PathWork Marketplace Terms

1. Who these terms are between

These Marketplace Terms are between you and Accumentum LLC, a Texas limited liability company, the operator of PathPay, PathPass, PathLock, PathProof, and PathWork. They add to any Accumentum account terms that already govern your PathProof page. Where the two conflict on PathWork, these Marketplace Terms control.

PathWork is a checkout layer for Accumentum alumni. It is not a staffing firm, not a placement marketplace, and not a federal contractor of record. Bench remains a directory. Proof remains a proof layer.

2. What Accumentum does — and does not do

Accumentum operates PathWork, publishes packaged offers that eligible experts choose to list, records bookings, holds session notes that both parties enter on the platform, instructs the payment provider to collect and release funds, invoices the platform take, and enforces the banned-work list.

• Accumentum is not a party to any Session.
• Accumentum does not employ experts, does not supervise their work, and does not act as agent, partner, or joint venturer of any user.
• Accumentum does not review, certify, or approve deliverables.
• Accumentum does not place talent with employers and does not take a placement fee.
• PathLock status, scored pins, and Accumentum-verified activity are not a warranty of competence, solvency, insurance, or lawfulness.
• Vendor credentials on a Proof page stay holder-asserted. Accumentum never states that it has verified a CISSP, CISA, PMP, or similar vendor mark.

3. Roles

You use one Accumentum account. You may act as a Buyer, an Expert, or both. Activating the Expert role requires a published PathProof page, a current PathLock connection, acceptance of these Marketplace Terms, the Session Terms, the Payment Instructions, the Eligibility and Marks Policy, the Tax Notice, and a moonlighting and unclassified-work attestation.

There is no open expert signup for people who are not Accumentum alumni. Eligibility is product-gated. Staff may revoke, pause, hide, or strike. Staff does not have to invite each seller by hand.

4. How a Session is formed

A published offer is an invitation to book, not a standing offer. A Session exists only when the buyer completes checkout for a packaged offer, or when staff matches a scoped request and both sides confirm. Until then either side may walk away.

Two routes exist on PathWork: packaged sessions at a list price, and scoped requests that Accumentum routes by hand. There is no open bid board.

5. Ranking

Offers are ordered by practice area, PathLock currency, completeness of the Proof page, next available slot, and filters the buyer applies. Accumentum does not currently sell placement in search. Rankings are not an assessment of quality.

6. Reviews

Only a buyer and an expert who completed or terminated a Session may review that Session. Reviews must be factual, must not disclose intake notes, and must not claim Accumentum certified the work. Paid, fake, or off-platform reviews may be removed. Accumentum does not edit the words of a review it keeps.

7. Records

Bookings, intake, session notes, action items, refunds, strikes, and attestations are logged so Accumentum can run checkout, handle disputes, detect banned work, and meet tax and legal duties. Messages on PathWork are private as between users, but not private as against Accumentum for those purposes.

8. Banned and restricted work

PathWork is unclassified packaged work only. The Banned Work Policy is incorporated into these terms. Intrusive testing, production access, classified or CUI environments, exam dumps, and live incident response are not offered, not booked, and not performed on PathWork. There is no testing-authorisation overlay that turns those activities on.

9. Fees

The PathWork take is twelve percent (12%) of the list price of a Session, collected from the expert side. The buyer pays the list price. Accumentum does not stack a buyer service fee on top at launch.

The take is calculated before payment-provider costs that Stripe (or its successor) charges the expert’s connected account. Refunds reverse the take in proportion. Accumentum will give at least fifteen days’ electronic notice of a fee change. A change does not apply to Sessions already formed.

10. Payments

Funds move under the Payment and Release Instructions. The mechanism is a conditional hold and release by the payment provider. It is not an escrow, trust, deposit, fiduciary arrangement, or payment guarantee. Accumentum does not hold user funds as a bank and does not provide payment services.

11. No fee avoidance

For twelve months after first contact through PathWork, you must not invoice or pay off-platform for work that started on PathWork in order to avoid the take. Pre-existing relationships that can be evidenced are outside this rule. Accumentum may claim the take that would have been due and may pause PathWork access.

This is not exclusivity. Experts may work elsewhere. Buyers may hire elsewhere. PathProof and Bench do not become a staffing channel because PathWork exists.

12. Pause, strikes, and termination

You may pause PathWork without taking your Proof page down. Accumentum may restrict, pause, or revoke PathWork where you breach these terms, where PathLock lapses, where eligibility fails, where banned work is requested or performed, or where tax or payout onboarding is incomplete.

Two no-shows or two confirmed scope breaches in ninety days pause PathWork. Proof stays up. Accumentum will state reasons unless law or abuse detection forbids it. Sessions already formed remain in force until completed, refunded, or terminated under the Session Terms.

13. Disputes

A complaint about an Accumentum decision on access, an offer, a mark, or a fee goes to legal@accumentum.net. Accumentum LLC will respond in writing.

A dispute about the quality or scope of a Session is between buyer and expert. Accumentum’s role is limited to allocating held funds under the Payment and Release Instructions. That allocation binds the held funds only. Either party may still go to court.

14. Disclaimers, cap, and indemnity

PathWork is provided as is. Accumentum does not warrant uninterrupted service.

To the fullest extent allowed by law, Accumentum is not liable for acts of any user, for the quality or lawfulness of a Session or deliverable, for banned work performed off the record, for a buyer’s failure to pay, for an expert’s failure to perform, or for reliance on a Proof page, a PathLock snapshot, a review, or a ranking. Indirect and consequential losses are excluded.

Accumentum’s aggregate liability to you is capped at the PathWork take Accumentum actually retained on Sessions you were party to in the twelve months before the claim. The cap does not apply to fraud, willful misconduct, or liability that cannot be limited.

You will indemnify Accumentum against third-party claims arising from your Sessions, your content, banned work, or your breach of these terms.

15. Changes, law, contact

Accumentum may amend these terms on fifteen days’ electronic notice, or immediately if law or safety requires it. Changes are not retroactive. If you reject a change, pause PathWork before it takes effect.

Governing law is the State of Texas, United States, excluding conflict-of-laws rules. Venue is the state or federal courts sitting in Texas. English controls.

Notices: through PathWork or to the email on your account. Accumentum LLC: legal@accumentum.net.

Part B — Buyers

You are responsible for the accuracy of your intake and for keeping classified, CUI, production credentials, and exam dumps out of the session room. You select the expert. PathLock and Accumentum-verified activity do not replace your own judgement.

The Session Terms apply unless you and the expert record different terms that do not change Accumentum’s rights or the Payment Instructions. Templates are a facility, not legal advice.

You pay the list price at checkout. Work starts only once the session is funded. Completing a session on PathWork authorises release. Completion does not waive claims you may have against the expert.

Part C — Experts

You perform as an independent contractor. Nothing here creates employment, agency, or partnership with Accumentum or with the buyer. You set your rates, choose which offers to publish, and remain free to work off PathWork subject to the fee-avoidance rule.

You are responsible for your own taxes, insurance, tools, and subcontractors. You must keep every credential on your Proof page accurate. If a vendor credential lapses, you update the page. You must not present Accumentum as your employer or as having verified a vendor mark.

You will not start work that is on the banned list. You will stop a session if the buyer introduces classified, CUI, production access, or dump material. You attest that selling on PathWork does not breach an employer moonlighting policy that applies to you.