Who books, who pays, who gets paid: a Trimio session step by step

Every Trimio session has three people in it. A host, who owns or runs the space. An instructor, who runs the session. And the clients, who come to it. Each of them sees a different part of the money, and each of them pays something different. This post puts the whole of it in one place, in the order it happens, with one worked example carried from start to finish.

If you only want one number: the service fee is one fee on each side's own takings, made up of 13% of that revenue and $1.00. Everything else on this page is what that sentence means in practice.

Who does what in a session

The host lists the hours a room is free and sets an hourly rate, GST included if they are registered for it. The rate is visible to every instructor who looks at the room.

The instructor creates an Offering: the session they want to run, the price per client, the class size, and the time they need in the room. That time has three parts, set in 15-minute steps: set-up, the session itself, and wrap-up. The instructor chooses a room that covers the times they can teach, and asks the host for access. The host talks with them privately in the app and decides.

The clients find the session in the app and book it. A client's booking is the only thing that locks an hour in. Until then, more than one instructor can plan a session in the same hour, and the first booking decides who runs it.

Nobody else books. Instructors do not book rooms, and hosts do not book instructors.

The worked example

An example, not a prediction. A host lists a room at $60 an hour. An instructor creates an Offering for a 60-minute mat class, with 15 minutes of set-up and 15 of wrap-up, so they need the room for 90 minutes. They set a price of $30 a client and a class size of eight. Six clients book.

What the clients pay. Each client pays $30, the price the instructor set, GST included. Nothing is added on top. There is no booking fee, no membership and no charge to download the app. Six clients is $180 of revenue for the session.

What the room costs the session. The hosting fee is the host's hourly rate for the time the instructor's session needs: 90 minutes at $60 an hour, which is $90. It is deducted from the session's revenue. It is an overhead of running the class, the same way a room hire always has been, except the app does the arithmetic and the paperwork.

What the instructor pays and is paid. The instructor's service fee is on their own takings: 13% of $180 and $1.00, which is $24.40. What is paid to the instructor is $180, less the $90 hosting fee, less the $24.40 service fee: $65.60.

What the host pays and is paid. The host's service fee is on their own takings, the $90 hosting fee: 13% of $90 and $1.00, which is $12.70. What is paid to the host is $77.30.

That is every dollar. The clients paid $180. The instructor was paid $65.60. The host was paid $77.30. The two service fees cover every payment moving in and out, including both payouts.

When the money moves

Clients pay when they book. Nothing is paid out at that point, because clients can still cancel up to 24 hours before the session.

After the session has run, the app works out each side's payout. The host and the instructor each see their own entry, with the same lines as the example above. Payouts usually reach the bank within two business days. The terms allow up to 30, depending on the bank.

Each payout comes with receipts. The instructor sees a host receipt, which is the host's tax invoice for the hosting fee, and a Trimio receipt for the service fee. The host sees a Trimio receipt for their service fee. The host does not raise an invoice or reconcile anything: the app creates the record on their behalf.

If the session runs thin

Say only three clients book. Revenue is $90. The hosting fee is still $90, because the session still needed the room for 90 minutes, and the instructor's service fee on $90 is $12.70. The session brought in $12.70 less than the room and the fee cost.

That difference is the Hosting Shortfall Fee, and it is charged to the instructor's card. It triggers when what clients pay does not cover the hosting fee plus the service fee, not the hosting fee alone. The host's hourly rate is not at risk when a session runs thin; the instructor covers the gap.

The instructor sees this coming. Before they choose a room, the app shows the break-even: the fewest clients the session needs. In this example it is four. The number recalculates live as they change the price, the class size or the room, so they can decide with it in front of them.

If nobody books

Nothing runs and nothing is charged. No service fee and no hosting fee, on either side. The host's hour stays open, and the instructor's Offering stays live for the next time.

If nobody books, you pay nothing. That is true for the host and for the instructor.

If someone cancels

The rules depend on who cancels and when. The amounts depend on how many people booked and what they paid, so there is no fixed figure. In every case, the app works out the exact amount and shows it before anyone confirms.

A client cancels more than 24 hours out. They cancel in the app and are refunded, less the cost of moving the payment back to them. The app shows them the amount first.

A client cancels inside 24 hours. They are still charged for the session, and the spot stays theirs. The host is still paid.

An instructor cancels a session that has bookings. Every client is refunded. The instructor covers the payment costs on those bookings: what it cost to take the clients' payments and return them. Inside 24 hours, the host is still paid.

A host cancels a session that has bookings. Every client is refunded and the host is not paid for that session. The host covers the payment costs on those bookings. The host is never liable for what the instructor would have earned.

This is why all three keep a card on file. For a client it is how they pay. For an instructor it covers a Hosting Shortfall Fee or a cancellation. For a host it is only ever charged if they cancel a session that people have booked.

What nobody pays

No subscription. No listing fee or joining fee. No monthly minimum. No lock-in contract. No charge to download the app, to list a room, or to create an Offering. Clients never see or pay the service fee: it is paid by the host and the instructor, on their own takings, never added to the client's price.

What Trimio does not do

Trimio does not hold keys or door codes. The host and instructor agree how the instructor gets in, privately in the app's messages.

Trimio does not decide who teaches in a space. The host does. Stripe's identity checks confirm who someone is; whether they suit the room is the host's call.

Trimio does not promise that a session will fill. What it does is show every side the arithmetic before anyone commits, and handle the booking, the payment and the record when a client books.

Run 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.

Questions people ask about the money

Does the client pay the service fee?
No. Clients pay the price the instructor set, GST included, and nothing else. The service fee is paid by the host and the instructor, each on their own takings.

What is the service fee made up of?
One service fee, made up of 13% of that side's revenue and $1.00. It covers every payment moving in and out, including the payout. It is the same for hosts and instructors.

Does the hosting fee cover set-up and wrap-up time?
Yes. The hosting fee is the host's hourly rate for all the time the instructor's session needs: set-up, session and wrap-up. Clients only ever see the session itself.

When is the host paid?
After the session has run, usually within two business days. The terms allow up to 30, depending on the bank.

Who pays if only a few clients book?
The instructor. If what clients pay does not cover the hosting fee and the service fee, the instructor pays the difference, the Hosting Shortfall Fee, to their card. The app shows the break-even before they choose a room.

Who pays if nobody books?
Nobody. No session runs, and no service fee or hosting fee is charged on either side.