How Agencies Can Remove Admin Time With Automated Client Reporting

Manual client reporting creates a scaling problem. Add 10 new clients, and you add 10× the reporting work. Your team’s capacity stays the same.

AgencyAnalytics’ 2022 Client Reporting Benchmarks study tracked 7,000 agencies and found they saved an average of 137 billable hours per month after automating their reports. At agency rates of $150-$224 per hour (Promethean Research, 2023), that’s $20,000-$30,000 monthly your team could spend on client work instead of compiling data.

Automated reporting gives you that capacity back. I’ll show you which tools work best for different agency sizes and how to roll them out to clients without causing confusion.

Why manual reporting is draining your agency’s profitability

The scaling problem is straightforward: Manual reporting might work for 10 clients, but at 50 or 100 clients, the workload grows while your capacity doesn’t.

The cost adds up quickly. AgencyAnalytics’ 2022 study found agencies save an average of 137 billable hours per month after automating. At typical agency rates of $150-$224 per hour, that’s $20,000-$30,000 in monthly capacity freed up for actual client work instead of data compilation.

And it’s not just your agency feeling this pain. According to AgencyAnalytics’ 2024 Marketing Agency Benchmarks Report, nearly half (48%) of surveyed agencies identify tracking billable hours as their most significant operational pain point. When Promethean Research found that 65% of digital agencies charge between $150 and $224 per hour, you realize how much revenue you’re leaving on the table with manual reporting.

Here are three reasons why agencies should automate their reporting:

1. Free up billable hours: Automation eliminates the time your team spends pulling data from multiple platforms and formatting reports. That time goes back to client work that generates revenue.

2. Scale without adding overhead: Automated reports take the same amount of time whether you have 10 clients or 100. You can grow without your reporting workload growing with it.

3. Standardize your process: Everyone uses the same templates and pulls the same metrics. This makes it easy to hand off clients between team members and train new hires.

Automated reporting changes this. The right tools sync client data in real-time and deliver reports directly to client portals. We’re talking about reducing 40 hours of manual work per month down to 5 minutes of one-time setup per client, after which reports run automatically.

Automating your client reporting in 3 steps

I’m sure I don’t have to convince you that client reporting should be automated at this point, the question is: how do I do it?

Let me guide you through the process step-by-step.

1. Selecting KPIs that actually matter to clients

What is it that you want to display in your reports? To answer that question, we need to know what kind of client report we’re building, for example:

• SEO client report

• email marketing report

• social media management report

Depending on the report type, the metrics you’ll display, and therefore the data sources, will be different. Pick KPIs that tie directly to what your client cares about.

Generally speaking, all of them should have the following characteristics:

• Understandable: Charts and graphs are nice, but what do they mean? The main idea of client reporting is not to display data, but to draw conclusions from them. Create a summary section showing improvements/losses compared to the previous reporting period.

• Accessible: If you’re one of those agencies that sends reports on certain dates, you should reconsider if that is the best approach. Not everyone has the time to look at them right then. Modern reporting platforms provide access to a dashboard where they could look at their reports whenever they want.

• Accurate: This one should go without saying. Be sure to sanity-check the data you’re getting before you pass them along to the client. Data discrepancies can lose you the client’s trust. And we don’t want that.

• Customized: Not every client should get the same report. Some need more details than others. Dashboards can be customized to show only what clients care about, removing clutter and leaving them with just the actionable data.

2. Choosing the right reporting tool

The right reporting tool depends on your agency size, data sources, and budget. Here’s how to decide:

Your agency size:

• Under 10 clients: Free tools like Looker Studio work fine

• 10-50 clients: Dedicated agency tools make sense

• 50+ clients: Advanced platforms with benchmarking

Your data sources:

• Google-only: Looker Studio is easiest

• Multi-platform: Need native integrations (Whatagraph, DashThis)

• Complex needs: AgencyAnalytics for advanced analytics

Your budget:

• $0-50/month: Looker Studio (free) + connectors

• $150-300/month: DashThis or Whatagraph

• $300+/month: AgencyAnalytics for enterprise features

If you’re tracking SEO performance for clients, you’ll also want to consider how you’ll monitor and report on backlinks, since manual backlink checking is another time drain that can be automated.

Now let’s look at each option in detail.

Whatagraph

Whatagraph is the most popular reporting tool for mid-sized agencies. The drag-and-drop interface lets you build professional reports without technical expertise, and 40+ native integrations cover all major marketing platforms—Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, email tools, and CRMs.

Reports pull fresh data in real-time and update automatically. You can white-label them with your agency branding, schedule automatic delivery, and give clients access through secure portals. The platform balances ease of use with customization options, letting you create reusable templates while still tailoring individual reports to specific client needs.

Best for: Agencies managing 10-50 clients who need professional automation without a steep learning curve or enterprise-level costs.

AgencyAnalytics

AgencyAnalytics combines reporting automation with client management features that most standalone reporting tools don’t offer. Built specifically for agencies, the platform goes beyond basic dashboards to include tools for managing your entire client relationship.

You get SEO rank tracking, PPC monitoring, and social media analytics in one place, with over 70 marketing integrations. The platform includes automated email reports and a client portal where clients can log in 24/7 to view their data. Advanced features include call tracking integration, staff management tools, and the ability to compare client performance against industry benchmarks—useful for showing clients how they stack up against competitors.

Best for: Data-driven agencies who need advanced analytics capabilities and want to provide clients with industry benchmarking and predictive insights.

Dashthis

DashThis prioritizes simplicity and speed over advanced features. The platform comes with preset templates for SEO, PPC, social media, and email marketing that you can implement with just a few clicks, making it one of the fastest tools to get running.

Key capabilities include automated report scheduling, white-label customization, real-time data updates, and the ability to create multiple dashboards simultaneously. With over 40 integrations, it consolidates marketing data from all major platforms into a single view. The tradeoff for this simplicity is fewer advanced analytics features compared to AgencyAnalytics or customization options compared to Looker Studio, but for agencies serving clients with standard marketing needs, the speed of implementation makes up for it.

Best for: Agencies who prioritize ease of use and quick setup over advanced customization, particularly those serving clients with standard marketing needs across common platforms.

Looker Studio

Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio) is free for Google data sources and offers unlimited customization. The platform excels at creating highly customized reports and dashboards with Google Analytics, Google Ads, Search Console, and Google Sheets data.

Advanced features include calculated fields, custom dimensions, and the ability to blend data from multiple sources into unified reports. The tradeoff is more manual setup than dedicated agency tools and a steeper learning curve—you’ll need some technical knowledge to build complex reports. Third-party connectors for non-Google platforms can also get expensive ($50-300/month per connector), but if you’re working primarily within Google’s ecosystem, the zero per-client costs make it hard to beat for smaller agencies.

Best for: Budget-conscious agencies heavily invested in Google’s ecosystem, or agencies with technical resources who want maximum customization control over their reporting.

Comparing the top agency reporting tools

Here’s what you need to know about each tool before you commit:

The biggest mistake agencies make is picking a tool based on features instead of their actual workflow. If you’re spending more time configuring the tool than it saves you in reporting hours, you picked wrong.

3. Integrating reports into your client experience

Once you’ve selected your tool and configured your reports, the final step is rolling them out to clients in a way that enhances their experience and improves client communication.

• Start with your most engaged clients first: Don’t automate everyone at once. Pick 3-5 clients who are patient, communicative, and understand you’re implementing improvements. These pilot clients will help you identify issues before you roll out to your entire client base.

• Introduce the change proactively: Don’t surprise clients with a new system. Send a brief email explaining: “We’re upgrading your reporting experience to give you 24/7 access to your data through a secure portal. You’ll still receive your regular reports, but now you can also check performance anytime.”

• Provide multiple access options: Some reporting solutions allow you to send reports via email, and while that isn’t a bad option, I think it’s outdated. Let me put it this way: what does your inbox look like right now? Is it full of unread emails? I bet your client’s inbox is the same.

Instead of risking your reports getting buried in their inbox, give them access to a client portal where they can log in at any time and visualize their data. The biggest benefit is that they’re in control—they can check performance when they need to, not when your report happens to arrive.

• Create a simple walkthrough: Record a 2-minute video showing clients how to log into their portal and where to find key metrics. Most clients won’t watch the whole thing, but having it available reduces support requests and shows you care about their experience.

• Run parallel reporting for the first cycle: During your first month of automation, send both the automated report and keep doing whatever you were doing before. This lets clients compare the formats and builds trust that the new system is accurate.

• Set expectations about real-time data: One benefit of automated reporting is that clients can see data updating daily or weekly instead of waiting for month-end reports. But make it clear: “Your dashboard updates daily, but we recommend focusing on weekly or monthly trends rather than day-to-day fluctuations.”

Reporting Integrations

Looking to automate your client reporting? Check out our reporting integrations and choose the one that works best for you.

Expect this rollout phase to take about two weeks for your pilot group. Most clients adapt quickly once they see how much easier it is to access their data on demand.

What to expect when you start automating reports

Most reporting tools advertise setup in minutes. They’re talking about connecting accounts, not building actual reports. Expect to spend 2-3 hours on your first client: connecting data sources, building your template, and verifying the numbers match your manual reports. After that, each new client takes 15-20 minutes. The interfaces are straightforward—your team will figure out where things are without much training.

Fix your tracking before you automate anything. Messy Google Analytics goals or inconsistent UTM parameters will show up immediately in automated reports. You’ll spend more time explaining discrepancies than you saved.

Run both systems for one full reporting cycle. Your team won’t trust the automated numbers until they see them match what they pulled manually. Once everyone’s comfortable with the accuracy, drop the manual process.

Agencies typically spend their first week rebuilding their old manual reports in the new tool. Skip this step. Start with 3-4 core KPIs that clients actually ask about, then expand based on feedback. Most of those extra metrics in your old reports weren’t getting looked at anyway.

You’ll see the time savings after your first full month. The setup time pays back in the first billing cycle. If implementation is dragging on, you picked the wrong tool for your workflow or you’re making it more complicated than it needs to be.

How to avoid the most common reporting automation mistakes

Here’s what I see most agencies mess up when they first automate their reporting: they pick a tool, connect a few data sources, and think they’re done. Then three months later, they’re dealing with angry clients because the numbers don’t match what’s in Google Analytics.

The tricky part is that automation amplifies whatever problems you already have. If your Google Ads account isn’t properly tagged, your automated reports will show garbage data—just faster. Case in point: I’ve seen agencies lose clients because their automated dashboard showed $0 in conversions while the client could see actual sales in their Shopify account.

Here are the three mistakes that’ll kill your automation project before it starts:

1. Not cleaning your data first: You can’t automate messy data and expect clean reports. Before you connect anything, audit your Google Analytics goals, check your UTM parameters, and make sure your conversion tracking actually works.

2. Over-automating from day one: Don’t try to automate every metric and data source immediately. Start with 3–4 core KPIs that matter most to your clients—usually traffic, leads, and conversions. You can always add more complexity later, but you can’t easily remove it once clients expect to see 47 different metrics.

3. Forgetting the human element: Automation doesn’t mean “set it and forget it.” Your clients still need context about what the numbers mean. Include a monthly summary email explaining trends, highlighting wins, and addressing any concerning drops. The best automated reports still feel personal.

Tracking the ROI of your reporting automation

Let’s talk numbers, because your CFO is going to ask how much this automation actually saved you. And honestly, most agencies can’t answer that question because they never tracked their baseline.

Here’s what you should measure before and after automation:

• Time savings: Track exactly how many hours your team spent on reporting last month. Use a billable hours tracking tool to establish your baseline before automating. For most agencies, it’s shocking—often 20-25% of their total billable capacity. After automation, you should see this drop to under 5% within 90 days.

• Client retention: This one surprised me. Agencies with automated reporting see much higher client retention rates. Why? Because clients can access their data anytime, they feel more in control and trust you more.

• Upselling opportunities: When clients can see their results clearly, they’re more likely to increase their budget. Again, this goes back to trust. When they see your work pays off, they’re more likely to spend money.

Measuring soft benefits like team morale and client satisfaction is harder to quantify. But here’s a simple test: ask your team if they’d rather spend Friday afternoon creating reports or working on strategy. I’m sure they will be very willing to track their time systematically.

Frequently asked questions

Your next steps to automated reporting success

Start by tracking how many hours your team spent on reporting last month. That’s your baseline for measuring ROI after you automate.

Next, pick your tool based on your agency size. Under 10 clients, start with Looker Studio. Between 10-50 clients, Whatagraph or DashThis will save you time without overwhelming your team. Past 50 clients, AgencyAnalytics gives you the analytics depth you need to scale.

Test with 3-5 pilot clients before rolling out to everyone. Pick clients who understand you’re upgrading their reporting experience and won’t panic if something looks different. Run parallel reporting for one month to build confidence, then transition fully.

If you’re not already using a CRM to manage client relationships, now’s a good time to add one. Check out our guide on the best CRMs for agencies to see which ones integrate with your reporting tools.

Deian Isac

Head of Agency Success

With 4+ years at SPP.co and 8+ years in content production, Deian combines practical agency expertise with content strategy leadership. He’s built essential agency tools, conducted dozens of case studies, and leads product demos for agency owners. As Content Lead, Deian transforms his firsthand knowledge of agency operations into actionable resources that help service businesses streamline and scale effectively.