are some of the basic forms of paperwork that the account team may be called upon to produce:

Status Reports

The Account Group is usually responsible for maintaining status reports on each individual client. They should reflect all of of their assigned open jobs, new work and work that needs to be billed.

Each status report should reflect the following information on all of the assigned jobs: Job # & Name, Status of the Job, Next Steps and Milestone (deadline) dates.

The status report is typically updated once or twice a week. All account executives should review major points on their status reports at a weekly status meetings. If one member of the team is unavailable to attend, another account person will fill in.

If your client’s work status has changed during the week, it is the account person's responsibility to inform the various departments and individuals. In an agency, do not assume an e-mail is the best format to transfer important information. A verbal verification ensures understanding. You should make sure all work-related changes are reported on your agency's Job Form and distributed. If needed, you should call a separate meeting for jobs require further detail.

Meeting Call Report

All client meetings/calls concerning major decisions, budget information, nextstep changes discussed, should call for written reports to be distributed within 48 hours after the meeting. Distribute the notes to all attendees & department heads; your production, media and creative teams. These reports should also be issued for all major client/agency discussions, and internal planning meetings. Without these reports the different departments will often not recieve some vital piece of information that was discussed during the meeting. It is the account groups’ responsibility to make sure all agency and/or client parties are informed.

The Job Plan, Project Start or Project Initiation form

All new projects and project changes should be recorded on a project initiation form, even to open a job there should be written input. A face-to-face meeting meeting between AEs and the creative and production teams before starting any decent size projects should be consider vital and even mandatory.

Without the project initiation form, no one will have a record of your changes or your request for work. This form should be given to the appropriate production, media, creative team, and account planning (when it’s research-related). E-mails are also not the appropriate medium for job changes.

Be wary and avoid verbal job requests.

The Account Supervisor

While the account executives and account coordinators have much of the day-to-day contact with the client, the account supervisor is responsible for the relationship between the agency and the client. The account supervisor’s main goal is to review all strategic and media decisions formulated by the various agency departments before delivery to the client and to review the creative concepts as to whether they meet the creative brief and the strategic goals and marketing plan of the client.

The account supervisor manages all of the assigned account executives and account coordinators/assistants to their accounts. From a client view, the account supervisor analyzes the client’s requests and marketing plan to produce a coherent, focused and most cost-effective/value-added communications plan that the agency can provide. This includes gathering client or agency prepared research, competitive analysis and existing marketing plans or a structure client/agency Q & A session and staying on top of products and markets in which the client operates.

From an agency viewpoint, the account supervisor acts as the main spokesperson for the agency,
overseeing the execution of the approved communication programs, while identifying new business opportunities with the existing clients.

Other duties can include;
Presents and sells agency recommended communication plans, creative concepts and media plans to the client.
Maintaining direct, day-to-day client contact.
Receive client briefs.
Inconjunction with the account executives briefs creative, media, PR staff.
Provide clients with budgets and estimate updates.
Assists in client billing process and account receivables.
Writes client contact reports.
Prepares monthly revenue forecasts.

Account Executives

Team members have the primary client contact the “day-to-day” project management of the assigned accounts. The work with all of the agency departments to move projects through the agency. For example, they may meet with the creative director to review the creative issues, with the pr director concerning publicity, with the traffic department concerning scheduling and traffic.
They are responsible for gathering information on clients, products, and competition needed for the agency backgrounders and start-up meetings.

Duties might include;
Updating information pertinent to the status of all jobs, producing the client status report.
Produce timely contact reports.
Produce and distribute job requests and change orders.
Makes sure the sign-off of various agency documents including creative blueprints & estimates.
Meet with the senior management group to inform them of all client activities.

Account Coordinator or Assistant Account Executives

The account coordinators provide administrative support and back-up for account services.
They are responsible for supporting the account group which may include;
Setting up meetings.
Setting up or conducting research.
Developing presentations from materials provided
Following up on jobs and projects internally and externally when requested.
Make travel arrangements, provide shipping instructions.
Set up internal and external meetings.

Account Services, which includes the a vp or account service director, account supervisors and account executives, is the link between the Agency and its clients. Account Services plays the lead role in developing strategic direction for all accounts/projects (unless the agency has a strategic planning department or staff), in being the Agency’s advocate with our clients and in being our clients’ advocate at the Agency. Account Services also has P&L responsibility for all accounts, as well as responsibility for forecasting revenue and meeting revenue/profit goals.

Account management roles include:

Ongoing management of the account
• Brand stewardship, navigation, architecture.
• Project leadership
• Day-to-day management of the account
• Budget management
• Ongoing market / competitive analysis
• Coordination, analysis and integration of research

Quarterly Client Reviews
• Business performance
• Financial performance
Hours vs. retainer
Product budget recap

Relationship Performance
• Strategy
• Creative
• Media
• Production
• Research

Points of Client Contact
• Daily status update email/phone
• Responsibility as point person