This policy applies to photographers and videographers who take work through Sujan Studio. It is written to be read once and remembered, so it says what happens in plain terms rather than restating the Creator Agreement.
Sujan Studio is operated by SEM Optimiser Pty Ltd, trading as Sujan Studio. Where this policy and the Creator Agreement differ, the Creator Agreement governs.
1. When You Are Paid
You are paid for a shoot once three things have happened. All three are needed, and the last of them starts the clock.
1.1. You have delivered the work
The files are handed over through the app, in the formats and counts the booking asked for. A booking is not delivered because the shoot day has passed; it is delivered when the work is with us.
1.2. It has passed our quality check
We check the delivery against the standard for that occasion. Most pass without anything being asked of you. If something needs redoing we tell you what and why, and the clock starts again once it is resolved.
1.3. The customer has settled their invoice
We pay you from money the customer has paid us. This is the step most often outside your control and ours, and it is why the next section exists.
1.4. Then we pay
Once all three are done, your payment is released in the next payout run. We do not pay on a fixed monthly cycle: a shoot delivered, checked and settled early in the month is not held back to the end of it.
2. The Longest You Wait: 30 Days
Customers do not always pay on time. When that happens the delay is ours to manage, not yours.
2.1. We pay you within 30 days either way
If the customer has not settled within 30 days of your work being delivered and passing the quality check, we pay you anyway and recover from the customer ourselves. You do not carry a customer's non-payment past that point.
2.2. You do not chase customers
You are not expected to chase a customer for money, and you should not contact them about payment. If you are concerned about a payment, contact us instead and we will tell you where it stands.
2.3. You can see what it is waiting on
Your earnings screen shows whether a shoot is waiting on delivery, on our quality check, or on the customer. If it is waiting on the customer, the 30 day clock is already running.
3. How to See Where Your Money Is
Your earnings screen in the Sujan Studio app shows each completed shoot and which of the three steps it is waiting on, including where it is waiting on the customer rather than on you. You should never have to ask us why something has not been paid.
Your payout history is grouped by month for readability. That grouping is not a payment cycle: payouts are released as shoots become payable, not once a month.
4. What You Are Paid
Your fee is the amount shown on the offer when you accepted it. It does not change afterwards because the customer negotiated, because our costs changed, or because the booking turned out to be harder than expected.
If the booking itself changes after you accept it, for example extra hours or a different location, the change is offered to you with the new fee before it takes effect.
If you are registered for GST, your fee is treated as GST exclusive and GST is paid in addition. Keeping your ABN and GST registration current in the app is what makes this work.
5. When a Payment Can Be Held
We can hold payment for a specific shoot where it has not been delivered, where it did not pass the quality check and has not yet been put right, or where a customer has made a complaint about that shoot that would entitle them to a refund or a re-shoot if it were upheld.
We will tell you which shoot is affected, what the reason is, and what would release it, and we will give you a chance to respond before deciding. We do not hold payment for one shoot because of a dispute about a different one, and we do not hold payment without telling you.
6. Where the Money Goes
Payments go to the bank account you have recorded in the app. Keeping it current is your responsibility, and we will not send a payment to an account we have not verified belongs to you.
Changing your bank details requires re-authentication in the app. This is deliberate: payment redirection is the most common fraud in this industry, and the extra step protects your money.
7. If Something Is Wrong
If you think a payment is late, missing or wrong, contact us through the app or by email and we will respond. Tell us the shoot and what you expected, and we will show you our calculation.
If we have made a mistake we fix it and pay the difference. If we disagree, the dispute process in the Creator Agreement applies, and we will not treat a genuinely disputed amount as settled while it is being worked out.
8. Changes to This Policy
If we change this policy in a way that affects when or how much you are paid, we will tell you before it takes effect, and the change applies to bookings you accept after that date rather than to work already in hand.
Every version of this policy is kept, so it is always possible to establish which terms applied to a particular booking.