# Partner circle agreement: a starting checklist

**A starting checklist, not legal advice.** Use it to agree the rules with your partners. Then ask your attorney to review anything you sign, especially anything about money, liability or guest data.

From the ATIA AI Take-Home Kit, tool 3.b: https://preig.github.io/atiakit/3b/
The example names (Bay Light Day Cruises, Seward; Mile 12 Kennel; Harbor Kayak Co.) are fictional teaching businesses.

Every line carries one label:

- **Legal mandate**: a law requires it. The law is cited.
- **Contractual**: it depends on an agreement. The line names the agreement to check.
- **Policy choice**: the circle decides it. The numbers in [brackets] are this kit's suggestions; change them if you agree something else.
- **Recommendation**: good practice, not a requirement.

Fill every [BRACKET]. Delete the lines that do not apply. Keep one signed copy per business.

---

## 1. Who is in the circle

| Business | Contact (role) | Fact owner (role or first name) | Kit approver and backup | Code it honors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [BUSINESS 1, for example Bay Light Day Cruises (fictional)] | [ROLE] | [FACT OWNER] | [APPROVER] / [BACKUP] | [CODE, or none] |
| [BUSINESS 2, for example Mile 12 Kennel (fictional)] | [ROLE] | [FACT OWNER] | [APPROVER] / [BACKUP] | [BAYLIGHT-K] |
| [BUSINESS 3, for example Harbor Kayak Co. (fictional)] | [ROLE] | [FACT OWNER] | [APPROVER] / [BACKUP] | [BAYLIGHT-P] |
| [BUSINESS 4] | | | | |
| [BUSINESS 5] | | | | |

- [ ] Coordinator: [NAME OR ROLE, BUSINESS]. Keeps the shared fact sheet, the facts tab and the monthly reconciliation. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] Start date: [DATE]. Review date: [DATE, for example the end of the season]. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] Three to five businesses that complete each other's trips, not two businesses selling the same hour to the same guest. **Recommendation.**

## 2. The shared fact sheet and fact owners

- [ ] Each business has one block with the agreed fields (see `shared-facts-template.csv`): offer and duration, departures and season, minimum age and group limits, runs in rain / cancels when, meeting point and drive times, what is included, cancellation terms, referral code, how the code is honored and counted, fact owner, last checked, not supplied. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] Each block has one named fact owner. Only the fact owner changes that block, or approves a change to it. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] Fact owners re-check their block at least every [60] days and before the season opens, and update the last-checked date. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] A fact owner tells the coordinator about any change (times, season, cancellation terms, closures) within [2] business days. The coordinator updates the facts tab the same day. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] Safety conditions in a block (weather, water, glacier, wildlife, aviation, first aid) are written by that business's qualified person. Kits repeat them; they never decide them. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] Only published, approved facts go in the sheet. **Recommendation.**

## 3. Approvals

- [ ] The business that sends a kit names one approver and one backup. The approver checks every kit against the approval checklist before sending it. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] The automation only creates drafts. No kit is sent automatically. Changing that needs every partner's written agreement. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] Each partner approves the wording of its own block, and any standard sentence that describes it, before first use. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] A partner can ask for a correction to how a kit describes it at any time. The coordinator makes it within [2] business days. **Policy choice.**

## 4. Referral codes

| Code | Issued by (sends the kit) | Honored by | What the guest gets | How it is counted | Referral fee, if any |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [BAYLIGHT-K] | [Bay Light (fictional)] | [Mile 12 Kennel (fictional)] | [for example: nothing extra, or a hot drink] | [promo-code field in the booking system] | [none, or the amount and when it is paid] |
| [BAYLIGHT-P] | [Bay Light (fictional)] | [Harbor Kayak Co. (fictional)] | [ ] | [ ] | [ ] |

- [ ] One unique code per pair of businesses (issuer and honoring partner), written exactly as guests type it. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] What the guest gets, and any referral fee or commission, is written in the table above and signed by both businesses. **Contractual** (this agreement, once signed).
- [ ] Before a code gives a discount, check your booking platform's terms on promo codes and your OTA agreements for rate-parity terms. **Contractual** (booking platform terms; each OTA agreement).
- [ ] If you pay or receive referral fees, ask your accountant how to record and report them. **Recommendation.**

## 5. Monthly reconciliation

- [ ] By the [5th] of each month, each business sends the coordinator its count of each code for the previous month, from its own booking system. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] The coordinator compares the counts (the reconciliation helper on the 3.b page, or `referral-reconciliation.csv`) and sends the summary to every partner. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] Differences are settled within [7] days by comparing booking dates for that code. The agreed count is recorded with who agreed it and when. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] A code that is not in the fact sheet (usually a typo) is matched to the right code only when both businesses agree. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] Referral fees, if any, are paid on agreed counts only, by the [20th] of the month. **Contractual** (the fee terms in section 4).
- [ ] The circle reports two numbers each month in season: cross-referrals by code (agreed counts) and attach rate (partner bookings with a circle code, divided by kits sent). **Policy choice.**

## 6. Guest data and the AI step

- [ ] The AI step receives only: arrival and departure dates, party size and ages, and the product booked. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] Never sent to the AI step: guest names, emails, phone numbers, addresses, payment details, IDs, medical or accessibility details, booking references, free-text booking notes. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] Guest contact details stay in the sending business's booking system. A partner gets a guest's details only when that guest books with the partner directly. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] The queue sheet is shared only with people who already see bookings. Rows are deleted [90] days after departure. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] Tools used: [Zapier or Make], [AI provider], [Google Workspace or Microsoft 365], [booking platform]. Check each one's terms and data processing agreement, and whether your plan lets the provider use your data to train its models. **Contractual** (each provider's terms and data processing agreement).
- [ ] Some booking platforms limit what you may send to other tools. Check before you connect the new-booking trigger. **Contractual** (booking platform terms).
- [ ] Tell guests, in your booking terms or confirmation, that you send a pre-arrival trip kit with partner suggestions. **Recommendation**; ask your attorney which privacy laws apply to your guests.

## 7. Safety and licensing

- [ ] Each business keeps its own safety decisions: weather go/no-go, water, glacier, wildlife, aviation and first aid. The circle, the coordinator and the AI step never make them. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] A partner that guides big game hunters holds its own license. **Legal mandate** (Alaska Statutes Title 8, Chapter 54, Big Game Commercial Services). Not delegable to the circle, the coordinator or an AI tool.
- [ ] A partner that guides sport fishing registers itself and its guides with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game each year. **Legal mandate** (ADF&G sport fishing guide and business registration). Not delegable.
- [ ] Each partner lists its other licenses and permits in its block, and confirms them each season. **Recommendation.**
- [ ] Each business checks that its liability insurance covers its own operations when guests arrive by referral, and whether any partner asks to be named as additional insured. **Contractual** (each business's insurance policy); ask your agent.

## 8. What guests see

- [ ] Kits call partners "our partner businesses". If referral fees are paid, the kit says so. **Recommendation**; ask your attorney whether the FTC Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255) apply.
- [ ] Kits are mainly about the guest's own booked trip. Partner offers can make an email commercial under the CAN-SPAM Act (15 U.S.C. 7701 and following). Ask your attorney, and give guests an easy way to opt out of partner suggestions. **Recommendation.**
- [ ] Kits do not promise partner availability, prices, weather or wildlife. Guests book each partner directly. **Policy choice.**

## 9. Fair play

- [ ] Share published facts and prices only. Do not agree on prices, or divide up customers, with a business that competes with you. **Recommendation**; ask your attorney before any discussion of pricing.
- [ ] Any partner can raise a concern at the monthly reconciliation. **Policy choice.**

## 10. Leaving the circle

- [ ] A business can leave with [30] days' written notice. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] The coordinator removes its block and code from the facts tab within [2] business days of the leaving date. **Policy choice.**
- [ ] Codes already in sent kits are honored until [DATE, or the end of the season]. **Contractual** (section 4, once signed).

---

## Signatures

| Business | Name and role | Date |
|---|---|---|
| [BUSINESS 1] | | |
| [BUSINESS 2] | | |
| [BUSINESS 3] | | |
| [BUSINESS 4] | | |
| [BUSINESS 5] | | |

*AI drafts. A person approves. This checklist does not replace an attorney's review.*