# Service-operator business model - original planning template

**DRAFT / NOT EXECUTED · NONBINDING · version 0.1**

Use this module to test whether a private institution should host, adapt, federate, or found a sector collective. A private university, library, foundation, nonprofit, or company may have different powers and obligations. No revenue, approval, legal status, investment return, or funded commitment is supplied by this template.

The [operator research](https://ethical-tech-colab.github.io/commons-collective/#27-private-institutions-and-the-commons-service-model) and [hypothetical worksheet](../examples/service-operator-economics.json) illustrate the method. The example is not a forecast or default price list. Existing commons membership, service, philanthropic, and public-finance models are starting points.

## Required founding record

| Field | Evidence to supply |
| --- | --- |
| Institution, jurisdiction, sector, version | [REQUIRED: prospective host/founder, applicable jurisdictions, sector adapter, upstream and local revision] |
| Authority and rights | [REQUIRED: powers to contract, represent, process, and deliver; rights chain; non-negotiable boundaries] |
| Existing alternatives | [REQUIRED: fork/adapt/federate/create-new assessment and why an existing organization cannot already meet the need] |
| Customer and payer | [REQUIRED: named customer type, budget holder, unmet need, procurement route, and independent demand evidence] |
| Paid offering | [REQUIRED: deliverables, acceptance, service level, pricing unit, allowed uses, cancellation and payment timing] |
| Steward and operator | [REQUIRED: responsibilities, independence, conflicts, liability and legal-entity analysis] |
| Reviewer and approvals | **not-reviewed** - [REQUIRED: qualified finance, legal, rights, competition, governance and payments reviewers; evidence, conditions and expiry] |
| Appeal and human remedy | [REQUIRED: independent accessible route, response time, funded assistance, dispute reserve and authority to stop activity] |
| Exit and continuity | [REQUIRED: migration support, bounded charges, earned-payment treatment, successor and wind-down budget] |
| Source discipline | [REQUIRED: dated assumptions, evidence links, source revisions, actual versus hypothetical values, and change approvals] |

## 1. Define what is sold

Describe one maintained service [REQUIRED], its unit [REQUIRED], delivery responsibility [REQUIRED], and acceptance evidence [REQUIRED]. Possible services include documented updates, validation, preservation, integration, accessibility, evaluations, and collective procurement support. New licensed permissions require separate verified authority.

Do not invoice a royalty merely because material is already public-domain or openly licensed. Do not sell customer influence over scientific conclusions, editorial decisions, grades, source disclosure, or community authority. Keep public access, contractual services, authorized new permissions, and voluntary commons contributions distinct.

Record each prospective buyer's best available substitute and its full cost [REQUIRED]. A large membership count, enthusiastic interview, or letter of interest is not a sale or proof of bargaining leverage.

## 2. Build separate annual and monthly ledgers

| Ledger | Required inputs and control |
| --- | --- |
| Operator service revenue | [REQUIRED: contracts, earned amounts, invoices, cash collection, refunds and deferred income] |
| Direct delivery | [REQUIRED: labor, acquisition, quality assurance, infrastructure and support attributable to each offering] |
| Continuing operations | [REQUIRED: management, counsel, security, assurance, accessibility, insurance and shared-services fees] |
| Contributor agency | [REQUIRED: pass-through receipts, payment entitlement, disbursement, closing payable, safeguarded balance and licensed provider] |
| Restricted commons fund | [REQUIRED: grant restrictions, accepted transfers, awards, permitted expenses, unused balances and independent approvals] |
| Unrestricted liquidity | [REQUIRED: operating cash, reserve target, receivables timing, committed obligations and runway] |

Distinguish whether the operator is principal or agent, with professional evidence. Money received for another party is not automatically revenue. Do not borrow from contributor payables or restricted funds to hide operating losses. Bookkeeping labels alone do not establish insolvency protection or permission to hold client money.

The basic planning identities are:

```text
Service contribution = earned service revenue - direct delivery costs
Operator result before omitted obligations =
  service contribution - continuing operations - designated commons commitment
Contributor payable = opening payable + new entitlements - settled payments
Restricted closing cash = opening restricted cash + eligible receipts - permitted outflows
Consolidated external cash flow excludes transfers between included entities
Reserve gap = required unrestricted reserve - available unrestricted cash
```

These identities are not statutory accounting rules. Specify tax, VAT/sales tax, depreciation, debt service, launch costs, grant conditions, employment classification, revenue recognition, and monthly cash timing [REQUIRED]. Reserve retention is not a second expense, and a grant must not be counted again as customer demand.

## 3. Price, fund, and stress-test

For every recurring contract and variable project, record price, service volume, variable cost, fixed-cost contribution, collection timing, and renewal evidence [REQUIRED]. Separate labor already included in delivery costs from unrelated contributor pass-through.

Set a disclosed commons allocation and its legal/contractual basis [REQUIRED]. Identify which public benefits depend on grants or public procurement rather than commercial margin. Keep grant-supported inclusion and research visible instead of relabeling subsidy as savings.

At minimum test [REQUIRED: locally justified magnitudes]:

- Loss of the largest customer, with both adjustable and sticky costs.
- Lower prices, higher direct costs, delayed payment, and loss of variable projects.
- Loss or restriction of a grant.
- Contributor-payment failure or dispute and the associated liability.
- A funded supplier switch, serious incident, or orderly shutdown.

The companion worksheet has a separate maintained-services scenario; do not add its receipts to the report's consumer-dues example as if they were one business. Verify assumptions, units, consolidation perimeter, and internal-transfer elimination before adapting it.

## 4. Capital and governance conditions

Specify the payer for startup infrastructure and the source of recurring finance [REQUIRED]. Grants may fund demonstrated public benefits; recoverable working capital needs a credible repayment case and qualified review. Program-related-investment eligibility, charity status, and tax treatment are not assumed.

Investors and buyers must not purchase permissions the collective cannot grant, editorial control, or additional constitutional votes. State return limits, asset/mission protections where legally available, related-party rules, and operator replacement [REQUIRED]. Do not claim these protections are enforceable before review.

## 5. Paid-pilot and renewal gates

Before launch, require [REQUIRED: evidence and named approver]:

- An actual customer problem, authorized payer, and bounded paid pilot.
- Full-cost baseline and a realistic comparison.
- Valid authority, permitted uses, and independent conflict/rights review.
- Protected contributor and restricted-fund accounting.
- Funded appeal, remedy, exit, incident response, and public reporting.

At day 90, distinguish signed paid commitments from interest and demonstrate delivery and reconciliation. At day 180, test renewal from real purchasing budgets, recurring-cost coverage, inclusion, complaints, and continued commons access. Preregister thresholds and stopping rules.

Stop or redesign when customers will not renew, the offering depends on enclosure or editorial influence, permissions remain unclear, contributor costs are hidden, or promised remedies have no budget. Explicit public-interest subsidy can be justified separately; it is not proof of a commercially self-financing market.

## Approval record

All approvals begin **not-reviewed**. Record reviewer competence, scope, evidence, date, conditions, expiry, and the decision-maker's authority [REQUIRED]. No signatures, account creation, disbursement, or automatic incorporation are requested by this drafting module.