 |
|
 |
|
|
||
|
Are there any hidden or extra charges? Can smaller companies afford your services? What are your billing policies? Why do you want up an up front deposit and progress payments? |
|
|
|
|
|
There is no easy answer to this. Each project is 'bespoke', that is it's unique and individual and created to meet clients' specific business objectives, budget and time frame. We define the scope and cost every project on a case-by-case basis. We do need to know what your budget is—after all when you instruct an architect he or she will have to know your budget in order to determine whether to design you a mansion or a bungalow. You need to pick two of the three variables: fixed SCOPE, fixed TIMEFRAME, or fixed BUDGET. You can be absolutely certain that what you do invest with us is for high quality, carefully considered and creative work crafted to meet your business objectives. “It is unwise to pay too much, but it is worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money—that is all. When you pay too little you sometimes lose everything because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do ... If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.” John Ruskin (1819-1900) TOP |
|
|
|
|
|
Are there any hidden or extra charges? None. It is our policy to be completely transparent and above board with our clients. We have a fixed fee policy with all costs itemised prior to the project being activated. In the event that project parameters change after the acceptance of the proposal and the signing of the contract, ie Scope Creep, any additional charges will be discussed and your agreement in writing sought and gained prior to proceeding via a Change Order, invoiced separately. Some items are quoted separately and include photography, purchase of stock photography, illustration and printing. TOP |
|
|
|
|
|
Can smaller companies afford your services? Yes, as long as we can discuss your objectives and budget. As experienced as we are in stretching budgets we do have a minimum charge. TOP |
|
|
|
|
|
What are your billing policies? We require 50% upfront as an activation fee on all jobs (net, exclusive of GST), with the balance on completion. Completion is determined as the final signing off of the Client Release, and is required to enable the release of the final files. Please look at the 'Process Map' here to get an idea of the milestone payments system. Invoices are delivered via email as MYOB documents and our terms are payment on receipt of invoice. We do not offer trading terms as we are not a bank. TOP |
|
|
|
|
|
Money preferably… EFT is the preferred method. We will supply our banking details with the proposal and the proforma Tax Invoice. We do not accept credit cards. TOP |
|
|
|
|
|
Why do you want up an up front deposit AND progress payments? This is standard practice with professional service providers—advertising agencies, architects and consultants. The Activation Fee is not a matter of Trust, or the lack of it. It is purely a cash flow management issue. To us they represent good business practice by protecting us against unforseen risk and by providing cash flow—we are selling our time, and that has a short payment cycle. Professional service companies such as ours are very labour intensive. A great many hours are invested long before you see any tangible results, and projects can run for months — hence progress payments. During this time we need to meet our payroll and overhead commitments. Our key products are our unique ideas and the creative executions of these ideas. These cannot be repurposed or sold to anyone else, as a manufactured product can be. The deposit and progress payments enable us to keep our fees at a reasonable level, provide the level of service you require (and deserve) and ensure that we get paid for our stock in trade—our creative thinking and ideas. TOP |
|
