Pencil & Lion: 12% more billed, $14k recovered | Rinkta [Rinkta](https://rinkta.com/) Products Agencies Resources [Customers](https://rinkta.com/case-studies) [Pricing](https://rinkta.com/pricing) [Log in](https://app.rinkta.com/session/new) [Sign up for free](https://app.rinkta.com/registration/new) [Pencil & Lion](https://pencilandlion.com/?ref=rinkta)
Industry
Creative agency
Team size
5–15 people
The numbers - +12% Hours billed per client Captured work that used to slip through unbilled - 88% Less time on admin From 4 hours/week to 30 minutes - +12% Avg invoice value $3,600 → $4,100 - $14k Projected recovery this year Previously unbilled work - 5× faster Monthly close 5 days → 1 day --- [Try it free for 7 days](https://app.rinkta.com/registration/new) 1. [Home](https://rinkta.com/)/ 3. [Customers](https://rinkta.com/case-studies) Case study # Pencil & Lion · 12% more billed, $14k recovered, creative team back in flow How Pencil & Lion eliminated 88% of admin time, billed 12% more per client, and protected the creative flow that defines their work. Last updated May 8, 2026 > “Rinkta gave us something we didn't think was possible: accurate billing without sacrificing creative culture.” _Aurimas KadzevičiusCreative Director , Pencil & Lion_ ## The problem ### Automatic work capture keeps the creative team creating, not calculating For a growing creative agency like Pencil & Lion, time and focus are the most valuable assets. But as the team expanded and the client list grew, the agency found itself drowning in administrative overhead that pulled focus away from what they do best: creating exceptional work for clients. Time and deliverable tracking was killing the creative culture. Traditional time-tracking software required constant monitoring: starting timers, stopping timers, categorizing who did what. The surveillance atmosphere was draining morale and interrupting the flow state creative work demands. > We're a creative agency. Our team needs to be in the zone, not watching the clock. But we also need to bill accurately. Honestly, those two things felt impossible to balance. Each month, the team spent hours piecing together billable work from scattered notes, Slack messages, email threads, and incomplete time logs. Quick client calls, last-minute revisions, and "just one more tweak" requests regularly slipped through the cracks. Every client had different billing requirements: different hourly rates, different currencies, different tax situations. The finance lead kept a complex spreadsheet to track it all, constantly second-guessing whether the right details were applied to each invoice. Mistakes were common, and fixing them cost even more time. > We were losing hours every week to admin work. And worse, we knew we were working for free on stuff we forgot to bill. It was tedious, inefficient, and unsustainable. Pencil & Lion needed a solution that could handle the business side automatically while keeping the team focused on creative work. ## The solution ### Business overview demystifies revenue streams as agency size grows Pencil & Lion discovered Rinkta and immediately recognized it addressed their core problem: it was built for creative teams who need accurate billing without surveillance-style tracking. The agency integrated Rinkta with their existing project management tools (Asana and ClickUp) so the team could keep working exactly as they had been. > The setup took maybe 10 minutes. We connected our tools, entered our client rates and billing details once, and Rinkta just started working. Rinkta's one-click invoicing eliminated the monthly billing scramble. Instead of piecing together scattered work logs, the agency could generate a complete, accurate invoice in seconds. All client-specific details were automatically applied. Rinkta's revenue insights revealed which clients were actually profitable and which projects were draining resources. For the first time, Pencil & Lion could see clearly where money was coming from and where it was slipping through the cracks. > We finally understood our business. We knew which types of projects to take on more of and which clients weren't really worth the time investment. That clarity alone was worth the switch. Most importantly, the team eliminated time-tracking software entirely. No more timers, no more feeling monitored, no more breaking creative flow to log hours. ## The results ### Hours billed per client increased 12% Not because the team was working more, but because Rinkta captured all the work that previously went unbilled. Small tasks that used to slip through now appeared on every invoice. ### Time spent on admin dropped 88% (from 4 hours per week to 30 minutes) What used to consume entire afternoons now literally took minutes. Kadzevičius and the finance lead redirected that time toward business development and creative strategy. > We went from spending Monday mornings doing admin to spending Monday mornings planning great work. ### Average invoice value grew 12% (from $3,600 to $4,100) These weren't hypothetical hours. This was real revenue from work the team had already done but never invoiced. ### Hours logged per week jumped 25% (from 32 hours to 40 hours) The agency is expected to recover $14,000 by the end of the year in previously unbilled work. ### The ripple effects The team's creative culture improved noticeably. Without constant time-tracking interruptions, designers and strategists stayed in flow longer. The oppressive feeling of being monitored disappeared. Monthly close time dropped from five days to one. Instead of hunting down receipts and reconstructing billable hours, the finance team could see everything clearly in Rinkta's dashboard. Client billing disputes vanished. Because Rinkta automatically applied the correct rates, currencies, and tax details for each client, invoices were consistently accurate. > Rinkta gave us something we didn't think was possible: accurate billing without sacrificing creative culture. The switch to Rinkta wasn't just about better tools — it was about protecting what makes us valuable: our creative talent and their ability to do great work without distraction. ## About Pencil & Lion Pencil & Lion is an award-winning creative agency that specializes in branding, advertising campaigns, and packaging design, working with a close-knit team of creative directors, strategists, designers, and copywriters. They focus on creating work that tells authentic stories and connects meaningfully with people, prioritizing quality over quantity in every project. The agency expands their team with trusted specialists as needed to deliver tailored solutions across photo production, video, media buying, and more. ### Try it risk-free for a week Here's the deal. Use it free for 7 days. If you don't save at least a couple hours or find work you should have billed, we'll refund everything. No questions, no hassle. 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