Retainer Management for Creative Studios: How to Track Scope, Requests & Overages in ClickUp

Retainers are supposed to give your studio predictable revenue.

Instead, most founders experience:

• Clients asking for “quick tweaks” every day

• No clear record of what’s in scope

• Designers drowning in random requests

• You doing way more work than the retainer covers

• Awkward renewal conversations because “we didn’t track anything”

It’s not the client’s fault.
It’s not your team’s fault.
It’s a system problem.

This guide shows you how to build a clean, simple retainer management system in ClickUp so you can:

• Track every request

• Keep scope clear

• Spot overages early

• Communicate with clients professionally

• Stop losing money on retainers

All without drowning your team in admin.

Why Retainers Go Sideways for Creative Studios

Most retainers fail because of three common issues:

1. No central place for client requests

Clients send requests through:

• Email

• Instagram DMs

• Voice notes

• Slack messages

• Miro comments

• Random calls

Result: chaos.

2. No shared definition of “what’s included”

If your scope isn’t clearly separated into:

• Included tasks

• Out-of-scope tasks

• Billable extras

…then clients assume everything is included.

3. No visibility into capacity

You don’t know:

• How many hours/points you’ve used

• How close you are to max

• When you’ve blown past the retainer

And if you don’t know… the client absolutely won’t know.

Retainers break not because the work is too much, but because the system is too loose.

The 3 Things Your Retainer System Must Track

A good retainer system is simple. It must track exactly three things:

1. Incoming requests

Every task the client asks for should land in one list in ClickUp.

2. Consumed capacity

This can be:

• Hours

• Time estimates

• Story points

• Task count

Choose the metric you actually use.

3. Overages

When you pass 100%, it should be:

• Visible

• Documented

• Easy to communicate

No awkwardness. Just data.

Setting Up Retainer Projects in ClickUp

Use a structure that works for design teams, PMs, and freelancers.

Folder structure

Inside your Clients space:

• Folder: [Client Name] – Retainer

• Lists:

  • Requests – Month 1

  • Requests – Month 2

  • Requests – Month 3
    …or quarterly: Q1, Q2, etc.

Each List represents a billing period.

Core statuses

Keep it simple:

• New

• In progress

• Blocked

• Done

Statuses are for production, not stages or scope.

Essential custom fields

Add these:

• Scope (dropdown)

  • In scope

  • Out of scope

  • Extra / Billable

• Category (dropdown)

  • Design

  • Copy

  • Web

  • Creative direction

  • Other

• Estimate (number or points)

• Time spent (if tracking hours)

• Priority (dropdown)

  • Low

  • Medium

  • High

• Requested by (optional)

These fields give you all the data you need for client communication and internal forecasting.

Building a Client Request Intake in ClickUp

This is where everything comes together.

Step 1: Create a client-facing form

In ClickUp:

• Go to your List (ex: Requests – Month 1)

• Open Views

• Add a Form view

Add fields for:

• “Describe your request” (long text)

• “What is the goal?”

• “Upload assets”

• “Deadline (if any)”

• Category

• Priority

Make the form clean and branded. Clients love clarity.

Step 2: Send the form link to the client

Set expectations:

“All monthly requests go through this form. It keeps everything organized and makes sure we don’t miss anything.”

No more DMs.
No more lost tasks.

Step 3: Automatically create tasks from the form

Every form submission → becomes a task in Requests – Month 1 with all fields filled.

Your team works inside ClickUp, not in the inbox.

Tracking Capacity & Overages

Once requests start flowing, you need to track how much of the retainer you’ve already consumed.

Step 1: Choose how you measure capacity

You can choose:

• Hours

• Points

• Task count

Recommendation for creative studios:
Use points (1 point = one standard task / small piece of work).
Why?

• Faster

• Easier

• Doesn’t require perfect hour-measuring

• Designers hate time tracking

Step 2: Add capacity fields

Add two numeric fields:

• Est. points

• Used points (you can use time tracking or manual entry)

Step 3: Create a simple dashboard

Inside ClickUp:

• Go to Dashboards

• Create a dashboard called:
  “Retainer Usage – [Client Name]”

Add these widgets:

• Sum of Est. points (per List)

• Progress bar showing % used

• Count of tasks per Scope type

  • In scope

  • Out of scope

  • Extra

Now you – and the client – can see how much of the retainer is consumed.

Step 4: Communicate proactively

When you hit:

• 80% – send a friendly heads-up

• 100% – switch tasks to “Extra / Billable” or push to next month

This is how healthy retainers stay profitable.

Using Make to Notify Clients & Your Team

You don’t need complex automation. Two simple flows fix 80% of problems.

Automation 1: Request submitted → Internal Slack alert

Trigger:

• New task created from the client form

Actions:

• Post a Slack message in your internal channel:
  “New request from [Client Name]. Category: X. Priority: Y.”

Why this matters:
Your designers don’t need to dig through ClickUp to stay updated.

Automation 2: Dashboard hits 80% usage → Client email

Trigger:

• ClickUp webhook when total used points > 80% of retainer

Actions:

• Send a short, professional email:

  • Summary of work done

  • Screenshot of dashboard

  • Estimated remaining capacity

This is how you avoid the painful “You guys broke scope again” conversations.

When Requests Become Overages (And How to Handle It Cleanly)

If you hit 100% capacity:

1. Categorize the remaining tasks as Extra / Billable

2. Add a custom field Extra estimate

3. Send client a short message:

“We’ve completed the included monthly capacity. The remaining tasks fall under extras. Here’s a breakdown…”

Because everything is tracked inside ClickUp, the conversation is factual, not emotional.

Clients don’t get defensive when you show the data clearly and calmly.

How to Turn This System Into Better Retainer Renewals

When renewal time comes:

Open your dashboard and review with the client:

• Total tasks completed

• Value delivered

• Extra requests

• Overages

• Hours/points saved compared to hiring full-time

Studios that use this system find that renewals become easy because clients can see the value.

Even better:

• You can raise prices

• You can adjust scope

• You can upsell additional support

All backed by data.

The Retainer System Summary (Copy & Paste)

To build a profitable retainer:

1. One intake form → All requests flow into ClickUp

2. One List per month or quarter → Clear billing periods

3. Simple statuses → Clean production

4. Scope field → In scope / Out of scope / Extra

5. Points or hours → Track capacity

6. Dashboard → Show usage & overages

7. Make notifications → Keep everyone aligned

This is how you stop being the “client’s executor” and become the studio that operates with discipline, clarity, and professionalism.