In Trusty Timer, the budget for a Flat Rate Project (FRP) is set to 1 hour of work. All Time Entries added to the project should be logged as a percentage of that 1 hour.

Talent is usually paid upon completion of an FRP. However, in select cases, a milestone-based payment structure may be approved when it better aligns with the nature of the work.

When an FRP has been approved for milestone-based payment, the structure is as follows:

• Milestone 1: Talent is paid 50% of their total compensation for the FRP upon completion of a clearly defined and verifiable milestone. This milestone must be agreed upon in advance and tied to a meaningful portion of the work (e.g., completion of research, finalized training materials, prepared slides and files, or a first draft approved by the client).
• Milestone 2: Talent is paid the remaining 50% of their total compensation for the FRP after final delivery of the project and client approval.

How we assess FRPs for milestone-based payment eligibility

Milestone-based payment structures are approved on a case-by-case basis. Our goal is to balance fairness to Talent with appropriate risk management for Trusty Oak.

We may approve milestone-based payments for an FRP when the following conditions are met:

• The project has meaningful duration or phased work: The scope extends beyond a quick, one-step deliverable and includes distinct phases (e.g., research > build > delivery, or prep > live session > follow-up).
• There is a clear upfront workload requirement: A significant portion of the work must be completed before final delivery (e.g., building materials, creating assets, developing systems, or preparing training content).
• A milestone can be clearly defined and verified: The milestone must represent a meaningful portion of completed work and include deliverables that can be reviewed by Trusty Oak (and/or the client, if applicable).
• The structure reduces payment risk for Talent: The milestone helps prevent situations where Talent completes a substantial amount of work but experiences delays in payment due to extended timelines, scheduling delays, or slow client response.

Additional Considerations

• Milestone-based payments are not the default and will not be approved for short, simple, or single-deliverable FRPs.
• All milestones must be defined and approved in advance of work beginning.
• Trusty Oak retains final discretion on whether a milestone-based structure is appropriate for a given FRP.

How talent should track time for on a milestone-based FRP

Milestone 1 (50% payment) — Once the first milestone is complete and delivered to the client:

• Talent manually adds a Time Entry and enters 50% in the time field under Hours**.**
  • This deducts 50% of the project budget.
  • This triggers 50% of the Talent’s compensation for the FRP to be included in that payroll cycle.

Milestone 2 (final 50% payment) — Once the full project is complete and final deliverables have been provided to the client: