SUMMARY: Travel payment will start from the Studio Base of each region to the wedding location. There is no compensation for the first 100 miles of roundtrip travel. After 100 miles, you will be compensated $1.00 per mile. Pro Tip: As an independent contractor, you should also keep track of your mileage as a business expense, and deduct these expenses when allowed on your IRS tax returns.
Every wedding has a Studio Base. This is another word for the market where the wedding takes place. It is not your home. For example, a wedding’s Studio Base would be the advertising market such as Seattle, WA, Miami, FL, or Denver, CO.
All mileage payments are calculated based on the Studio Base.
Mileage payments are always calculated according to the wedding’s Studio Base— not where you live, where you are personally driving from, or anything else. Your personal home address has nothing to do with mileage payments.
For calculating mileage, we have designated an address in the Studio Base’s downtown city center as the official starting point for driving directions. Mileage is always calculated starting and ending at this official address.
There is no compensation for the first 100 miles of roundtrip travel, starting and ending at the address we have designated as the city center for the Studio Base. After 100 miles, you are compensated $1.00 per mile.
EXAMPLE :
This is a wedding happening in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The wedding’s Studio Base is designated as Denver, Colorado. Dashboard tells you the Home City.
For mileage, we calculate the roundtrip driving distance starting and ending in downtown Denver. The photographer would calculate 132.4 miles total roundtrip distance. Deduct the first 100 roundtrip miles. The photographer would be paid for 32 miles.
Calculation
Denver, CO –> Fort Collins, CO = 66.2 miles
Fort Collins, CO –> Denver, CO = 66.2 miles
Total Roundtrip Distance = 132.4 miles
Subtract 100 miles = 32 miles
32 miles x $1.00/mile = $32
TOLL AND PARKING REIMBURSEMENT
As an independent contractor, you should be keeping track of all your business expenses to deduct them from your income taxes. In some cases, we’ll be able to reimburse you for certain expenses that you incurred while at a wedding or engagement session.
Parking. The wedding couples have agreed to reimburse you for reasonable parking expenses. Please submit your receipt to us within 7 days.
Ferries. If you’re required to take a ferry to the wedding location, and we’ve approved it, the couple has agreed to pay you back for your ticket. Please submit your receipt to us within 7 days. Please remember we must approve any ferry transit before you take it. In many cases, we’ll instead ask you to drive when possible because ferries are not always reliable.
Tolls. The couple has agreed to reimburse you for your exact toll costs, but only if you start and end at the city center of the Studio Base. This works the same way as the mileage calculation explained above. Please remember that a reimbursement is a payment for a real expense that you actually paid. If you decided to drive a different route, you won’t be paid for those tolls, and you won’t be paid for the “hypothetical” tolls from the Studio Base. The couple has only agreed to reimburse you for your real and actual toll bills if you drive the exact route that we’ve explained above. For example, if you leave from your house and drive a different route, you will not be able to receive reimbursement for tolls, because the couple has only agreed to pay you back for tolls if you start and end at the city center of the Studio Base.