Retainer rollover

A retainer agreement provision specifying whether unused hours or deliverables from one billing period carry forward to the next, or expire ("use it or lose it").

Example

A client's retainer includes 20 hours per month with no rollover clause; in a light month using only 12 hours, the unused 8 hours expire rather than banking toward next month's allowance.

Why it matters for agencies

Rollover policy affects how retainer overages should be handled — if unused hours from prior months don't roll over, a client can't reasonably argue an overage should be covered by hours they didn't use two months ago, which makes the overage conversation cleaner.