30-60-90 day plan for account coordinators
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An account coordinator is usually early in their career and sits between the client and the team doing the work. At an advertising, marketing or PR agency, they keep timelines, take notes, chase approvals, proof deliverables, track budgets and make sure nothing falls between the account manager's promises and the creative or media team's output. The job looks administrative from outside, but the work quality shows in what does not go wrong: a missed approval, a wrong version sent to a client or an invoice that does not match the budget. A 30-60-90 day plan for account coordinators should teach the clients and the tools first, then hand over the routine communication, then the day-to-day running of one client's work.
This plan is for the account manager or account director hiring a coordinator at an agency. Sales-side and B2B account coordinators can use the same shape with the changes listed at the end. For the next role up, see the 30-60-90 day plan for account managers. The general structure is in the 30-60-90 day plan template for new hires.
What to set up first
| Item | Owner | Needed before |
|---|---|---|
| Project management, time tracking and file sharing access | Operations or IT | The first task assigned |
| Each client's scope, contract summary and budget tracker | Account manager | The first client call |
| Templates for status reports, meeting notes and timelines | Account manager | The first report they draft |
| Approval rules: who can send what to the client | Account director | Anything sent to a client |
| Proofing and disclosure checklist for campaign work | Account director or legal | The first deliverable they proof |
Endorsement disclosures
Coordinators on campaign work often track influencer and creator posts, so they should know the basic rule. Under the FTC's Endorsement Guides at 16 CFR 255.5, when a connection between an endorser and the seller might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement and the audience would not reasonably expect it, the connection must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously. The guides say material connections can include payment and free or discounted products. The agency's own checklist should say how disclosures are checked and who signs off. This is current as of October 2026 and is not legal advice.
The 30-60-90 day plan
30-60-90 day plan — [Name], Account Coordinator, [team]
Reports to: [account manager] Start: [date]
Clients: [client A], [client B]
Tools: [project management], [time tracking], [file sharing]
Buddy: [experienced coordinator]
DAYS 1-30 — Learn the clients and the tools
Goals:
- Read each client's scope, recent status reports, budget
tracker and timeline
- Sit in on every client call; draft notes the account
manager reviews before sending
- Learn the production process with the creative, media or
content team leads
- Proof deliverables with the buddy using the checklist
Deliverables by day 30:
- Notes and action items drafted for every client meeting
- A one-page summary per client: scope, budget, open items
Check-in: day 30, with account manager
DAYS 31-60 — Own the routine communication
Goals:
- Own the weekly status report and meeting notes for
assigned clients, sent on schedule
- Build and update deliverable timelines and chase approvals
- Proof every deliverable before it goes to the client
- Update the budget tracker weekly against time entries
Deliverables by day 60:
- Status reports sent on time for four straight weeks
- Errors caught at proofing logged by type
Check-in: day 60
DAYS 61-90 — Run one client's day-to-day work
Goals:
- Be the first contact for one client's routine requests
- Reconcile the monthly budget and billing with finance
- Propose one process fix (example: a shared approval
tracker, or a proofing checklist for a recurring format)
Deliverables by day 90:
- One month of a client's routine work run with the
account manager reviewing, not doing
- Budget and billing reconciled with no surprises
Check-in: day 90 — full reviewWhat to measure
The standards below are examples only. Set them with the account manager and use the agency's own history as the baseline.
| Measure | Why it matters | Example standard (example only) |
|---|---|---|
| Deliverables on time | Missed dates cost client trust | Every slip flagged before the date, not after |
| Errors caught before the client | Proofing is the coordinator's quality gate | Errors reaching the client falling over time |
| Status reports and notes on schedule | Clients judge the agency on follow-through | Sent within the agreed time after each meeting |
| Time entry completeness | Budgets and billing depend on it | Complete by the weekly deadline |
| Budget tracker matches billing | Surprises damage the relationship | Reconciled monthly with differences explained |
A filled example
Account coordinator: Jordan Ellis (invented), a recent graduate with one internship, joining a mid-size marketing agency on two retail clients.
Day 30: Drafted notes for every client call; the first few needed heavy edits on action items and owners, the later ones very few. Wrote a one-page summary for each client that the account manager now uses with new team members.
Day 60: Sent weekly status reports on time for four weeks. Caught a wrong price in a print ad at proofing. Set up a timeline for a holiday campaign and chased approvals from the client's legal team early.
Day 90: First contact for one client's routine requests. Reconciled the monthly budget with finance and found hours logged to the wrong client code, which was corrected before invoicing. Proposed a shared approval tracker that the team adopted.
What "on track" looks like
| Checkpoint | On track | Worth a direct conversation |
|---|---|---|
| Day 30 | Knows each client's scope and open items; notes improving | Notes without owners or dates; tools still not set up |
| Day 60 | Reports on time; errors caught at proofing | Reports late; mistakes reaching the client |
| Day 90 | Routine work run with light review; budget reconciled | Account manager still doing the routine work |
Notes that create action
Meeting notes are the first thing a client sees from a new coordinator, and they are easy to get wrong. Good notes list decisions, action items with an owner and a date, and open questions, in that order, and they go out quickly while the meeting is fresh. A transcript-style summary of who said what is not useful to a busy client. Ask the new coordinator to send drafts to the account manager for the first few weeks, compare the edits, and keep a short list of what changed. Most coordinators need only a few rounds before the drafts go out as written.
What the account manager owes the new coordinator
- Clear approval rules about what they can send to a client without review.
- Fast feedback on drafts in the first month, so habits form correctly.
- Context on each client: history, sensitivities and who decides.
- Gradual exposure to the client, starting with routine requests.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Result | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Coordinator only copies the account manager on emails | No ownership; slow growth | Hand over named routine tasks by day 60 |
| Proofing without a checklist | Errors reach the client | Checklist per deliverable type |
| Budget tracked only at month-end | Overruns found too late | Weekly tracker update |
| No approval rules | Wrong versions or prices sent | Written rules on what needs review |
Adapting the plan
- Social and influencer work: add the disclosure checklist, post tracking and community escalation rules, and coordinate with the social media manager.
- Sales-side account coordinators: replace deliverables with orders, quotes and renewals, and measure order accuracy and response time to customer requests.
- PR agencies: add media lists, coverage tracking and the approval process for statements.
If you are hiring the account manager the coordinator supports, the account manager screening questions and the interview guide for account managers cover that role, and the marketing coordinator job description template is a close starting point for the coordinator posting.
Questions people ask
What should a new account coordinator do in the first week?
Read the files for each assigned client: the contract or scope, the last few status reports, the budget tracker and the project timeline. Get the project management, time tracking and file sharing tools working, sit in on client calls, and take meeting notes that the account manager reviews before they are sent.
What does an account coordinator own by day 90?
Usually the routine work on one or two clients: the weekly status report, meeting notes and action items, deliverable timelines, proofing before anything goes to the client, and the monthly budget and billing reconciliation. Strategy, pricing and difficult conversations stay with the account manager or director.
How do you measure an account coordinator's first 90 days?
By deliverables on time, errors caught before the client sees them, status reports and notes sent on schedule, complete time entries, and budget trackers that match billing. Use the agency's own history as the baseline rather than an industry figure.
Do account coordinators need to know advertising rules?
Yes, at a basic level, when they handle campaigns. For example, the FTC's Endorsement Guides require material connections between an endorser and an advertiser, such as payment or free products, to be disclosed clearly and conspicuously. Coordinators often track influencer posts, so they should know what the agency's disclosure checklist requires. This is not legal advice.