1. Scope and Purpose
This Engagement and Refund Policy governs the financial, operational, and dispute resolution framework for all professional engagements entered into with Alphasol LLC ("Alphasol," "we," "our," or "us"). It is incorporated by reference into all Master Service Agreements (MSAs), Statements of Work (SOWs), and Partnership Intake Acknowledgments issued by Alphasol.
Because Alphasol delivers deeply integrated, multi-disciplinary services spanning Infrastructure-as-Code deployments, full-stack application development, and digital growth content execution. The nature of our work does not conform to commodity service models. Each engagement involves irreversible allocation of specialized engineering hours, cloud resource provisioning, strategic planning cycles, and content production that begin generating cost and value from the moment of commencement.
Core principle: Work delivered and accepted at each project milestone is non-refundable. Capital is allocated progressively against completed, approved deliverables, not against future potential. This framework protects both parties by anchoring financial obligations to demonstrable output.
2. Engagement Structure and Phase Architecture
All Alphasol engagements are structured in distinct, progressive phases. Each phase is gated by a formal client Milestone Sign-Off before the subsequent phase commences and its associated capital allocation is confirmed.
Phase 0: Discovery & Technical Blueprint
- Duration: Typically 5–10 business days
- Deliverable: A written Technical Discovery Document (TDD) comprising cloud architecture recommendations, application development scope definition, growth framework strategy, and an itemized sprint roadmap
- Fee Structure: Flat-rate discovery fee as specified in the project SOW
- Refund Status: Non-refundable upon delivery of the TDD, regardless of whether the client elects to proceed to Phase 1
Phase 1: Architecture Design & Sprint Initialization
- Duration: Per the sprint schedule defined in the signed SOW
- Deliverable: Finalized infrastructure design documents, an approved sprint backlog with story points, and initial deployment configurations committed to version control
- Refund Status: Non-refundable once Sprint 1 has been formally initiated following client sign-off on the TDD and SOW
Phase 2–N: Active Development Sprints
- Duration: Bi-weekly sprint cycles (14 calendar days per sprint by default; custom cadences available via SOW addendum)
- Deliverables per Sprint: Incremental code commits pushed to client repository, deployment logs, content asset packages (where applicable), and a written sprint retrospective and next-sprint plan
- Refund Status: Non-refundable for any sprint that has been formally opened and for which work has commenced, as evidenced by the sprint initialization record
Final Phase: Production Delivery & Handover
- Deliverables: Full production deployment package, technical documentation, access credential transfer, and a formal handover call with the client's operational team
- Refund Status: Non-refundable upon delivery acceptance or upon deemed acceptance as described in Section 3
3. Milestone Sign-Off Protocol
Each phase concludes with a Milestone Sign-Off, a formal written acknowledgment from the client confirming all of the following:
- Receipt and substantive review of all deliverables produced during the completed phase
- Approval of the deliverables and authorization to proceed to the subsequent phase
- Acknowledgment that capital allocated to the completed phase is non-refundable from the point of sign-off
Milestone Sign-Offs may be executed via any of the following mechanisms:
- Electronic signature on the Milestone Acceptance Form (provided at phase close)
- Written email confirmation from an authorized client representative expressly approving the phase deliverables
- Written acknowledgment within the project management platform used for the engagement
Deemed Acceptance: If a client fails to formally accept or formally dispute phase deliverables within 5 business days of Alphasol's written delivery notification, the phase will be deemed accepted. Alphasol will send one reminder at the 3-business-day mark before deemed acceptance takes effect.
4. Refund Eligibility Framework
| Scenario | Refund Eligibility |
|---|---|
| Cancellation before any Phase 0 work has commenced | Full refund of any pre-payments made |
| Cancellation after TDD delivery (Phase 0 complete) | Discovery fee is non-refundable; any additional pre-payments refunded pro-rata for unstarted phases |
| Cancellation during an active sprint (Phase 1–N open) | No refund for the current sprint; pre-paid future sprints refunded within 10 business days |
| Cancellation following a completed Milestone Sign-Off | No refund for any signed-off phase; future unstarted phases refunded pro-rata |
| Alphasol-initiated project pause exceeding 30 calendar days (without client cause) | Pro-rata refund for all pre-paid, formally unstarted sprint phases |
| Material, documented failure by Alphasol to deliver contracted scope within agreed timelines | Subject to good-faith renegotiation process per Section 7; not automatically refundable |
| Client requests project pause (within SOW terms) | No refund; work is preserved; resumption subject to availability |
5. Non-Refundable Deliverables
The following are categorically and unconditionally non-refundable under all circumstances, including dissatisfaction with creative direction, strategic pivot by the client, or organizational restructuring:
- All completed and delivered Technical Discovery Documents (TDDs), regardless of whether the client elects to proceed to active development
- All infrastructure configurations committed to production, staging, or development environments on behalf of the client
- All application code committed to version control and delivered to client repositories or deployment targets
- All content assets produced and delivered, including copywriting, SEO documents, media assets, and distribution frameworks
- All sprint hours formally opened on an approved sprint schedule, regardless of the volume of commits within that sprint window
- All third-party infrastructure costs procured on behalf of the client: cloud compute and storage, domain registration, software licenses, API service subscriptions, and similar direct costs. These are billed at cost and are subject to the vendor's own refund policies, not Alphasol's
6. Client-Caused Delays and Scope Changes
6.1 Client-Caused Delays
If a client fails to provide required materials, access credentials, content approvals, design feedback, or stakeholder sign-offs within the timelines specified in the SOW, Alphasol reserves the right to:
- Pause the active sprint with written notice to the client
- Apply a standby charge equivalent to 25% of the next scheduled sprint fee per full week of delay exceeding 10 business days beyond the SOW deadline
- Adjust the project delivery timeline by the equivalent period of delay, without financial or contractual liability to Alphasol
- Release the reserved team capacity after 30 consecutive days of unresolved delay, requiring a formal re-scoping and timeline reset before resumption
6.2 Scope Changes
Scope changes requested after sprint initialization, including feature additions, architectural pivots, or changes to approved design specifications, are subject to a formal Change Request (CR) process:
- Change requests must be submitted in writing by an authorized client representative
- Alphasol will issue a CR assessment within 3 business days, including scope impact, timeline adjustment, and additional capital allocation required
- No change request work will commence without a signed CR addendum to the SOW
- Mid-sprint scope changes that require abandoning in-progress sprint work may incur a sprint restart fee equal to 50% of the current sprint value
7. Dispute Resolution Process
Alphasol is committed to resolving engagement disputes through a structured, good-faith process before either party pursues formal legal remedies.
Step 1: Informal Resolution (Days 1–10)
The disputing party submits a written notice to hello@alphasol-llc.com with the subject line "Engagement Dispute: [Project Name]". The notice must specify the nature of the dispute, the deliverable or invoice in question, and the resolution sought. Alphasol will schedule a resolution call within 3 business days of receipt.
Step 2: Formal Internal Review (Days 11–30)
If informal resolution is not achieved, both parties submit written position statements. Alphasol will conduct a formal review of all relevant deliverable logs, sprint records, repository commit history, and communication archives. A written determination will be issued within 15 business days of the formal review initiation.
Step 3: Independent Mediation (Days 31+)
If the formal review does not resolve the dispute, both parties agree to submit the matter to a mutually agreed independent mediator, with costs shared equally, before initiating any legal proceedings. The mediator will have no ongoing or prior relationship with either party.
Step 4: Legal Proceedings
Any legal action arising from an engagement dispute will be governed by the laws of the State of [State], United States, with exclusive jurisdiction in the courts of that State. The prevailing party in any such action is entitled to reasonable attorney's fees and court costs.
No dispute proceeding shall pause, reverse, or otherwise affect any Milestone Sign-Off previously executed. Signed-off phases remain accepted regardless of the status of any subsequent dispute.
8. Project Suspension and Termination
8.1 Client-Initiated Suspension
A client may pause an active engagement with a minimum of 5 business days' written notice to Alphasol. Upon receiving valid suspension notice, Alphasol will:
- Formally close the current sprint and deliver all in-progress work artifacts to the client repository within 2 business days
- Preserve all project assets, documentation, and configuration files for a maximum of 60 calendar days from the suspension date
- Release reserved engineering capacity after 60 days of suspension; resumption after this point requires re-scoping and a new SOW
Sprint fees for the suspended sprint are non-refundable if the sprint had been formally opened. Pre-paid future sprint fees are refunded for the period beyond the suspension date.
8.2 Alphasol-Initiated Termination for Cause
Alphasol reserves the right to terminate an engagement for cause with 5 business days' written notice, including but not limited to: non-payment of invoices beyond 30 days due, client requests to perform work that violates applicable law, or material breach of the MSA by the client. Upon termination for cause:
- All delivered work artifacts remain the client's property, subject to full payment of all outstanding invoices
- Pre-paid fees for formally unstarted sprint phases will be returned within 14 business days
- Alphasol retains the right to withhold delivery of work product until all outstanding balances are settled
8.3 Mutual Termination
Either party may terminate an engagement by mutual written agreement at any stage. Terms of the mutual termination, including final deliverables, outstanding payment obligations, and IP transfer, will be documented in a signed termination agreement.
9. Payment Terms
- All invoices are due within 14 calendar days of issuance unless an alternative payment schedule is specified in the SOW
- Late payments beyond the due date accrue a 1.5% monthly service charge (18% per annum) applied to the outstanding balance from the due date
- Alphasol reserves the right to pause active sprint work, without liability, on accounts with invoices exceeding 30 days past due
- All fees are denominated in United States Dollars (USD) and are exclusive of applicable sales, value-added, or withholding taxes, which are the client's responsibility
- Payment methods accepted: ACH/wire transfer, USD check, or other methods specified in the SOW
- For engagements spanning multiple sprints, Alphasol may issue a payment schedule in the SOW requiring partial pre-payment at project initiation and installment payments at each sprint start
10. Amendments
Alphasol LLC reserves the right to update this Engagement and Refund Policy at any time. The effective date at the top of this document will be updated to reflect the most recent revision.
Clients operating under an active, signed MSA retain the protections of the policy version in effect at the date of their engagement commencement, unless they execute a new SOW after a policy update, at which point the updated policy applies to that new scope of work.
Material changes to this policy will be communicated to active clients via direct email notification prior to taking effect. Questions regarding the application of a specific policy version to an existing engagement should be directed to hello@alphasol-llc.com.