Where an agency loses its afternoons
Agencies sell people's time, and most of the back office is about people: clients on one side, contractors or staff on the other. The trouble is that each tool keeps its own list. The invoicing app has clients. The inbox has contacts. A spreadsheet has the roster. Every one of them is a little out of date.
- One client list for invoices and another for everything else.
- Contractor onboarding by email attachments and follow-up reminders.
- The same emails written from scratch every week.
- Invoices built by hand, then checked by someone else.
- No clear rule about who is allowed to send what.
How we'd set it up for an agency
We'd usually start by picking the one record every tool should share: the client. Then we connect the rest to it.
- One client record. Invoices are created against the same client records the CRM uses. If your invoicing tool already holds your clients, the CRM can be built from it.
- Roster onboarding. Contractors or staff fill out a step-by-step form themselves and land in a directory. You can invite them in bulk, and the admin is notified when someone finishes.
- Invoices with a review step. Branded invoices that a person reviews before they go, with links the client can open.
- An email assistant with a gate. Ask the assistant in Slack to email someone. It looks them up in the CRM, drafts in your house style, and waits. Nothing is sent until a person taps Approve.
- A public site that works for everyone. If your clients include people who need larger text or high contrast, the website can include those controls.
What we built for an interpreting agency
For an interpreting agency in New York City, we built one platform where there used to be several. It was delivered in 2026 and works with Slack. See the build →
- An interpreter directory with a 7-step self-onboarding form and bulk invites. The admin is notified when an interpreter finishes.
- An invoicing engine with branded PDF invoices, review before send, and shareable invoice links.
- A contact CRM built from the invoicing app's clients and contacts, so there is one list of clients, not three.
- A marketing website with an accessibility panel: text size, high contrast and reduced motion.
- A Slack email assistant that drafts in the agency's voice and sends from its own mailbox once approved. If the contact is new, one tap adds them to the CRM and the draft runs again. The owner is copied on every send.
What we don't do
- We don't let an assistant send on its own. Every outbound email waits for a tap.
- We don't move you off your invoicing tool by default. We check what it supports first.
- We don't make judgment calls for you, like choosing between two similar contacts or changing a rate.
Related
How many client lists does your agency keep?
Bring the email you write most often to a free 30-minute review, and we'll walk through what connecting it would look like.
Book a free 30-minute review →Agency questions
Can our invoices and our CRM use the same client list?
Yes, when your tools allow it. For the interpreting agency, invoices are created against the same client records the CRM uses, so there is one list of clients, not three. We check your invoicing tool first.
Can contractors onboard themselves?
Yes. The interpreting agency's directory has a 7-step self-onboarding form with bulk invites, and the admin is notified automatically when someone finishes.
Does the email assistant send emails by itself?
No. It drafts in your house style and waits. Nothing goes out until a person taps Approve, and on the interpreting agency build the owner is copied on every send.
What if the person we want to email isn't in the CRM yet?
The assistant looks them up first. If they're new, one tap adds them to the CRM and the draft runs again.
Why don't you name the agency?
We describe the build without naming the client. The interpreting agency is in New York City, and screenshots with customer details blurred are on our work page.