K-5.3 Invoicing Memberships, Tickets and Hosting

"Every day an invoice sits unpaid, you're lending your client money at zero percent." The Field Manual's invoicing chapter applies to a Kindling business almost line for line. K.3 says how much: "Kindling changes none of it, as long as no invoice line is for an introduction." It needs one addition, a rule the Field Manual never had to state: nothing in invoicing, dunning or collections ever touches a Pool. Spec references are to v0.1.1, as of October 4, 2026. This is not legal or tax advice.

The rule that comes first

A late payment never removes anyone from a Pool, hides them, moves them down, or changes who can write to them. Payment is never a condition of being listed or introduced (K.3's third question). The owner of a page is not your debtor. A member who owes you for a day pass or an organization that owes you for hosting is the buyer of the thing beside the Pool. Collect from them as you would for anything else, and leave the Pool alone.

Terms, by buyer

The Field Manual's table, cut to the buyers in the library's shapes:

Figures checked October 2026.

"Consumer contracts carry more rules than business-to-business ones." Most of what the library's invented clubs, gyms and rooms sell goes to consumers. Check the late-fee and auto-renewal rules for your state before you write terms (Volume 13 on solo.joshwolf.net; Chapter K-3.6 for renewals).

Deposits. For a service sold after an introduction and only on request, such as the invented Hearthhold's help, use the Field Manual's structures. "50/50: half at signing, half on delivery." Or "Milestones: 30% at signing, 30% at a defined midpoint deliverable, 40% at completion." For an organization's hosting or desk, a "Retainer paid in advance: a monthly fee billed on the 1st for that month's work" is "The strongest cash position a service business can have." For memberships, "annual prepay with a discount (commonly 10–20% off monthly pricing) pulls a year of cash forward."

An invoice that gets paid

The Field Manual's eight lines, with one Kindling check on line 5:

1. Your legal business name, address and contact.
2. The buyer's legal name and the name of the person who approves payment.
3. Invoice number (sequential) and invoice date.
4. Purchase order number, if the buyer uses them. Libraries and colleges often do.
5. Line items tied to the contract language. Read every line against K.3's three questions. Hosting, a desk, a membership, a class or a ticket can each be a line. An introduction, a message, a yes or a place in a Pool never can.
6. Total, and the due date as a calendar date.
7. How to pay: a payment link, ACH details, or both.
8. Late-fee terms, if any.

A curator paid by an organization to keep its Pools will be asked for a Form W-9. Starting with 2026 payments, "businesses that pay you $2,000 or more in a year generally must issue a 1099-NEC." Memberships and tickets paid by card are reported, if at all, on Form 1099-K, whose threshold "went back to more than $20,000 and more than 200 transactions." The Field Manual's last word on it applies to every small Pool business: "All of the income is taxable whether a form arrives or not."

Payment methods and fees

The Field Manual's published US rates as of 2026, for the methods a Kindling business is likely to use:

Figures checked October 2026.

On a $12 ticket, the invented Ferry Room's door price, the card fee is a large share of the price. At 2.9% + 30¢ it comes to $0.65, about 5.4%. On an invented $90 hosting invoice to an organization it is $2.91. Price small tickets with the fixed fee in mind, and steer organizations to ACH, which the Field Manual advises for "invoices over about $1,000."

Card surcharging "is legal in most states but restricted in some, and the card networks add their own rules (caps, disclosure, registration)." Check state rules in Volume 13 before adding one.

Dunning, without pressure

For memberships, dunning is mostly "failed-payment recovery: automatic card retries, card-updater services and emails asking the customer to update payment details." Turn it on: "Involuntary churn from expired cards is revenue lost to paperwork."

Keep the emails to payment. The library's invented gym sends no "we miss you" emails and keeps "No streaks, and no visit counts." A reminder that a card failed is fine. A reminder that implies anything about the member's place in a Pool is not.

For an organization on net terms, use the Field Manual's sequence:

Figures checked October 2026.

What "pause work" means for a host

The Field Manual calls stopping work "your strongest lever." A host can pause new work: new Pools, new desk seats, support. It cannot pause what the spec requires of a running Pool. "Implementations MUST process withdrawal within 60 seconds of receipt" (§5.3), in a paid month or an unpaid one. A dormancy notice still goes to members when 90 days pass without a curation action (§9.1). Write your suspension clause to say exactly this (Chapter K-4.3). A suspension that would stop anyone leaving cannot go in the contract.

Collections escalation

When dunning fails, the Field Manual's ladder applies. A payment plan comes first: "Getting 100% slowly beats getting 60% after a fight." Then a demand letter, then small claims court, with limits "commonly from a few thousand to $25,000 (Vol 13)." A collection agency comes after that. Consumer debts bring the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act into play for the agency. Last is a write-off.

The decision rule fits a small Pool business exactly: "if the time you'd spend collecting, valued at your hourly rate, exceeds half the balance, go straight to a payment plan or a write-off." For a member who owes for a day pass, that is almost always the answer. Their place in any Pool is unaffected either way.

Field exercises

1. Write payment terms for one membership and one hosting plan, with due date, late fee and a suspension clause that excludes withdrawals. Done when both templates are saved and the suspension clause names §5.3.
2. Read every invoice and receipt template you send against K.3's three questions. Done when no line is for an introduction, a message, a yes or a place in a Pool.
3. Turn on failed-payment recovery for memberships and read every email it would send. Done when none says anything about a Pool, a streak or a visit count.
4. Calculate your card fees as a share of your smallest price. Done when you know the percentage and have decided whether that price or method should change.

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Rewritten for the Kindling edition from Chapter 5.3 of The Solo Operator's Field Manual. The full chapter is on solo.joshwolf.net. © 2026 Josh Wolf, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Quotations from the Kindling Protocol Specification v0.1.1: © 2026 TranquilTech and Kindling spec contributors, CC BY 4.0, marked where shortened.