Advertising Contract Policies

Please review the Advertising Agreement Terms and Conditions for additional information.

Clients with Outstanding Balances

Once invoices are 90 days unpaid, the Accounting department will contact the publisher, reminding them to collect payment. If you need advice on collecting outstanding balances from your clients, please reach out to your Regional Partner.

Should your client get to 90 days with no payment made and you have made an effort to collect, we recommend that their agreement be canceled and their outstanding balance be written off and assigned to you.

*All advertising agreements are between the Advertiser and Lifestyle Publications, so assigning their debt to the publisher allows them to legally pursue that balance and retain any funds you can collect.

Contract Cancellations

Cancellation Policy

Contracts may need to be canceled due to business changes, budget constraints, or performance concerns. Proper processing ensures clear communication, minimizes legal or financial risks, and upholds professionalism. To cancel a contract:

Advertisers must provide written notice 20 days before the next ad submission deadline.
Contracts are not officially canceled until all outstanding balances are paid unless otherwise approved in writing by an authorized City Lifestyle representative.

Refer to How to Process a Cancellation Request for next steps.

Cancellation Requests Exceptions

Cancellations may be approved if the following exceptions apply and written notice is provided 20 days before the next ad submission deadline:

Gold Tier Publications or Higher
Zero Dollar/Zero Effect Contracts
Business Closure (requires official proof)
Replaced Contracts (a replacement contract is signed that fulfills or exceeds the original agreement TCV)
Client Death (requires official proof)

If exceptions apply, submit a National Support ticket through ARC with the necessary details. Requests outside these exceptions will be denied.

Contract Opt-Out Cancellations

Opt-Out Policy

Clients may exercise a 12 or 18-month opt-out option as outlined in their agreement. Opt-out terms:

Must be submitted at least 20 days before the first ad insertion to be removed.
Opt-out is valid only after the required number of insertions.

Example: For a 24-month contract with a 12-month opt-out (24/12), the client may cancel after the 12th insertion. If the opt-out date is November 2024, the October ad will be the last run.

Refer to How to Process an Opt-Out Cancellation Request for the next steps.

Contract Pauses

Pause Policy

Clients may temporarily pause their contract for one month within a rolling 12-month period. This request must be submitted via National Support ticket at least 20 days before the affected ad deadline. If you would like to allow your client to utilize the temporary one-month insertion pause, please submit a National Support ticket with all relevant details for processing.

Credit Memos

Credit Memo Policy

This policy establishes guidelines for the issuance of credit memos related to advertiser accounts to ensure consistency and compliance with the City Lifestyle Independent Franchise Agreement.

As outlined in the Independent Franchise Agreement, advertisers are required to submit payments directly to City Lifestyle. Franchisees (Publishers) are not authorized to accept direct payments from advertisers.

Appropriate Use of Credit Memos

Credit memos serve as exceptions to the standard billing process. They should primarily be used for specific, approved circumstances such as:

"Make Good" adjustments for service or placement issues.
Pre-approved, short-term "one-month" trade arrangements.

Credit Memo Limit

To maintain the integrity of the direct payment process and reflect the intended use of credit memos, a maximum of three (3) credit memos may be issued for any single advertiser client within a rolling 12-month period. This limit is deemed sufficient to cover standard "make good" or limited trade scenarios.

Adherence to this policy is expected. Requests for credit memos exceeding the three (3) per 12-month limit per client will require additional review and justification and may not be approved.

Handling Ongoing Trade Arrangements

If a longer-term or recurring trade arrangement with an advertiser is desired, the correct procedure is to formally adjust the advertiser's contract to reflect the agreed-upon trade value. This should be done in coordination with City Lifestyle corporate teams rather than through the issuance of repeated credit memos. If you are consistently writing off invoices for trade, we encourage you to change the agreement to $0 moving forward.

Bad Debt

If an invoice is deemed "bad debt" on an active agreement, that contract should be canceled. This may require approval. If a contract has already ended or been canceled, you can write off any invoices that you don’t believe will be paid or that you are pursuing locally.

Taxes for Write-Offs

You can access a receipt for write-offs by going to the Invoices tab in ARC and downloading PDFs of all invoices paid via Credit Memo. You can then provide these to their accountants for tax purposes as needed.