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Agency Fees is the total you pay agencies in the selected date range, as configured in Cost settings. It is one of the costs subtracted from CM3 to get CM4 (Operating Profit).

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Formula

Agency Fees = Order fees with category Agency Fees + Recurring expenses with category Agency Fees (prorated to the date range)

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Formula Components

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How It Works

Upstack builds this number from two places in Cost settings:
  • Order fees in the Agency Fees category are calculated on each order (for example 4% of net sales for an affiliate network) and stored with the order. They follow order volume.
  • Recurring expenses in the Agency Fees category are added when the report runs. Upstack converts the amount to a daily rate and multiplies by the number of days in your range that fall inside the expense’s effective dates.
The daily rate uses a fixed day count per frequency: 7 for Weekly, 30 for Monthly, 91 for Quarterly, and 365 for Yearly. A Monthly retainer therefore shows slightly more than its face value in a 31-day month and less in February. Variable costs (% of Ad Spend) can only be categorized Marketing or Opex. If your agency bills a percentage of spend, enter it there under one of those two categories; it won’t appear in Agency Fees. NC Agency Fees and RC Agency Fees split each retainer by net revenue, so together they add up to Agency Fees. See how the split works.

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Example

A store pays a performance agency a $6,000 Monthly retainer and an affiliate network $1.50 per order. You view March 1–14, with 900 orders. Widen the range to all of March and the retainer portion becomes $6,200 (31 days × $200), not $6,000.

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How to Interpret It

Agency Fees moves for two different reasons. The order-fee part rises and falls with orders and revenue. The retainer part only changes with the number of days in the range. When you compare periods of different lengths, expect the retainer share to shift even if nothing about the contract changed. Read Agency Fees against CM3: if the fees eat most of what CM3 leaves, the agency relationship needs to produce enough extra contribution to cover itself.

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Common Pitfalls

  • Zero Agency Fees. Nothing is configured in the Agency Fees category. Add an order fee or recurring expense in Cost settings.
  • CM4 % and CM4 per Order don’t move when you add a retainer. Recurring expenses are added to the dollar measures (Agency Fees, CM4) at report time. CM4 % and CM4 per Order are calculated from order-level costs and ad spend only, so they include agency order fees but not recurring retainers.
  • Currency. Each recurring expense keeps its own currency and is converted to your reporting currency using daily exchange rates.

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FAQ

CM4. Upstack subtracts Agency Fees, Opex, and Other costs from CM3 to get CM4. CM3 only removes marketing costs and ad spend.
So any date range carries its share. A 7-day report on a $6,000 Monthly retainer shows $1,400, which lets you compare weeks without a spike on the day the invoice lands.
It can’t. Variable costs only accept Marketing or Opex. Pick Marketing if you want it to reduce CM3, or Opex if you want it to reduce CM4.
See all Contribution Margin metrics →