Which business owns the customer promise, the invoice and the risk?
Illustrative examples only. These are possible commercial arrangements, not current offers, agreed pay, promised work, forecasts, or evidence of customer results. All amounts are USD, before tax.
A customer may contract with Intent, an independent firm or a provider’s integrator. The selected prime owns the customer promise; each subcontract owns its defined package. A separate-scope arrangement is also possible when the customer knowingly manages the interfaces.
Compare the examples below as different scopes. The independent and integrator examples show Intent’s supplier invoice—not those primes’ entire customer deals. Different amounts do not imply that one contracting route is more profitable for the same work.
A relationship becomes an accountable project
An independent firm reopens a dormant customer conversation. The customer chooses Intent as prime for one defined workflow deployment.
Buyer / budget holder
An operations leader with a bounded workflow problem
Who pays this invoice
The customer pays Intent under this project’s agreement
Ledger boundary
Intent as the selected project prime
Period covered
One eight-week delivery engagement, including authorized pursuit work
Customer value: One accountable delivery lead, acceptance evidence and an operating handover. The budget buys specified work; it does not prove a dollar return for the customer.
$80,000 in illustrative fees minus $59,760 in listed costs leaves $20,240 before central overhead and tax. This is not company profit or personal income.
Fees less listed costs
$20,240
After a proposed $4,000 cash designation
$16,240
Reserve is not an expense or an extra payment to a participant. A negative remainder means this model cannot fund that reserve from its contribution. Fees do not establish accounting recognition or cash collection.
Show the full fee and cost ledger
Illustrative fees / billings within this business boundary
Scope
Quantity × rate
Amount
Defined workflow deployment
1 scope × $80,000
$80,000
Who could earn what, for which work, and when payment is due
Work / recipient
Quantity × rate
Business invoice / cost
Earned when
Payment trigger
Relationship development and stewardship Independent steward business
24 hours × $100
$2,400
Authorized account work completed
Approved monthly invoice
Qualified opportunity success event Independent steward business
1 event × $400
$400
Agreed opportunity closes and first customer payment clears
Within agreed period after that event
Discovery and business case Discovery specialist business
24 hours × $110
$2,640
Accepted discovery evidence
Milestone invoice
Presales architecture and proof Architecture specialist business
32 hours × $130
$4,160
Authorized proof delivered
Milestone invoice, whether or not a later expansion sells
Procurement and commercial close Commercial specialist business
16 hours × $100
$1,600
Authorized procurement work completed
Approved invoice
Accountable engagement lead Delivery lead business
48 hours × $120
$5,760
Accepted delivery-management work
Monthly invoice
Engineering execution Engineering firm
360 hours × $80
$28,800
Agreed implementation milestones accepted
Milestone invoices
Independent assurance Assurance specialist business
64 hours × $75
$4,800
Review and test evidence delivered
Milestone invoices
Operations, adoption and handover Operations specialist business
40 hours × $90
$3,600
Runbook and adoption work accepted
Handover invoice
Model, cloud and project tools Technology vendors
1 project allowance × $1,800
$1,800
Metered consumption or licensed period
Vendor billing cycle
Permitted reusable component maintenance Component maintainer business
1 package × $2,000
$2,000
Agreed maintenance and usage rights supplied
Agreed milestone
Project administration allocation Project administration function
24 hours × $75
$1,800
Project-specific administration performed
Budgeted as incurred
Unpriced rework plus a disputed final scope
A negotiated fee reduction and additional unpaid implementation/assurance effort consume the margin. The reserve does not make the loss disappear.
$72,000 in illustrative fees minus $74,960 in listed costs leaves -$2,960 before central overhead and tax. This is a loss under these assumptions.
Fees less listed costs
-$2,960
After a proposed $4,000 cash designation
-$6,960
Reserve is not an expense or an extra payment to a participant. A negative remainder means this model cannot fund that reserve from its contribution. Fees do not establish accounting recognition or cash collection.
Show the full fee and cost ledger
Illustrative fees / billings within this business boundary
Scope
Quantity × rate
Amount
Defined workflow deployment
1 scope × $72,000
$72,000
Who could earn what, for which work, and when payment is due
Work / recipient
Quantity × rate
Business invoice / cost
Earned when
Payment trigger
Relationship development and stewardship Independent steward business
24 hours × $100
$2,400
Authorized account work completed
Approved monthly invoice
Qualified opportunity success event Independent steward business
1 event × $400
$400
Agreed opportunity closes and first customer payment clears
Within agreed period after that event
Discovery and business case Discovery specialist business
24 hours × $110
$2,640
Accepted discovery evidence
Milestone invoice
Presales architecture and proof Architecture specialist business
32 hours × $130
$4,160
Authorized proof delivered
Milestone invoice, whether or not a later expansion sells
Procurement and commercial close Commercial specialist business
16 hours × $100
$1,600
Authorized procurement work completed
Approved invoice
Accountable engagement lead Delivery lead business
48 hours × $120
$5,760
Accepted delivery-management work
Monthly invoice
Engineering execution Engineering firm
520 hours × $80
$41,600
Agreed implementation milestones accepted
Milestone invoices
Independent assurance Assurance specialist business
96 hours × $75
$7,200
Review and test evidence delivered
Milestone invoices
Operations, adoption and handover Operations specialist business
40 hours × $90
$3,600
Runbook and adoption work accepted
Handover invoice
Model, cloud and project tools Technology vendors
1 project allowance × $1,800
$1,800
Metered consumption or licensed period
Vendor billing cycle
Permitted reusable component maintenance Component maintainer business
1 package × $2,000
$2,000
Agreed maintenance and usage rights supplied
Agreed milestone
Project administration allocation Project administration function
24 hours × $75
$1,800
Project-specific administration performed
Budgeted as incurred
How each participant benefits—and what they owe
Participant
Potential benefit
Condition / responsibility
Independent relationship steward
Keeps its unrelated clients and earns for scoped relationship work plus a distinct success event.
Authorized stewardship work and the separately defined collection milestone; no perpetual account tax.
Specialists and independent firms
Receive defined discovery, engineering, assurance or operating work packages.
Each package has its own acceptance and invoice schedule; combining roles cannot duplicate the same work.
Intent as prime
Coordinates delivery, holds the customer scope and retains the project contribution shown below.
Must fund obligations, resolve defects and meet the accepted scope; contribution is not personal pay.
Contract route, payment terms and assumptions
Independent relationship → consent and opportunity charter → customer–Intent scope → separate role work orders.
Illustrative customer milestones: 40% mobilization, 30% accepted intermediate work and 30% accepted handover.
Supplier due dates remain separate from customer collection. The prime must fund the gap or agree different terms before work.
Renewal, another department and a new scope require a fresh role schedule; prior attribution alone earns nothing new.
All rates are teaching inputs, not local or international market medians. In particular, $75–$80 contractor inputs may understate specialist pricing and nonbillable time.
Trust and customer access can be valued through fixed fees, a negotiated success component, a retainer or role profit participation; logged hours are only this example’s budgeting convention.
The independent keeps pre-existing IP and unrelated business. The customer consents to participating firms and the opportunity boundary.
The scenario includes the authorized pursuit costs; it assumes no prior unpaid sales effort outside that budget.
Evidence behind this mechanism
Every amount above is a constructed teaching input. Sources explain mechanisms and constraints; they do not supply these prices, prove demand or establish Intent’s eligibility.
Supports a customer-consent gate before sharing contact details in co-sell. Does not grant another firm ownership of an account, a universal commission or guaranteed seller help.
The independent firm keeps the customer contract
An independent firm brings its existing customer and remains prime. It purchases a bounded architecture and implementation package from Intent.
Buyer / budget holder
An independent firm that needs specialist capacity
Who pays this invoice
The independent prime pays Intent
Ledger boundary
Intent as a specialist subcontractor
Period covered
One four-week specialist work package
Customer value: The customer keeps its chosen supplier while that firm adds specialist capability. Intent’s package price is not the prime’s complete customer invoice.
$15,000 in illustrative fees minus $12,000 in listed costs leaves $3,000 before central overhead and tax. This is not company profit or personal income.
Fees less listed costs
$3,000
After a proposed $1,000 cash designation
$2,000
Reserve is not an expense or an extra payment to a participant. A negative remainder means this model cannot fund that reserve from its contribution. Fees do not establish accounting recognition or cash collection.
Show the full fee and cost ledger
Illustrative fees / billings within this business boundary
Scope
Quantity × rate
Amount
Specialist delivery package
1 scope × $15,000
$15,000
Who could earn what, for which work, and when payment is due
Work / recipient
Quantity × rate
Business invoice / cost
Earned when
Payment trigger
Engineering Engineering business
72 hours × $100
$7,200
Package milestones accepted
Milestone invoice
Architecture Architecture business
12 hours × $150
$1,800
Design accepted
Design invoice
Assurance Assurance business
12 hours × $100
$1,200
Evidence delivered
Review invoice
Handover Operations business
8 hours × $100
$800
Prime accepts handover
Completion invoice
Subcontract administration Administration function
8 hours × $75
$600
Administration performed
As incurred
Tools Vendors
1 package allowance × $400
$400
Service consumed
Vendor cycle
An extra integration is absorbed without a change order
A narrow package turns into a loss when unpriced work is treated as part of the original promise.
$15,000 in illustrative fees minus $15,200 in listed costs leaves -$200 before central overhead and tax. This is a loss under these assumptions.
Fees less listed costs
-$200
After a proposed $1,000 cash designation
-$1,200
Reserve is not an expense or an extra payment to a participant. A negative remainder means this model cannot fund that reserve from its contribution. Fees do not establish accounting recognition or cash collection.
Show the full fee and cost ledger
Illustrative fees / billings within this business boundary
Scope
Quantity × rate
Amount
Specialist delivery package
1 scope × $15,000
$15,000
Who could earn what, for which work, and when payment is due
Work / recipient
Quantity × rate
Business invoice / cost
Earned when
Payment trigger
Engineering Engineering business
104 hours × $100
$10,400
Package milestones accepted
Milestone invoice
Architecture Architecture business
12 hours × $150
$1,800
Design accepted
Design invoice
Assurance Assurance business
12 hours × $100
$1,200
Evidence delivered
Review invoice
Handover Operations business
8 hours × $100
$800
Prime accepts handover
Completion invoice
Subcontract administration Administration function
8 hours × $75
$600
Administration performed
As incurred
Tools Vendors
1 package allowance × $400
$400
Service consumed
Vendor cycle
How each participant benefits—and what they owe
Participant
Potential benefit
Condition / responsibility
Independent prime
Keeps its customer agreement and manages the wider engagement.
Its own margin and obligations are outside this package ledger.
Intent
Earns a defined subcontract fee for a documented delivery boundary.
Package acceptance and invoice conditions; no share of unrelated prime revenue.
Specialists
Receive authorized engineering and review packages.
Their work orders identify acceptance, due dates and remediation limits.
Contract route, payment terms and assumptions
Customer → independent prime → Intent work package → authorized specialists.
The prime’s customer invoice is not included here.
Define who may accept the package and whether any upstream acceptance is actually required.
Customer delays must not silently change subcontract scope or payment terms.
The independent firm’s unrelated clients, accounts and IP remain outside the agreement.
No blanket revenue share is charged merely for joining a network.
Evidence behind this mechanism
Every amount above is a constructed teaching input. Sources explain mechanisms and constraints; they do not supply these prices, prove demand or establish Intent’s eligibility.
This scenario is a proposed commercial design, not an observed industry benchmark.
A provider or integrator buys a work package
A fictional approved integrator awards a defined work package. A provider relationship alone would not create this purchase order.
Buyer / budget holder
An integrator’s delivery and procurement team
Who pays this invoice
The integrator, under its own signed work order
Ledger boundary
Intent as the integrator’s subcontractor
Period covered
One six-week subcontract
Customer value: The integrator obtains accountable specialist delivery while keeping its wider obligations. The end customer’s total deal value is deliberately outside this ledger.
$36,000 in illustrative fees minus $27,400 in listed costs leaves $8,600 before central overhead and tax. This is not company profit or personal income.
Fees less listed costs
$8,600
After a proposed $2,000 cash designation
$6,600
Reserve is not an expense or an extra payment to a participant. A negative remainder means this model cannot fund that reserve from its contribution. Fees do not establish accounting recognition or cash collection.
Show the full fee and cost ledger
Illustrative fees / billings within this business boundary
Scope
Quantity × rate
Amount
Approved integrator work package
1 scope × $36,000
$36,000
Who could earn what, for which work, and when payment is due
Work / recipient
Quantity × rate
Business invoice / cost
Earned when
Payment trigger
Engineering Engineering business
180 hours × $100
$18,000
Milestones accepted
Approved invoice
Technical leadership Lead business
24 hours × $150
$3,600
Authorized leadership delivered
Monthly invoice
Assurance Assurance business
24 hours × $100
$2,400
Required evidence accepted
Review invoice
Operating handover Operations business
12 hours × $100
$1,200
Handover accepted
Completion invoice
Vendor onboarding and reporting Coordination function
12 hours × $100
$1,200
Required onboarding/reporting completed
Approved invoice
Tools and environments Vendors
1 package allowance × $1,000
$1,000
Consumed or licensed service
Vendor cycle
Reporting and assurance requirements were underpriced
Additional lead and review time leaves too little contribution for the planned reserve and central overhead.
$36,000 in illustrative fees minus $35,400 in listed costs leaves $600 before central overhead and tax. This is not company profit or personal income.
Fees less listed costs
$600
After a proposed $2,000 cash designation
-$1,400
Reserve is not an expense or an extra payment to a participant. A negative remainder means this model cannot fund that reserve from its contribution. Fees do not establish accounting recognition or cash collection.
Show the full fee and cost ledger
Illustrative fees / billings within this business boundary
Scope
Quantity × rate
Amount
Approved integrator work package
1 scope × $36,000
$36,000
Who could earn what, for which work, and when payment is due
Work / recipient
Quantity × rate
Business invoice / cost
Earned when
Payment trigger
Engineering Engineering business
180 hours × $100
$18,000
Milestones accepted
Approved invoice
Technical leadership Lead business
64 hours × $150
$9,600
Authorized leadership delivered
Monthly invoice
Assurance Assurance business
44 hours × $100
$4,400
Required evidence accepted
Review invoice
Operating handover Operations business
12 hours × $100
$1,200
Handover accepted
Completion invoice
Vendor onboarding and reporting Coordination function
12 hours × $100
$1,200
Required onboarding/reporting completed
Approved invoice
Tools and environments Vendors
1 package allowance × $1,000
$1,000
Consumed or licensed service
Vendor cycle
How each participant benefits—and what they owe
Participant
Potential benefit
Condition / responsibility
Integrator prime
Adds delivery capacity with agreed evidence and handover.
Pays the defined work package; its own economics are not assumed.
Intent and delivery suppliers
Can earn for actual procurement, reporting, engineering and assurance work.
Approved scope, acceptance and invoices; partner status itself earns no modeled payment.
Contract route, payment terms and assumptions
End customer → integrator prime → Intent subcontract → delivery suppliers.
The example assumes an actual work order, not a referral, portal opportunity or application.
Acceptance and the procurement invoice clock are explicit; the integrator’s collection date does not automatically control every subcontract invoice.
Provider referrals, co-selling, provider-funded proof and provider-as-prime procurement are different routes.
Anthropic and OpenAI links show public program mechanisms only. No Intent status, award or provider commission is claimed.
Evidence behind this mechanism
Every amount above is a constructed teaching input. Sources explain mechanisms and constraints; they do not supply these prices, prove demand or establish Intent’s eligibility.
Distinguishes practice standing from referral credit and deal protection. Does not establish any scenario fee, Intent tier, inbound work or cash entitlement.
Explains why accepted work and available cash can occur at different times. A marketplace example only; other procurement and payment routes have their own terms.
Research, evidence boundaries and diagram method
This is a proposed operating model illustrated with constructed numbers. The sources below establish program mechanisms and constraints; none establishes the scenario rates, Intent revenue, individual compensation or a guaranteed source of projects.
Anthropic: Services Track and Partner Hub — Distinguishes practice standing from referral credit and deal protection. Does not establish any scenario fee, Intent tier, inbound work or cash entitlement. Checked 2026-10-12.
OpenAI Partner Network — Shows an official build, co-sell and delivery program. No claim of Intent enrollment, procurement approval, referral rate or awarded work. Checked 2026-10-12.
AWS Partner Central: Creating a fund request — Separates funding approval, cash claims, invoices and credits. Eligibility and program terms apply; the customer-paid discovery example is not an AWS award. Checked 2026-10-12.
AWS Marketplace: Managing disbursements — Explains why accepted work and available cash can occur at different times. A marketplace example only; other procurement and payment routes have their own terms. Checked 2026-10-12.
Microsoft: Manage co-sell opportunities — Supports a customer-consent gate before sharing contact details in co-sell. Does not grant another firm ownership of an account, a universal commission or guaranteed seller help. Checked 2026-10-12.
Langfuse: Self-hosted pricing — A public example separating open-source software from paid enterprise capabilities and support. This is an offer structure, not evidence of Intent demand, profitability or transferable pricing. Checked 2026-10-12.
GitHub Sponsors: Sponsorships, fees and taxes — Shows a distinct sponsorship route for eligible open-source contributors. Sponsorship is not a guaranteed sale, support contract or license transfer; no sponsorship is assumed in the ledgers. Checked 2026-10-12.
AWS Marketplace: Channel Partner private offers — Distinguishes approved resale from ordinary vendor consumption. This does not authorize resale of an arbitrary model, API, dataset or contributor’s software. Checked 2026-10-12.
Diagram method: Cathryn Lavery’s open-source Diagram Design, using its Sankey, waterfall, bar, line, architecture and layer-stack references in Intent’s established visual style. The selected chart grammar explains the relationship; the worked examples supply the data.
Apply it to a real workflow.
Start with a customer problem, the people who can help, and a clearly bounded first piece of work.