FAQ

Founding membership & sign-ups

Why sign up before launch?

For us: seeing your excitement gets us excited! We’re trying to build this as a sustainable business that doesn’t need outside investment. Knowing you’re on board now allows us to build with confidence.

For you: if you sign up before launch you get lifetime discounts on all Studioworks plans forever. We want to show you how grateful we are for your support!

Why have a pre-launch period?

We wanted to give potential members as much notice as possible in case they want to downgrade, pause, or cancel their current software before it auto-renews. Also several existing platforms announced price increases recently, so it’s a good time to think about switching to something better!

What does “lifetime discounts” actually mean?

When we say that you will have a discounted plan forever (any plan, not just the one you first sign up for), we really mean it. The rates you see at sign-up will be your rates in perpetuity. If we raise plan prices in the future, your plan prices will not change. You must remain an active member through launch, but in the future we will make it possible for you to pause your account (for a limited time) without losing your Founding Member status and discounts.

What is my studio handle and how is it used?

Your handle will be part of the link (URL) to your client hub (yourstudio.studioworks.app), and all links to documents that you share, so it’s important to pick something that represents you and your business. It can be your business name, an abbreviation of your business name, or something else entirely (but we recommend sticking with your business name).

What if someone else claimed my name?

We have a zero tolerance policy for impersonation. For clear cases of impersonation, we will suspend the impersonator and get you your handle ASAP. Email support@studioworks.app if you’re having trouble getting your desired handle or suspect someone is impersonating you.

How do I update my email address, handle, or other information?

For now, if you need to update your email address or you’re rethinking your studio handle, email support@studioworks.app. After launch, you’ll be able to do this yourself.

What’s the Advisory Team?

As a Founding Member, you can give us direct feedback through surveys we’ll send out as well as in-person and online gatherings. These will help focus our efforts in building the features that are most important to our community. Participation is optional.

Products & features

What’s wrong with using Quickbooks, Notion, Dropbox, etc.?

Nothing at all. We’ve used these tools (and so many more), and they kind of work. We’re building Studioworks for people who don’t want to use a little bit of a lot of products — they’d rather use one product made just for them.

We want to not only solve your studio management problems but also make you look like an absolute boss to clients and collaborators through polished, professional, and intuitive design, and advanced design customizations.

Can I import my data from other platforms?

If you sign up before January 31, 2025, we will help you import your existing 2025 invoices and documents into Studioworks to make your transition to our platform as smooth as possible.

Will my clients need to have an account?

Nope! We know clients have their own systems in place, so we will not require clients to sign up for Studioworks. Clients can log in with their email address to view, comment on, edit, and sign documents, view invoices, make payments, and engage with files.

Will clients see everything?

You have complete control over who accesses your files and information. You can specify who at your client’s company has access to onboarding documents vs. deliverables. You can remove a client’s access at any time.

What if my clients won’t use Studioworks for documents?

Our hope is they’ll be on board as soon as they see how professional and easy it is to create, edit, and sign documents with Studioworks, but if a client insists on using a different service, you can always upload executed contracts (or any other document) to Studioworks for safekeeping and to stay organized.

How does invoice payment work?

Invoices can be paid through credit card and bank transfer (via Stripe), Venmo, Paypal, by check, or through a third party like Bill.com. You can specify your prefered payment method and offer discounts if invoices are paid quickly. If a client is paying through a third party, we will encourage them to specify the service so you know how and when you’ll be paid.

Will you collect additional transaction fees?

There will be no additional fees collected by Studioworks — only the standard transaction processing fees incured through Stripe or other platforms. We’ll encourage payment through the method with the smallest transaction fee (to get you the most money!) if you haven’t specified a preferred payment method.

Will you help with time tracking?

Yes, we plan to build a time tracking product in the near future that can be used by any member of your team.

Will you help with tax preparation and filing?

We won’t be preparing or filing your taxes, but we will help you gather your information and documents to share with your accountant/tax preparer.

Will you help with bookkeeping?

Not at this time, but you will be able to track reimbursable expenses in Studioworks.

Safety, Privacy, & AI

How will you protect my financial data?

We’re using Stripe to handle all financial transactions, and we have your privacy and safety in mind as we build every feature of Studioworks. We will never sell your data to a third party, and you will always have complete control over who is able to see your files, documents, and information.

Does Studioworks use AI?

No. We are open to using AI down the road in specific and utilitarian ways, like to help translate static documents into editable Studioworks files. Our team has strong feelings about AI and will only consider using it if we can do so ethically and with the consent of our members.

Education

Will you offer educational resources?

Yes! We plan to build education into the product experience itself. Contracts and proposals are often written in obtuse legal language. We want to help you create, manage, and share documents, while also helping you fully understand them through integrated tools to highlight important information, flag problematic terms, and translate complex language.

We’re also scheming on an event series that focuses on shared experiences — good and bad — of running a creative studio.

Will you offer a student or educator discount?

We’ve priced our Freelancer plan to be budget friendly, but will always look for ways to make our products more accessible to actively enrolled students, those just starting out, or those going through financial hardship. One of our top priorities is making good business tools accessible to all (but we need a sustainable business first!).

General membership

Will you offer an annual plan?

We do plan to offer an annual plan in the future. If you are a Founding Member with an annual plan, you will receive an annual plan discount in addition to your Founding Member discounts.

How do I cancel my membership?

For now, you can cancel your membership by emailing support@studioworks.app. After we launch, you’ll be able to do this yourself.

If you cancel before launch, you will lose your reserved studio handle, Founding Member status, and lifetime discounts. We hope you’ll stick around to see everything we have in store!

How will multi-member teams work?

When you initially sign up your studio for Studioworks, you are creating an account for the business. This accounts includes one team member — you, (presumably) the studio owner. When we launch invoicing and payments, you’ll be able to add additional team members if you have a multi-member plan (Studio, Studio Pro, or Agency) who will each have unique logins to your Studioworks account. You will be able to specify what these team members have permission to view and edit.