Why we tell you the fee before you commit

There is a moment in every hourly room-hire arrangement when the money gets worked out. On a handshake deal, that moment comes after the session, when the instructor counts what came in and the owner waits to see whether the transfer arrives. Everybody finds out how the hour went by looking backwards.

Trimio moves that moment to the front. Before a host lists an hour, they see what an hour at their rate pays them. Before an instructor puts a session on that hour, they see the room, the fee, what is theirs, and how many clients they need for the hour to work. Nobody commits to anything without the arithmetic in front of them.

This post is about why the app is built that way, and what it means in practice for each side.

The problem with finding out afterwards

Hiring a room by the hour has always run on trust and a spreadsheet, and usually only one side has the spreadsheet.

The instructor knows their price and their class size. The owner knows their rate. Neither of them has both numbers in the same place at the same time, so neither can say with confidence, before the session, whether it works. The instructor pays for the room and hopes it fills. The owner hands over the keys and hopes the payment follows.

When it goes wrong, it goes wrong quietly. An instructor runs three thin classes, realises the room is costing more than the clients bring in, and stops turning up. An owner has a slot filled for a month and then empty again, with a conversation about unpaid rent nobody wants to have. Neither person did anything wrong. They just could not see the sum until it was too late to act on it.

What each side sees, and when

Trimio puts the sum where the decision is. The arithmetic is not a feature you go looking for. It is the screen you are on when you decide.

When you list a space. You set an hourly rate, GST included. The app shows you what that rate pays you once the service fee is taken out. That is the only number a host needs before listing, because a host's takings do not depend on how many clients the instructor gets. The rate is the rate.

When you look at a space. As an instructor, you see the host's rate before you submit anything to it. Not after a conversation, not after approval. If the rate is more than your class can carry, you know at the listing.

When you set up an Offering and choose a room. This is the screen that matters most. You create your Offering first, with your price, your class size and the times you could teach, and before you submit it to a room, the app shows the whole session: the hosting cost, the service fee, what is paid to you, and the number of clients you need to break even. If that number is higher than the number of people you can put in the room, you have not committed to anything yet.

When a client books. Clients see the price the instructor set, GST included, and nothing else. No booking fee, no membership. The client's booking is what locks the hour in.

When someone has to cancel. Whoever cancels a booked session covers the payment costs on those bookings, and the app shows the exact amount before they confirm. You never find out what cancelling cost you from a statement.

The worked example, from both sides

An example, not a prediction. Say a host lists a room at $60 an hour.

On the host's side. $60 is allocated to the room. The service fee on the host's takings is $8.80, made up of 13% of that revenue and $1.00. $51.20 is paid to the host. That is true whether one client books or eight, because the hosting rate does not move with attendance.

On the instructor's side. Say the instructor sets a price of $30 a client.

Five clients is $150 of revenue. The hosting cost is $60, deducted from that revenue. The service fee on the instructor's takings is $20.50. What is paid to the instructor is $69.50.

Three clients is $90. Hosting cost $60, service fee $12.70, paid to the instructor $17.30. Three is the break-even at these settings. The room and the fee are covered and a little is left.

Two clients is $60. The hosting cost is $60 and the service fee is $8.80, which is $8.80 more than the session brought in. That difference is the Hosting Shortfall Fee, and it is charged to the instructor's card.

The app shows the instructor that break-even of three before they submit the Offering to a room. Not as a warning after two people book. As a number on the screen while they are still deciding whether to run the session at $30, or at $35, or in a $45 room instead.

Change any input and the break-even moves. That is the point of seeing it first. The instructor can change their price, their class size or their choice of room while all three are still theirs to change.

Why the shortfall is shown rather than hidden

It would be easy to leave the Hosting Shortfall Fee out of the marketing. Most platforms would. We put it on the pricing page, in the app, and here, because it is the honest half of the break-even number.

A break-even means nothing unless something happens when you land under it. On Trimio, what happens is specific: the instructor covers the gap between what the clients paid and what the room and the fee cost. The host's hourly rate is not at risk if a session runs thin. That protection for the host only exists because the instructor carries the shortfall, and an instructor should know that before they commit, not from a charge on their card afterwards.

So the shortfall is not a penalty. It is what makes the number on the screen real. If the app told you the break-even and nothing followed from missing it, you would be right to ignore it.

What the host does not have to do

One thing that surprises owners: there is no invoice to raise.

The hosting cost is an overhead of the instructor's session, deducted from the session's revenue. The app creates the transaction record on the host's behalf and does the reconciling across the session's payments. The host sets a rate, approves who comes in, and is paid. There is nothing to chase, nothing to raise, and nothing to explain to an accountant beyond the payout that arrives.

This is the other half of why the fee is shown before anyone commits. If the app is going to do the money without asking either side to administer it, both sides have to have agreed to the arithmetic in advance. Showing the numbers up front is how that agreement happens.

What this does not promise

The break-even tells you how many clients you need. It does not tell you how many you will get. Nobody at Trimio will tell you a room will fill, or that instructors are queuing for a space, or what an hour will earn. Trimio is live across Australia and it is early.

What the app does is narrower and more useful. It shows the sum before anyone has paid anything, and when a client books, it handles the booking, the payment and the record. Whether the room fills is between the instructor and the people who would come.

See your own numbers

If you own or run a space, the revenue calculator shows what your quiet hours could be worth at your rate, after the service fee. If you teach, the income calculator shows the break-even for the session you have in mind, at the price and room you have in mind.

Owners who would rather see it walked through live: the free host webinar on Friday 9 October runs this arithmetic on real inputs and shows the app from the host side. Register for the webinar.

Questions people ask

Is the fee the same for hosts and instructors?
Yes. Hosts and instructors each pay one service fee on their own takings, made up of 13% of that revenue and $1.00. It covers every payment moving in and out, including the payout. There is no subscription, no listing fee and no lock-in.

When exactly do I see the break-even?
When you choose a room for your Offering, before you submit it. It updates as you change your price, your class size or the space.

What if nobody books?
Nothing runs and nothing is charged. No service fee and no hosting fee, on either side.

Does the host pay anything if a session runs thin?
No. If what clients paid does not cover the hosting fee and the service fee, the instructor pays the difference, the Hosting Shortfall Fee, to their card. The host's hourly rate is not at risk.

Does the host have to invoice the instructor?
No. The hosting cost is deducted from the session's revenue and the app creates the transaction record on the host's behalf. The host is paid, usually within two business days of the session.

What does it cost to cancel?
Whoever cancels a booked session covers the payment costs on those bookings, and the app shows the exact amount before they confirm. Clients who cancel inside 24 hours are still charged, and if an instructor cancels inside 24 hours, the host is still paid.