Clients see the work. Not the paperwork behind it.
Shoot bills arrive as photos, freelancers outnumber staff some months, and a leave request lands in launch week. ZekoHR keeps the people, the claims and the letters on one record, free for a year.
Up to 50 employees free for 12 months. No card, no sales call.
What the account manager absorbs
Shoot bills arrive as photos
Cabs, props, a location fee with GST, a per-diem for the crew. Claims take line items with receipt photos, mileage and per-diem, capture the GSTIN, and route by amount to the right approver. Billable tagging marks what goes to the client.
Leave lands on launch week
The designer asks for Friday and the pitch is Monday. Managers see the team calendar and the balance on the request and decide with the roster in view.
Freelancers are a WhatsApp group
Who is on which retainer, at what rate, until when? Individual contractors get an engagement with rate, dates and a reporting lead, and only the access you choose.
People move fast. The record keeps up.
Expense approval chains with GST capture and advances, leave balances on the request, letter templates for offers, increments and relieving, and a feed with kudos and celebrations that a creative team will actually open.
- Expense approval chains with GST capture, billable tagging and advances
- Freelancers and retainers as contractors with engagements
- Letter templates for offers, increments and relieving
- Social feed, kudos and celebrations built in
Illustration of a shoot expense claim with billable lines and a freelancer engagement.
How agencies roll it out
Invite the studio
Import staff, set departments by craft, and give team leads the Manager role so approvals go to the person who knows the roster.
Claims with billable tags
Set categories and an approval chain. Tag client-billable lines on each claim so the reimbursement register and reports show what to recharge.
Freelancers as contractors
Add each freelancer with an engagement, rate and end date. Reminders fire before the retainer ends; conversion to employee keeps the history.
When ZekoHR is not the right choice
You need project profitability or timesheets
ZekoHR shows expense spend by category, employee, department and month with a billable split. It does not track hours against jobs or compute margin per client.
You need freelancer invoices and payouts
Contractor invoices and a contractor pay run are on the roadmap. Today the engagement records the terms; finance pays outside.
Common questions
Can it handle expenses from shoots and pitches?
Yes. Claims take multiple line items with receipt photos, mileage and per-diem, GSTIN per receipt and a multi-currency capture for overseas shoots. Approval rules route by amount, category or department.
Can we split expenses by client or billable work?
Lines can be tagged billable and reports split spend by billable versus not, by category, employee, department and month, with CSV export. There is no per-client ledger.
People join and leave often. Does pricing follow?
Yes. Offboarded people stop counting as billable seats immediately, and plans are per active user per month after the free year.
Can our freelancers use it too?
Yes, as contractors. Each gets an engagement with rate, dates and a lead, and you choose per company what contractors can see; usually their own record and nothing else.