Legal · signed before any paid work

Client Services Agreement

This is the agreement every client signs, with a Project / Plan Schedule filled in for their work, before any paid work starts. You can read it any time; your signed copy is the one that applies to you.

Last updated October 25, 2026.

Between: Design Inc LLC, a Colorado limited liability company trading as The Traveling Designer ("we", "us"), contact: thetravelingdesigner.com/contact/

and: [Client legal name], a [state] [entity type] ("you"), [address], [contact name and email]

Date: [date] Proposal reference: [proposal number or date]

This agreement has two parts: these Master Terms, and one or more Project / Plan Schedules (each a "Schedule"). Each Schedule you sign becomes part of this agreement. If a Schedule and these Master Terms differ, the Schedule wins for that work only, unless it changes sections 9, 13 or 14, which can only be changed by a signed amendment that says so.

Text in CAPITALS is in capitals on purpose, so it can't be missed.

Master Terms

1. How we got here, and what this covers

1.1 We had a free call, you filled in our onboarding questionnaire, and we sent you a written proposal with a quote. This agreement and its Schedule turn that proposal into a contract.

1.2 This agreement covers the work in each signed Schedule: projects (custom web apps, automations, dashboards, AI tools and similar) and monthly plans:

• Economy: the website care monitor ($49 a month)
• Business: the Care plan ($400 a month)
• First class: AI Copilot ($2,000 a month)

1.3 No paid work starts until this agreement and a Schedule are signed and the deposit is paid.

1.4 This agreement, its Schedules and any signed amendments are the whole agreement between us about this work. They replace the proposal, emails, calls, website copy and anything else said before signing. If the Terms of Service on our website differ from this agreement, this agreement wins.

2. Scope and change requests

2.1 We'll do the work and supply the deliverables described in the Schedule (the "Scope").

2.2 Anything not in the Scope is a change. Either of us can suggest one. We'll tell you in writing what it costs and how it affects the timeline. We'll do it only after you approve in writing. Email is fine.

2.3 If we find that the Scope rested on something that turns out not to be true (for example, a platform can't do what was expected, or your data is in a different shape), we'll tell you promptly and propose a change.

3. Your cooperation

3.1 You'll give us, on time: answers to questions, decisions, content, access to the accounts and tools listed in the Schedule, and a named person who can approve work.

3.2 If you're late with something we need, the timeline moves by at least the same amount. If a delay you cause lasts more than 30 days, we may invoice for the work done so far and pause the project.

3.3 You're responsible for the accuracy and legality of everything you give us, including data, content, images and instructions, and you confirm you have the right to give it to us.

4. Fees, deposits and late payment

4.1 You'll pay the fees in the Schedule.

4.2 Deposit. Projects need a deposit of 50% of the project fee before work starts. Once work has begun, the deposit is not refundable, except as sections 13.1 and 18.2 say.

4.3 The rest of the fee is billed at the milestones listed in the Schedule. For small projects, the Schedule may say it is billed on delivery instead.

4.4 Invoices are due by the date shown, or 14 days after issue if none is shown. Zelle and bank transfer are free; Venmo and card payments include their processing fee, shown before you pay.

4.5 Plans are billed monthly in advance by card through Stripe and renew until cancelled (section 11).

4.6 Late payment. We may pause work and plan services while any invoice is overdue, and the timeline moves by the length of the pause. Overdue amounts carry interest of 1.5% a month (18% a year), or the highest rate the law allows if that is lower, from the due date until paid. You'll pay our reasonable costs of collecting overdue amounts, including attorney and collection agency fees.

4.7 Third-party costs. Platform subscriptions, usage charges (such as Cloudflare, Shopify apps, Stripe fees or AI usage), domains and similar costs are yours, and are billed to you directly by each platform in your own account.

4.8 Fees don't include taxes. You pay any sales or use tax that applies, other than tax on our income.

5. Ownership and licence

5.1 Yours. Once you have paid in full for a deliverable, you own the custom work we made specifically for you under that Schedule, and we assign to you our rights in it.

5.2 Ours. We keep ownership of our pre-existing materials and our general-purpose code, templates, tools and know-how ("Our Tools"), including improvements to them. Where Our Tools are part of a deliverable, you get a permanent, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to use, copy and change them as part of that deliverable. You may transfer that licence with your business or the deliverable. You may not sell or license Our Tools on their own.

5.3 Third parties. Third-party software, platforms, open-source components, fonts, images and services stay under their own licences and terms. You'll comply with them.

5.4 Before payment. Until you've paid in full, you may use the deliverables only to review and test them.

5.5 Showing our work. We'll publish a review or case study only with your written permission, with sensitive details removed, and you approve the final version before it goes live.

6. Confidentiality

6.1 Each of us will keep the other's non-public business information confidential, use it only for this agreement, and share it only with people who need it for this work and are bound to keep it confidential. That includes your data, your customers' data, credentials and API keys, and our pricing and Our Tools.

6.2 This doesn't apply to information that is public through no fault of the receiver, was already known to the receiver, is independently developed, or is lawfully received from someone else. Either of us may disclose information if the law or a court requires it, after telling the other first where the law allows.

6.3 These duties last for 3 years after this agreement ends, and for as long as the information stays a trade secret or remains personal data.

7. Your data and our roles

7.1 You own your data. All data you, your staff or your customers put into, or that is created in, the apps, automations and accounts covered by this agreement ("Client Data"), including customer data and financial data, belongs to you.

7.2 You are the controller. You decide what Client Data is collected, why, how it is used, who sees it and how long it is kept. For privacy and data-security laws, you are the owner, controller and "covered entity" of Client Data. Where we access or handle Client Data at all, we do so only as your service provider and processor, only to do the work in a Schedule, and only on your documented instructions (this agreement, the Schedule and your written requests).

7.3 What we do with Client Data. We will: (a) access only the Client Data we need for the work; (b) not sell it, use it for any other purpose, or combine it with other clients' data; (c) keep it confidential; (d) not keep copies outside your accounts, except temporarily where the work needs it, and delete those copies when that work is done; (e) follow the security practices in section 9.2; and (f) tell you if we think an instruction from you breaks the law.

7.4 Data processing addendum. If a privacy law that applies to you (for example the Colorado Privacy Act, another US state privacy law, GDPR or HIPAA) requires a specific contract with your service providers, tell us before the work starts. We'll either sign a data processing addendum or decline work involving that data. If there's an addendum, it wins over this section on the points it covers.

7.5 Data the app will hold is listed in the Schedule. Tell us before adding new kinds of sensitive data, such as health information, government ID numbers, full payment card numbers, bank account numbers, biometric data or children's data.

8. Third-party platforms

8.1 We build on reputable third-party platforms such as Cloudflare (Workers, D1 databases, Zero Trust sign-in), Shopify, Stripe, Xero, Gorgias, Google and Anthropic's Claude API. The platforms for your work are listed in the Schedule.

8.2 Everything is in your own accounts. Each platform account is opened in your name, owned and controlled by you, and paid for by you. You accept each platform's terms directly with that platform. We are added as a user with only the access we need. We never host Client Data in our own accounts.

8.3 Their responsibility. Each platform runs, secures, backs up and makes available its own service under its own terms. We don't control any platform and aren't responsible for its outages, breaches, data loss, errors, changes, deprecations, price rises, or decisions such as suspending your account.

8.4 Work to adapt to platform changes is covered if your plan lists it; otherwise it is a change under section 2.

9. Security and breach responsibility

9.1 No system is perfectly secure. Apps and data connected to the internet can be attacked, misused or lost however carefully they are built and looked after.

9.2 What we do. While we work on your systems, we will use reasonable security practices suited to the work and the data, including: (a) using least-privilege access and two-step sign-in on accounts we use for your work; (b) keeping passwords, API keys and secrets out of code, email and chat, in the platform's secret store or a password manager; (c) putting sign-in protection (such as Cloudflare Zero Trust) in front of internal dashboards where it is in the Scope; (d) following each platform's recommended security settings for the parts we build; and (e) removing our access as set out in section 15.

9.3 What you do. You are responsible for the security measures in section 10, and for deciding, with your own advisers, what security your business and your data need.

9.4 Notice and cooperation. If we become aware of a security incident that affects Client Data, we'll tell you without unreasonable delay, share the relevant information we have, and cooperate reasonably with your investigation. You decide whether and how to notify affected people, regulators, card networks or anyone else, and you are responsible for doing so. Our time beyond what your plan includes is billed at the hourly rate in the Schedule.

9.5 WITHOUT A PLAN: ONCE A DELIVERABLE HAS BEEN DELIVERED (SECTION 12), WE HAVE NO ONGOING DUTY TO MONITOR, UPDATE, PATCH, BACK UP OR SECURE IT, AND WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR CLIENT DATA, OR FOR ANY DATA BREACH, HACK, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS, DATA LOSS OR OTHER SECURITY INCIDENT, THAT OCCURS AFTER DELIVERY.

9.6 WITH A PLAN: A PLAN COVERS ONLY THE UPKEEP AND MONITORING LISTED IN THE SCHEDULE. IT IS NOT A GUARANTEE OF SECURITY. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, YOU, AS OWNER AND CONTROLLER OF CLIENT DATA, AND THE THIRD-PARTY PLATFORMS THAT STORE AND PROCESS IT, ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR CLIENT DATA AND ITS SECURITY. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR CUSTOMER OR FINANCIAL DATA OR FOR ANY DATA BREACH, HACK, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS, DATA LOSS OR OTHER SECURITY INCIDENT, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT IT IS CAUSED BY OUR GROSS NEGLIGENCE OR WILFUL MISCONDUCT, AND THEN ONLY WITHIN THE LIMITS IN SECTION 14.

9.7 Nothing in this section removes a duty that the law places on us and does not allow a contract to remove. Where the law requires us to keep reasonable security procedures, or to notify and cooperate with you after a breach, sections 9.2 and 9.4 are how we meet it.

10. Your responsibilities

You are responsible for:

(a) User access: adding and removing your own staff, contractors and users, and setting their permissions; (b) Passwords and sign-in: strong, unique passwords and two-step sign-in on all your accounts, especially the platform accounts that hold Client Data, and keeping the owner login of each account in your control; (c) Backups and exports: keeping regular backups or exports of the Client Data you need, storing them safely, and checking they can be restored; (d) Legal compliance: complying with all laws that apply to your business and to Client Data, including privacy, data-security, data-breach notification, consumer protection, marketing (such as email and texting rules), payment card (PCI DSS) and record-keeping laws, and having the notices, consents and lawful basis needed to collect and use Client Data; (e) Your customers' requests: answering your customers' requests to see, correct or delete their data; (f) Customer-facing messages: reviewing and approving emails, texts, chat replies and other messages before they reach your customers, and any message types you choose to let send automatically; (g) Platform terms and bills: complying with each platform's terms and keeping its bills paid; and (h) Telling us promptly about anything unusual, any suspected incident, and any change to your data, users or legal duties that affects the work.

11. Monthly plans

11.1 What's included. A plan includes only the services, monitoring, response times and hours listed for it in the Schedule. Unused hours don't roll over.

11.2 Not included unless the Schedule says otherwise: new features or projects; fixing problems caused by you, your users, another provider or a platform; recovering data a platform has lost or that wasn't backed up; legal, compliance or security-audit advice; incident response beyond the included hours; and third-party costs.

11.3 Boarding. We set up new plans within 15 days of sign-up. If we don't, you get a full refund of that first payment.

11.4 Cancelling. You can cancel any time through the contact form at thetravelingdesigner.com/contact/ or by replying to any of our emails. Cancellation stops the next renewal. The current month runs to its end and isn't refunded. We may cancel a plan with 30 days' email notice, or at once if you breach this agreement and don't fix it within 10 days of notice.

11.5 Price changes. We may change a plan's price with at least 30 days' email notice. The new price applies from the next renewal after the notice period. If you don't agree, you may cancel before then.

11.6 When a plan ends, section 15 (hand-over) applies, and from then on section 9.5 applies to everything we built for you.

12. Delivery and acceptance

12.1 We'll tell you when each deliverable is ready. You have 10 business days to test it and tell us in writing about anything that doesn't meet the Scope.

12.2 A deliverable is delivered and accepted on the first of: your written approval; the end of that review period without a written notice of a material defect; or your use of it in your live business.

12.3 If you report a material defect in time, we'll fix it and the review period restarts for the fix only.

13. Warranties and disclaimer

13.1 Our promises. We'll do the work with reasonable skill and care. If a deliverable doesn't work as described in the Scope and you tell us within 30 days after delivery, we'll fix it at no charge. If we can't fix it within a reasonable time, you may end that Schedule and get back the fees you paid for that defective deliverable. That is your only remedy for defects.

13.2 Your promises. You have the authority to sign this agreement and the right to give us the data, content, materials and account access you give us, and our use of them for this work won't break any law or anyone's rights.

13.3 DISCLAIMER. EXCEPT FOR SECTION 13.1, ALL DELIVERABLES, PLANS AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE". TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL OTHER WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE, AND ANY WARRANTY THAT ANY DELIVERABLE, PLATFORM OR CLIENT DATA WILL BE SECURE, UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE OR FREE OF DATA LOSS, OR THAT AI OUTPUT WILL BE ACCURATE. ESTIMATES OF TIME OR MONEY SAVED ARE ESTIMATES, NOT PROMISES.

14. Limitation of liability

14.1 NO INDIRECT LOSSES. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, NEITHER OF US IS LIABLE TO THE OTHER FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, REVENUE, SAVINGS, GOODWILL OR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY, EVEN IF TOLD THEY WERE POSSIBLE.

14.2 DATA AND BREACHES. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR: LOSS, CORRUPTION, DESTRUCTION, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR DISCLOSURE OF CLIENT DATA; ANY DATA BREACH, HACK OR SECURITY INCIDENT; OR ANY RESULTING COSTS, INCLUDING INVESTIGATION AND FORENSICS, NOTICES TO INDIVIDUALS OR REGULATORS, CALL CENTERS, CREDIT MONITORING, CHARGEBACKS, CARD-NETWORK FINES OR ASSESSMENTS, REGULATORY FINES OR PENALTIES, OR CLAIMS BY YOUR CUSTOMERS.

14.3 CAP. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR OUR WORK, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), BREACH OF STATUTORY DUTY OR ANY OTHER THEORY, IS LIMITED TO THE LESSER OF (A) THE FEES YOU PAID US IN THE ONE (1) MONTH BEFORE THE FIRST EVENT GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY, OR (B) US$1,000.

14.4 What the limits don't cover. Sections 14.1 to 14.3 don't limit: liability for fraud, gross negligence or wilful misconduct, to the extent the law doesn't allow it to be limited; any other liability the law doesn't allow to be limited; your duty to pay fees, interest and collection costs; or your indemnity in section 16.

14.5 Why these limits are fair. Our fees reflect these limits and the split of responsibilities in sections 7 to 10. Without them we would charge much more or not do the work. You can buy your own cyber insurance to cover the risks you keep.

14.6 Claims against the company only. You'll bring any claim only against Design Inc LLC, not against any of its members, managers, employees or contractors personally.

15. Hand-over

15.1 When it happens: at the end of a project without a plan (after delivery and payment), when a plan ends, or when this agreement or a Schedule ends for any reason.

15.2 What we do, once all amounts due are paid, within 10 business days: (a) give you the source code, configuration and any documentation in the Scope, normally in a code repository you own; (b) return or delete any temporary copies of Client Data we hold, except where the law requires us to keep them; (c) remove our own user access, API tokens and keys from your accounts, or give you a list so you can remove them; and (d) confirm in writing that we've done so.

15.3 What you do: change or rotate any passwords, API keys and secrets we had access to, and check your account user lists. Until you do, you accept the risk of any keys we told you about.

15.4 After hand-over, we have no access to and no responsibility for your systems or Client Data. Extra hand-over help beyond what's listed is billed at the hourly rate in the Schedule.

16. Your indemnity

16.1 You'll defend us and pay any losses, damages, fines, penalties, settlements and costs (including reasonable attorney fees) that we incur from any third-party claim or regulator action arising from: (a) Client Data, including how it was collected, used or disclosed; (b) your or your users' use of the deliverables, platforms or AI features; (c) messages you approved or chose to let send automatically; (d) your instructions, content or materials; (e) your breach of section 10 or of any law; or (f) a security incident, except to the extent caused by our gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

16.2 We'll tell you promptly about any such claim, let you control the defence and any settlement (no admission of fault by us without our consent), and give reasonable help at your cost.

17. AI features and human approval

17.1 Some deliverables use AI services such as Anthropic's Claude API. AI output can be wrong, incomplete, biased or out of date.

17.2 AI features we build will have spending caps, and will be set up so a person on your team approves anything customer-facing, unless you choose otherwise in writing in the Schedule. If you choose to let anything send automatically, you accept the risk of that choice.

17.3 You'll review AI output before relying on it, and won't use AI features to make decisions about people's employment, credit, housing, insurance, health care, education or legal rights unless the Schedule says so and you have your own legal review and a person making the decision.

17.4 Data sent to an AI service is handled under that provider's terms, which may change. Where available, we use providers' commercial or API terms that don't use your data to train their models, but we don't control them.

18. Term and termination

18.1 This agreement starts on the date it is signed and continues until every Schedule has ended.

18.2 Ending a project early. You may end a project Schedule at any time by email. You'll pay for work done up to then (at the hourly rate in the Schedule, or the value of milestones reached if higher) and any non-cancellable costs, and the deposit is kept against that amount. We may end a project Schedule with 15 days' email notice, and refund any fees, including deposit, paid for work not yet done.

18.3 For breach. Either of us may end a Schedule or this agreement by email if the other materially breaches it and doesn't fix the breach within 15 days of written notice (10 days for non-payment).

18.4 Plans end as set out in section 11.4.

18.5 What survives. Sections 4 (amounts owed), 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13.3, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20 and 21 survive the end of this agreement.

19. Things outside anyone's control

Neither of us is responsible for a delay or failure caused by events beyond reasonable control, such as failures or outages of the internet, power or third-party platforms, cyber-attacks on platforms, natural disasters, epidemics, serious illness, government action, war, terrorism or labour disputes. The affected party will tell the other promptly and try to limit the effect. This doesn't excuse paying for work already done. If the event lasts more than 30 days, either of us may end the affected Schedule by email, and you pay only for work done up to then.

20. Disputes and Colorado law

20.1 This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Colorado, USA, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

20.2 If we disagree, we'll first try to sort it out by talking, owner to owner. If that hasn't worked within 30 days, either of us may bring a claim, but only in the state or federal courts located in Colorado, USA, and we both agree to those courts. Either of us may use small claims court where the claim fits.

20.3 JURY WAIVER. TO THE EXTENT ALLOWED BY LAW, EACH OF US WAIVES ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL IN ANY DISPUTE ABOUT THIS AGREEMENT OR OUR WORK.

20.4 Legal fees. Each of us pays our own attorney fees and costs in any dispute, whoever wins. The only exceptions are your duty to pay collection costs under section 4.6 and your indemnity under section 16.

21. General

21.1 Independent contractor. We're an independent business, not your employee, partner or agent.

21.2 Notices may be sent by email to the addresses on page 1 (or a new address given in writing). An email is received when sent, unless the sender gets a bounce.

21.3 Assignment. Neither of us may transfer this agreement without the other's consent, except to a buyer of all or most of the business, with notice.

21.4 Severability. If any part is unenforceable, it's changed to the minimum extent needed to make it enforceable, and the rest still applies. If a limit or disclaimer is cut back, it still applies as far as the law allows.

21.5 No waiver. Not enforcing a term isn't a waiver of it.

21.6 Amendments must be in writing and signed (electronic signatures are fine) by both of us, except changes under section 2, which can be approved by email.

21.7 Electronic signatures and counterparts. This agreement may be signed electronically and in counterparts, and each signed copy counts as an original.

21.8 Headings and plain English. Headings are for convenience. We've written this in plain English on purpose; neither of us will argue that a term should be read against the other because of who drafted it.

Project / Plan Schedule [number]

Attached to the Client Services Agreement dated [date] between Design Inc LLC (trading as The Traveling Designer) and [Client legal name].

A. Type of work: [ ] Project only [ ] Project plus plan [ ] Plan only

B. Scope (what we'll do): [Description from the proposal, in plain English. What's in.]

Not in scope: [What's out, so nobody has to guess.]

C. Deliverables:

D. Price:

• Project fee: $[amount] [ ] fixed [ ] estimate (up to $[cap] without further approval)
• Hourly rate for changes and extra work: $[rate] per hour
• Third-party costs: billed to you directly by each platform

E. Payment terms:

• Deposit (50%): $[amount], due on signing, before work starts
• Remainder billed: [ ] at these milestones: [milestone — amount] / [milestone — amount] [ ] on delivery (small projects)
• Invoices due: 14 days after issue
• Late payment: section 4.6 (work may pause; 1.5% a month interest, or less if the law requires)

F. Timeline:

• Start: [date, or "on receipt of deposit and access"]
• Milestones: [date — milestone]
• Target delivery: [date]
• Assumes you provide: [content, access, approvals] by [dates]

G. Monthly plan (if any):

• Plan: [ ] Economy: website care monitor ($49/mo) [ ] Business: Care plan ($400/mo) [ ] First class: AI Copilot ($2,000/mo) [ ] None
• Starts: [date]
• Included upkeep and monitoring: [list exactly what is included]
• Included hours per month: [__] (unused hours don't roll over)
• Response times: [e.g. reply within __ business days]
• Not included: section 11.2 of the Master Terms, plus [anything else]

H. Platforms used (all accounts are owned by and billed to you):

I. Data the app will hold:

Sensitive data (health, government ID, full card numbers, bank account numbers, biometric, children's data): [ ] None [ ] Yes: [describe; a data processing addendum is needed first]

Card numbers are handled by Stripe and never stored in the app: [ ] Confirmed

Privacy laws you've told us apply to you: [ ] None known [ ] Colorado Privacy Act [ ] Other: [ ]

J. AI features (if any):

• AI services used: [e.g. Anthropic Claude API]
• Monthly spending cap: $[amount]
• Customer-facing output approved by a person before sending: [ ] Yes (default) [ ] No, you choose auto-send for: [list]

K. Special terms (if any): [ ]

Signatures

By signing, each of us agrees to the Master Terms and Schedule [number].

Design Inc LLC (trading as The Traveling Designer)

Signature: ______________________

Name: Griffin Stewart Title: ______________________

Date: ______________

[Client legal name]

Signature: ______________________

Name: ______________________ Title: ______________________

Date: ______________

Client acknowledgement (please initial each)

____ We understand our customer and financial data is held on third-party platforms in our own accounts, and that Design Inc LLC is not responsible for breaches of those platforms or of our data.

____ We have read sections 9 (Security and breach responsibility) and 14 (Limitation of liability), which are in capitals, and accept them.

____ We understand a monthly plan covers only the upkeep and monitoring listed in the Schedule and is not a guarantee of security.