Terms of Service

1. Business clients only

Rystedt Advisory provides services to businesses, not to consumers. By engaging Rystedt Advisory, you confirm that you are acting on behalf of a business and have authority to bind that business.

2. Services

Rystedt Advisory provides technology strategy, implementation, and maintenance services. Engagements follow two steps:

1. Discovery. A fixed-scope, fixed-price advisory phase. Discovery produces a written plan that may include a systems map, prioritized opportunities, fixed-price implementation options, a business case, and recommendations. Discovery is advisory only. Implementation work during Discovery happens only if you approve a specific small item in writing.
2. Implement + Maintain. After Discovery, you may engage Rystedt Advisory to implement the approved plan. Implementation is typically paired with Maintenance; any exception is set out in the proposal or SOW. Implementation is fixed-price according to the approved plan or SOW.

Maintenance is a value-based service, not an hourly support plan. It covers the work Rystedt Advisory implemented and includes fixes and keep-alive work, small improvements within the agreed scope, vendor and SaaS liaison, a quarterly roadmap review, and business-hours coverage with next-business-day response. Business hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, excluding U.S. federal holidays. New projects, major features, or work on systems outside the agreed scope are not included in Maintenance and require a new or amended SOW.

The specific deliverables, timeline, and fees for each engagement are set out in the proposal or SOW.

3. Contractors and vendors

Joshua Rystedt is the primary advisor and point of contact. Rystedt Advisory may use contractors and vendors to deliver approved work. Rystedt Advisory remains responsible for work it delivers through its contractors. Third-party software, hosting, and SaaS products are governed by their providers' own terms, and Rystedt Advisory is not responsible for their outages, changes, or pricing.

4. Client responsibilities

You agree to:

• Provide timely access to the people, systems, accounts, and information needed for the work.
• Make decisions and approvals in a reasonable time.
• Maintain your own licenses for third-party software used in your business.
• Keep your own backups of business data unless the SOW assigns backup duties to Rystedt Advisory.

Delays caused by missing access, information, or approvals may shift timelines and, if they cause additional work, may require a change to the SOW.

5. Fees, billing, and payment

• How you are billed. Rystedt Advisory sends invoices electronically and collects payment through Stripe by card or ACH bank transfer.
• Discovery is billed in full before the Discovery kickoff session.
• Implementation is billed according to the payment schedule in the SOW. Unless the SOW states otherwise, 50% is due at signing and 50% at completion.
• Maintenance is billed annually in advance by default. A monthly payment option is available and costs 15% more over a year than annual prepaid billing. Monthly Maintenance is billed in advance on the same date each month.
• Due date and late payments. Unless the SOW states otherwise, invoices are due net 15 (within 15 days of the invoice date). Balances that remain unpaid 30 days or more after their due date accrue interest at 1.5% per month (or the maximum allowed by law, if lower), as permitted by O.C.G.A. § 7-4-16. Separately, Rystedt Advisory may pause work after written notice if an invoice is more than 15 days past due.
• Taxes. Our services are not currently subject to sales tax, so no tax is added to fees. If a tax is ever required by law, it will be added to the invoice.
• Third-party costs. Software licenses, hosting, and other third-party costs are billed to you or paid by you directly, as stated in the SOW.

Cancellation and refund terms are in the Rystedt Advisory Refund and Cancellation Policy, which is part of these Terms.

6. Disputed charges and chargebacks

If you believe a charge is wrong, contact Rystedt Advisory at joshua@rystedtadvisory.com within 30 days of the charge so we can resolve it. Please contact us before filing a chargeback or payment dispute with your bank. If you file a chargeback for services that were delivered as agreed, Rystedt Advisory may pause work until the dispute is resolved and may recover the amount owed plus reasonable dispute fees.

7. Confidentiality

Each party will keep the other party's non-public business information confidential and use it only for the engagement. For Rystedt Advisory, this includes your system access, credentials, business data, and project records. Rystedt Advisory will:

• Use your information only to deliver the services.
• Share it only with contractors and vendors who need it for the approved work and who are bound by confidentiality obligations.
• Store credentials in a password manager, not in plain text.
• Return or delete your data and remove its access to your systems when the engagement ends, unless you request otherwise or the law requires retention.

These obligations do not apply to information that is public, already known to the receiving party, independently developed, or required to be disclosed by law.

8. Intellectual property

• Your materials. You keep ownership of your data, systems, and materials.
• Deliverables. After you pay in full for a deliverable, you own the custom deliverables created specifically for you under the SOW.
• Pre-existing tools. Rystedt Advisory keeps ownership of its pre-existing tools, templates, code libraries, methods, and general know-how. Where these are included in a deliverable, you receive a non-exclusive, perpetual license to use them as part of that deliverable for your internal business.
• Third-party components. Third-party and open-source components remain subject to their own licenses.

9. Warranties

Rystedt Advisory will perform services in a professional and workmanlike manner. If a deliverable does not materially match the SOW, notify Rystedt Advisory within 30 days of delivery and Rystedt Advisory will correct it. Correction, rather than a refund, is your remedy for that issue. Discovery plans, business cases, and ROI estimates are professional opinions and estimates, not guarantees of results.

Except as stated in this section, the services and website are provided "as is," and Rystedt Advisory disclaims all other warranties, including implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

10. Limitation of liability

To the extent allowed by law:

• Neither party is liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue, or data, even if advised of the possibility.
• Each party's total liability arising from the services or these Terms is limited to the fees you paid to Rystedt Advisory in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim.

These limits do not apply to your obligation to pay fees owed, or to liability that cannot be limited by law.

11. Termination

Either party may end an engagement as described in the Refund and Cancellation Policy and the SOW. Either party may terminate immediately by written notice if the other party materially breaches these Terms and does not cure the breach within 15 days of written notice. Sections on payment, confidentiality, intellectual property, limitation of liability, and governing law survive termination.

12. Non-solicitation

During an engagement and for 12 months after, you agree not to directly hire or engage a contractor introduced to you by Rystedt Advisory for the engagement without Rystedt Advisory's written consent. This does not apply to technology recruiting services you purchase from Rystedt Advisory.

13. Website use

The website provides information about Rystedt Advisory. Content on the website is general information, not advice for your situation. You may not misuse the website, attempt to disrupt it, or copy its content for commercial use without permission. Your use of the website is also governed by the Rystedt Advisory Privacy Policy.

14. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Georgia, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Cobb County, Georgia, and both parties consent to that venue. Before filing a claim, each party will try in good faith to resolve the dispute by written notice and discussion for at least 30 days.

15. General

• Independent contractor. Rystedt Advisory is an independent contractor, not your employee, partner, or agent.
• Force majeure. Neither party is liable for delays caused by events beyond its reasonable control, other than payment obligations.
• Assignment. Neither party may assign an engagement without the other party's written consent, except Rystedt Advisory may use contractors as described above.
• Entire agreement. These Terms, the Refund and Cancellation Policy, and any signed proposal or SOW form the full agreement for an engagement.
• Changes. Rystedt Advisory may update these Terms by posting a new version on the website. Changes do not alter a signed SOW already in effect.
• Notices. Notices must be in writing, and email is acceptable.

16. Contact

Joshua Rystedt DBA Rystedt Advisory
Atlanta, Georgia
Email: joshua@rystedtadvisory.com
Phone: (443) 536-8989
Website: https://rystedtadvisory.com