I’m client-facing, responsible for revenue, managing timelines, and smoothing over every issue — but my comp is nowhere near what the client is paying the agency.
At what point does account work start getting paid like revenue ownership?

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Doesn’t really happen imo. That’s why I moved in house when given the chance

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Usually comes with a senior-level title like account director, client partner. You’ll be responsible for a lot more. So it’s something to consider.

Your salary will never match the fee. Your fee is covering all back of house staff, rent, utilities, snacks, health insurance, etc. As you get more senior your pay structure might include a bonus based on account revenue but it will still never match

You'll have to start your own business if you want to get a much bigger chunk of what the client is paying.That gap in between is covering a lot of business costs, plus the profit for the company/shareholders. They are looking to maximize that profit at the expense of employees.

Yeah at Accenture Song we had the term LCR. That was your loaded cost rate which is your salary and the all the other costs on top of that. Your revenue is paying for all the back office salaries too. I agree with the other posts, unless you have more equity, don’t expect to get much more compensation for your role.

Yeahhh this is the struggle with agencies. Understand the frustration though. I think that making your way up the ladder would help with the salary issue

The brutal truth: account work gets paid like revenue ownership when you stop being called "Account Manager" and start being called "VP of Client Success" or "Group Account Director" — and even then, agencies routinely underpay relative to the revenue you protect. The leverage point is retention and growth metrics. If you can show you've retained $X in billing or grew accounts by Y%, you're not a coordinator — you're a rainmaker. That's a different salary conversation. The other option: move client-side. The brand manager you're servicing is likely out-earning you by $30-50K. Have you actually quantified the revenue you're managing?

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