Payments & Invoicing

How project payments work

For almost every project, you pay through a secure payment link sent from your Client Portal, handled by Stripe. You pick a payment option before you commit to anything, and later instalments are then taken automatically on the dates shown, so there's nothing to chase.

💳 Ways to pay Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Direct Debit, all through the same link. The exact options offered depend on your project, but typically include:

• Pay in full: one payment today. Paying in full sometimes unlocks a perk, such as a free year of Website Care, where this is offered.
• Split over 2 payments: 50% today, the remainder automatically a month later.
• Split over several months: a smaller amount today, with the rest spread across monthly instalments.

Card payments aren't invoiced, you'll get a receipt for each one instead. If you'd rather pay by bank transfer, just let us know early and we'll invoice you on our standard 14-day terms. All figures exclude VAT, added at the prevailing rate, and we start work once your first payment has cleared.

💻 Web Projects Our web projects are broken down into three simple stages:

• 50% Deposit: Paid upfront to kick off the project.
• 25% Milestone: Paid upon your formal sign-off of the project designs (e.g., when you approve the mockups), right before development begins.
• 25% Final Balance: Paid upon handover of the finished project (this is not necessarily when it goes live).

🎬 Video & Photography Projects For video and photo projects, the structure is even simpler:

• 50% Deposit: Paid upfront to get started.
• 50% Final Balance: Paid upon delivery of the final video files.

For care plans and hourly work

For ongoing support, we keep billing straightforward and timely.

🧾 Monthly Invoicing
Whether you're on a Care Plan or using our time on a pay-as-you-go basis, any extra hours are tallied and invoiced at the end of each month.

To keep your inbox tidy and accountant happy, if you've only used a small amount of time (typically an hour or less), we may use our discretion to roll that invoice into the following month's bill.

💳 Care Plan Subscriptions
Care Plan and Growth Partner subscriptions are billed automatically via Stripe. If you prefer, we can also arrange a recurring invoice for you to pay manually.

If your project changes, pauses or runs late

Life happens, so here's what it means for your payments if things shift:

• Scope changes: if you add or change something outside the original proposal, we'll scope and cost it separately before doing the work. Where a Change Budget is included in your proposal, we'll use that first; anything beyond it is agreed and invoiced (or added to your final payment) before we proceed.
• Rush requests: if you need something turned around faster than our normal schedule, that typically carries a rush surcharge of around 50% on the affected work, to cover the extra time this takes from us.
• Delays on your side: if we're waiting on assets, feedback or approvals from you for more than 5 business days, we may move your project to the back of the queue until we hear back. Past 45 days with no reasonable explanation, we'll invoice the remaining balance immediately and pause work until it's settled. Past 90 days, any payments already made are non-refundable.
• Cancelling a project: your deposit is non-refundable once work has started. Beyond that, we compare how much of the project is complete against how much you've paid, refunding any excess or invoicing any shortfall within 14 days.

The details

A few final points for total clarity on every payment.

• How We Invoice: Card payments through your payment link are receipted, not invoiced. Where we've agreed you'll pay by bank transfer, or a card payment fails twice, we raise an invoice via Xero.
• Payment Terms: Where an invoice is raised, our standard term is 14 days from the invoice date.
• VAT: We are VAT registered in the UK. All quotes, payment links and invoices clearly show VAT at the current rate.
• Late Payments: We'll always send a friendly reminder if a payment is overdue before anything else happens. Hosting, security and maintenance invoices are payable on receipt, and we reserve the right to suspend your website from public view if one goes unpaid for more than 14 days. Overdue amounts may accrue interest at 8% above the Bank of England base rate.

This structure ensures you always know where you stand, with no hidden fees or surprises. The full legal wording behind all of this is in our General Service Agreement, alongside the Website Service Agreement and Content Service Agreement for your specific type of project.