Service Agreement Basics

We have two systems for payment servicing, 'Projects' and 'Time Based Credit'. If you are an Occasional Service client and use less than 2 hours a month, we can complete a task on a non priority basis and invoice you at the end.

When do we start charging ?

We try and be super transparent with our costs and thus only charge you when we are working on your business. You will see all of these costs against tasks in your client dashboard. We want you to understand that if the project or task is live and we do a meeting or call that time goes towards the project or task. If you want a chat about something else, then I'm all yours to go over any idea or concerns you have without it going against your project or time based credit. So pick up the phone!

When we are setting you up as a customer, if we spend time looking into how to solve your request, that time is also logged toward the future project. Once signed it is added to the project or time based credit log. If you decide not to go ahead then that we take that time on the chin. So you may see tasks already applied to the project or time based credit when we start your project.

What can it be used for?

Any questions, problems, small system updates, email templates, workflows, technical support, or report building are all covered. If one team member can complete the task without having to call a strategy meeting, then TBC is the preferred option.

How much does it cost ?

The idea being the more time you buy, the cheaper the hourly rate. The rate card for 2022 can be found above.

What are the benefits for me?

By far the largest benefit of using the Time-based Credit system is avoiding the cost of project management setup and estimated tasks, that for small requests outweigh the cost of the task. The old way was a 'retainer', Time-based Credit addresses the issues of the retainer model and gives a cost benefit along with simplified accounting due to many less estimates and invoices. You will be able to access your time report through our portal and budget accordingly. If we are running frequent maintenance or consulting tasks then Time-based Credit will save you time and money.

Important to remember!

This is a preferential access service and we kindly request you respect that you need to be in credit for us to be able to service your needs. We cannot service you if you have run out of Time-based Credit. You will receive a reminder when there are two hours left, but if you have a lengthy accounts process please request a reminder in time for your invoice to be processed and paid. All Time-based Credit invoices are due immediately even if the invoice says otherwise.

You can buy Time Based Credit here or ask to be invoiced and pay by bank transfer.

Projects run using Clickup

Projects will be mapped out task by task in Clickup to form the specification of the work we will be carrying out for you and will come with an estimate based on the time of those tasks. You can choose to request the removal or alteration of tasks to lower the cost and likewise if you request something that is not on the task list and thus in the specification then as the time increases your cost will increase.

Your Clickup Dashboard

We strongly advise that when running projects that you are familiar with your Clickup Dashboard. You will be shown how to access this in your onboarding and also be advised to save it as a bookmark.

Project Proposal Document

The process of a project will involve a presentation of the project proposal in a pdf that will, outline your request, how we aim to solve it, the timeline involved and an outline of the costs involved. On acceptance of the proposed solution you will be sent an official estimate, which once signed will trigger a deposit invoice. Deposit invoices are typically for 50% of the cost. If you have been working with us a while and have paid on-time regularly, then this can be reduced to 30%. If there is a high percentage of external costs involved we may need to be asked for these costs to be covered at a certain point of the project before completion.

When is a request defined as a project?

If you brief us on something that needs to be solved, and we identify that it requires multiple team members to provide a solution, we will build a proposal. This will include:

1. An outline of the project as we understand it

2. The stages that contain the tasks

3. An estimated cost based on the time it takes to complete a task.

If a task takes less time, you will only be billed for the time worked. If a task is looking like it will take longer, we will contact you to explain why more time is required. All tasks will be made up by a specification document that will be shared with you to define the scope and the limits. Additions to the specification document will require more tasks to be added, thus adding more time to the project and invoiced accordingly. A feedback document will also be shared where stakeholder feedback can be shared.

Project stakeholders and feedback.

The feedback process needs to be managed to enable a project to run smoothly. We will request that the stakeholders can be identified at the begging of a Project so we can manage the process efficiently. If you require another stakeholder in the project at any point we will kindly ask them to go through the onboarding process so they understand the feedback process.

Feedback should be collated with all stakeholders before being added to the feedback document. Ad-hoc feedback from stakeholders will add additional time to the project management and slow down delivery mile stones.

When things don’t go to plan.

We believe in talking, not messaging, when things don’t go to plan and organising an in person strategy meeting to resolve any misunderstandings. We find by being transparent with the time spent working for your business and sharing this information through ClickUp generally keeps things ticking along nicely. By using time management and the task dashboard, we don’t go too far if there is a misunderstanding. We are always here to talk over the tasks that have been scheduled.

Overview from Gov.uk website.

Government has a commitment to obtain value for money and support small businesses and start-ups through procurement. We understand the challenges and barriers, especially for smaller firms, and are committed to tackling them. We want to tackle obstacles that they face when supplying or contracting with government departments and agencies.

How are we supporting the commitment?

Paying suppliers on time

Government has a target of paying 90% of its invoices within 5 days, and all of them within 30 days, to ensure we pay our suppliers on time. Each department reports their payment performance progress and it has been listed within ‘How are the central departments supporting SMEs?’ (below).

Since 1 September 2019, any organisation that bids for a central government contract in excess of £5 million a year needs to demonstrate it has effective payment systems in place to ensure a reliable supply chain.

As a part of this, the government has set a standard of 95% of all supply chain invoices to be paid within 60 days for organisations who want to do business with government. Suppliers who do not comply with the Prompt Payment standard could be prevented from winning government contracts. This will help ensure good payment practice gets passed down to small subcontractors.

Help us help you!

If you can have a similar policy for prompt payment and communication we will get on really well and have a fantastic working relationship. As a boutique business we have many requests for assistance and manage the onboarding and off boarding of customers based on all levels of performance.