Overview
Set up Agency Terms & Conditions to enforce standard documentation across your team for credit card authorization, forms, and invoicing.
Set up
1. Go to Settings, and select Agency T&Cs
Make sure to hit "publish" when they are ready.
2. Go to Financial Settings -> Credit Card Auth Requirements
Check the box to 'Use agency terms & conditions for all agency trips'.
How Agency T&Cs are used
1. Your terms will be used automatically for credit card authorization & invoicing
If an agent hasn't set up their own terms, they won't be required to for authorization. Clients who make any authorizations will see they are agreeing to your agency's T&Cs.
2. If an agent has already set up their own terms, they can decide whether to use them (in addition to your agency's)
By default we'll show both T&Cs, but if they uncheck this box only agency T&Cs will appear.
When does this checkbox appear? The option to include your terms alongside your agency's terms only appears in your Waivers & Agreements settings after your agency admin has enabled agency-level Terms & Conditions. If you don't see this option, check with your agency admin to confirm whether agency T&Cs have been activated.
If they leave both on, the client will agree to both.
3. Agency T&Cs are also available in forms
Any forms you share that include your T&Cs will have those retained when copied
Your T&Cs will be auto-populated for any new contact info/trip request forms - previously, personal T&Cs were auto-populated
Your T&Cs will be available in the forms sidebar for custom forms
If you belong to a host agency
If you're an advisor under a host agency, your client-facing credit card authorization and invoices can show your host agency's Terms & Conditions alongside your own — or instead of them. This happens when your host agency has set up and enabled agency T&Cs.
Why your host agency's name and T&Cs appear
Your host agency's terms appear on your authorization when both of these are true:
Your host agency has published agency T&Cs (Settings → Agency T&Cs).
Your host agency has enabled "Use agency terms & conditions for authorization and invoicing on agency trips."
When both are on, your client agrees to your host agency's T&Cs, and the host agency's name appears in the authorization text (for example, "…and [Host Agency] Terms and Conditions of Booking").
Note: A published agency T&C still appears even when its content is blank. The host agency's name shows on the authorization as long as the terms are published, whether or not there is any text in them.
What you can control as an advisor
You can choose whether your own terms appear alongside your host agency's. Go to Settings → Waivers & Agreements and use the "Include these terms alongside my agency's T&Cs on shared trips" checkbox. Unchecking it removes your own terms and leaves only the host agency's.
You cannot remove your host agency's terms yourself. There is no advisor-level setting to hide them.
How to remove the host agency's terms
Only a host agency admin can remove the host agency's T&Cs from your authorization. A host agency admin needs to do one of the following:
Turn off "Use agency terms & conditions for authorization and invoicing on agency trips" in the host agency's settings. This stops the host agency's terms from appearing on every advisor's authorization.
Unpublish or edit the agency T&Cs (Settings → Agency T&Cs).
If you're not a host agency admin, contact your host agency to make this change.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Terms and Conditions automatically added to my account?
Tern doesn't include standard terms and conditions — you'll need to create your own.
Here's how to get started: many advisors draft a starting version using an AI writing tool, then edit it to fit their business. Before you use any terms and conditions in Tern's credit card authorization flow, have them reviewed by a legal professional.
Once your terms are ready, add them in Settings > Waivers & Agreements. From there, they'll automatically appear in the credit card authorization form your clients sign.
If you're part of an agency, your agency owner may also have set up agency-level terms and conditions. Check with them before creating your own — you may be able to use or build on what's already there.