Client non-payment

Client non-payment, team payment terms:

Client not paying upfront invoice:

Projects are not confirmed until the client has paid the upfront invoice. In the event the upfront invoice is not paid, there is no payment to anyone. It is the responsibility of team members, and the creative director to confirm the payment is made.

Client cancels after paying upfront invoice:

We've set up a financial structure so that once a client has paid the upfront invoice, team payments for the first part of the project are covered regardless of whether the client cancels at any point. There is additional team budget for the iterations that is paid proportionally, see the point regarding interim invoices for more details for what gets paid in this scenario.

In the case of a client not paying a final invoice:

• Creative Directors (including any post project work) and project % costs (see the project budget template for more information) do not get paid.

• Team members are paid as normal.

• Any remaining project profit:

  • 10%, up to a maximum of $1,500 is paid to the Creative Director for admin tasks.

  • The remaining amount is paid to the Treasury.

We've set up a payment structure so that Deep Work can cover costs but not cover Creative Directors as the result of the final invoice not being paid.

In the result of a client not paying a payment stage or interim invoice:

In extreme cases, a client may cancel or not pay at an interim payment stage. In this case:

• Creative Directors (including any post project work) and project % costs (see the project budget template for more information) do not get paid.

• Any project costs relating to the client are paid (for example additional costs to get to a satisfactory resolution - this is decided by the project owner or creative director).

• Any remaining profit from the project is paid as follows:

  • 50%: Team members*:

    • The creative director works out proportionally according to each team members unpaid fee, the distribution of the 50% to all team members. See the example below.

    • There is no further work for the team to complete and this fee represents a payment for their booked time.

    • The creative director will instruct the final amounts.

    • *This is the minimum the creative director can set. This can increase whilst reducing the amount to the treasury. This is intended for scenarios where the team was not responsible for the project not continuing or the client not paying.

  • 40%: Treasury

    • The creative director makes a 40% payment to the treasury.

    • This represents the cost to run the project, and:

    • Makes sure there is an element of risk to the project success on the team. Meaning an almost full payment isn't made in the event of the client cancelling.

  • 10% (up to a maximum of $1,500): Creative Director

    • Fee for the project set up and project closing admin work.

    • If there is funds over $1,500, this goes to the treasury.

Team payments example:

• A project has three stages of payment: Upfront $20,000, Milestone $10,000, Final $10,000.

• The client doesn't pay the milestone or final payment.

• In the iteration, the team are owed: $2,500 facilitator, $5,000 designer, $2,500 user researcher for booked work.

• There is $5,000 allocated to the team from the remaining profit.

• This is split amongst the team members so that, they can invoice (in addition to completed work): $1,250 facilitator, $2,500 designer, $1,250 user researcher.

• There would be no further work to complete.