Post-October Fest Contractor Burn-Down Cap Worksheet Before November Closeout - 2026

November week two after October Next Fest: crash recovery #4 shipped trunk02, retention challenge #3 latched post_fest_retention_ok, jq weekly #7 shows build_id stable. The build engineer contractor invoices 18 hours for "fest support." QA invoices 9 hours for smoke reruns nobody tied to receipt fields. Art asks for 4 hours to tweak capsule after badge-strip #6. Finance asks why November closeout sprint has no cash left—and nobody filed a burn-down cap before November closeout cousin.

November 2026 punishes micro-studios that treated October upload overtime O1–O6 as the only contractor money lane. Post-fest support—crash fixes, analytics CSV hygiene, store capsule edits, Discord moderation help—can burn two weeks of runway while leadership runs debriefs. This Money & Business worksheet caps post-fest contractor burn-down with a weekly hours table, contractor offline dates, stop rules mapped to November cluster receipts, and post_fest_contractor_burn_down_receipt_v1.json with gates B1–B6 and BUILD_RECEIPT contractor_burn_down_ok: true.

Non-repetition note: October upload overtime owns upload-week emergency engineering O1–O6. Localization contractor burn owns LQA/vendor LR1–LR5 before string freeze. March engineering runway owns post-February invoice amortization. December engineering floor owns holiday blackout daily founder caps E1–E6. This URL owns post-October fest support burn-down B1–B6 through November closeout prep.

Pair October overtime, jq weekly #7, retention challenge #3, December engineering floor cousin, forward #9 patch opinion / #12 capstone; Course 305 forward.

Why this matters now (November 2026 post-October fest)

1. Fest support invoices arrive late — Contractors bill D+5…D+14 while debrief slides still say "we're winding down."
2. Receipt theater without hour caps — post_fest_retention_ok GREEN does not cap billable smoke reruns.
3. November closeout needs cash truth — November closeout capstone expects contractor_burn_down_ok in child crosswalk.
4. Wrong money lane hiding — Post-fest engineering hours labeled "marketing" or "LQA" to bypass caps.
5. Contractor offline dates unfiled — Teams approve hours when contractors claimed holiday starts.

Direct answer: Before November sprint, file post_fest_contractor_burn_down_receipt_v1.json, set weekly burn-down caps by role, map every hour to a November cluster receipt field, clear B1–B6, latch contractor_burn_down_ok. Unmapped hours go to normal backlog—not fest support.

Who this worksheet is for

Time: 45–60 minutes first worksheet; 5 minutes per contractor approval during November first weeks.

Prerequisites: Retention R5 GREEN, analytics T6 GREEN, contractor rate cards, list of post-fest receipts that can still go RED.

Format ladder (contractor money cluster)

Order: R5 → curve G6 → badge-strip Z6 → jq J6 → this burn-down B6 → patch opinion #9 if B-HOTFIX fires → capstone #12.

Beginner path — weekly burn-down table

Copy into release-evidence/ops/post-fest-contractor-burn-2026.md:

Beginner rule: burn-down means lower caps each week after fest—not unlimited "support" until invoices shock finance.

Contractor offline dates (pin in receipt)

Three questions before approving an hour

1. Which receipt field changes? Example: crash_recovery_ok or demo_download_row_hash.
2. Which stop rule applies? Example: B-HOTFIX requires POSTFEST-PATCH-001.
3. Which ISO week cap bucket? Example: W45 build_engineer has 2h remaining.

If any answer is blank, defer to November backlog.

What counts as post-fest contractor burn-down

Developer path — gates B1–B6

These gates are hours and authority—not player retention success. Retention can improve while B6 fails because contractors burned 20 hours on unmapped smoke.

post_fest_contractor_burn_down_receipt_v1.json

{
  "schema": "post_fest_contractor_burn_down_receipt_v1",
  "generated_at": "2026-11-12T09:00:00Z",
  "post_fest_window": "2026-11-first-weeks",
  "currency": "USD",
  "contractor_rate_card": [
    {"role": "build_engineer", "hourly_usd": 95, "approval_owner": "producer"},
    {"role": "qa_engineer", "hourly_usd": 55, "approval_owner": "producer"},
    {"role": "tools_engineer", "hourly_usd": 85, "approval_owner": "tech_lead"},
    {"role": "art_contractor", "hourly_usd": 70, "approval_owner": "producer"}
  ],
  "weekly_caps": [
    {
      "iso_week": "2026-W45",
      "roles": [
        {"role": "build_engineer", "cap_hours": 8, "allowed_receipts": ["post_fest_crash_recovery_receipt_v1", "post_october_fest_retention_weekly_v1"], "stop_rule": "B-HOTFIX"},
        {"role": "qa_engineer", "cap_hours": 6, "allowed_receipts": ["post_fest_retention_challenge_receipt_v1"], "stop_rule": "B-SMOKE"}
      ]
    },
    {
      "iso_week": "2026-W46",
      "roles": [
        {"role": "build_engineer", "cap_hours": 6, "allowed_receipts": ["post_fest_patch_exception_list_receipt_v1"], "stop_rule": "B-HOTFIX"},
        {"role": "art_contractor", "cap_hours": 3, "allowed_receipts": ["november_capsule_badge_strip_receipt_v1"], "stop_rule": "B-STORE"}
      ]
    }
  ],
  "contractor_offline": [
    {"role": "qa_engineer", "offline_start": "2026-11-20", "return": "2026-11-28"},
    {"role": "build_engineer", "offline_start": "2026-11-22", "return": "2026-12-02"}
  ],
  "stop_rules": [
    {"id": "B-HOTFIX", "trigger": "build_id_change_without_POSTFEST-PATCH", "action": "block_hours_route_patch_opinion"},
    {"id": "B-SMOKE", "trigger": "third_smoke_rerun_same_field", "action": "open_crash_recovery_or_waiver"},
    {"id": "B-ANALYTICS", "trigger": "csv_cleanup_without_T6_upstream", "action": "finish_analytics_listicle_first"},
    {"id": "B-STORE", "trigger": "art_hours_without_Z6", "action": "defer_store_edit"},
    {"id": "B-WAIVER", "trigger": "hours_after_contractor_offline", "action": "founder_P0_only"}
  ],
  "actuals": [
    {
      "iso_week": "2026-W45",
      "role": "build_engineer",
      "hours": 5.5,
      "receipt": "release-evidence/post-fest/crash-recovery-2026/receipts/post_fest_crash_recovery_receipt_v1.json",
      "field_changed": "crash_recovery_ok",
      "approval": "producer",
      "stop_rule": "B-HOTFIX",
      "note": "POSTFEST-PATCH-001 documented"
    }
  ],
  "gates": {
    "B1": "GREEN",
    "B2": "GREEN",
    "B3": "GREEN",
    "B4": "GREEN",
    "B5": "GREEN",
    "B6": "GREEN"
  },
  "contractor_burn_down_ok": true,
  "feeds_capstone": "friday-post-october-fest-first-week-capstone-build-receipt-row-review-ten-minutes-before-november-sprint-2026"
}

BUILD_RECEIPT rows

{
  "post_fest_retention_ok": true,
  "post_october_retention_weekly_ok": true,
  "contractor_burn_down_budget_hours": 32,
  "contractor_burn_down_used_hours": 5.5,
  "post_fest_contractor_burn_down_receipt_path": "release-evidence/ops/post_fest_contractor_burn_down_receipt_v1.json",
  "contractor_burn_down_ok": true
}

Stop rules B-HOTFIX through B-WAIVER

B-HOTFIX — post-fest patches

Allow engineering hours when forward #9 patch exception opinion documents POSTFEST-PATCH-001…N. Block hours when build_id changes without exception row—pair crash recovery #4 for narrative.

B-SMOKE — retention and forward smoke

QA overtime counts when tied to retention R3 or forward #10 Wednesday post-fest smoke receipt fields. Third rerun on same field without new repro folder → stop hours; open waiver or crash recovery.

B-ANALYTICS — CSV and jq hygiene

Tools engineer hours for analytics #2 CSV cleanup and jq weekly #7 verify scripts. B-ANALYTICS fails if T6 not GREEN upstream.

B-STORE — capsule and store art

Art contractor hours only after badge-strip Z6. Scope rewrites from uninstall curve #5 are copy work—do not bill as engineering.

B-WAIVER — offline contractors

No billable contractor hours after offline_start unless incident waiver with founder P0 absorption documented—feeds December engineering floor planning.

verify_post_fest_contractor_burn_down.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
R="${1:-release-evidence/ops/post_fest_contractor_burn_down_receipt_v1.json}"

jq -e '.schema == "post_fest_contractor_burn_down_receipt_v1"' "$R" || exit 1
for g in B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6; do
  jq -e --arg g "$g" '.gates[$g] == "GREEN"' "$R" || exit 2
done
jq -e '.contractor_burn_down_ok == true' "$R" || exit 3
jq -e '(.weekly_caps | length) >= 2' "$R" || exit 4
jq -e '(.contractor_offline | length) >= 1' "$R" || exit 5
echo "post_fest_contractor_burn_down verify: OK"

Approval script for producers

Post-fest contractor request:
ISO week / role:
Receipt + field:
Hours requested:
Stop rule:
Cap remaining this week:
POSTFEST-PATCH id (if B-HOTFIX):
Approve Y/N:

Paste into #post-fest-ops before approving invoices.

Burn-down curve (W45 → W48)

Adjust numbers to runway—monotonic decrease is the discipline, not the exact integers.

Worked example — W45 invoice reconciliation (synthetic)

Outcome: 11.5h approved of 14h requested; 2.5h cap headroom remains for W45 build_engineer; rejected lines logged in receipt denied_requests[] for partner diligence.

denied_requests[] snippet

{
  "denied_requests": [
    {
      "iso_week": "2026-W45",
      "role": "qa_engineer",
      "hours_requested": 3,
      "reason": "no_receipt_field",
      "reroute": "normal_backlog_or_retention_R4_night"
    }
  ]
}

Logging denials prevents the same invoice from reappearing next week without a receipt field—finance and engineering stay aligned.

Partner diligence email snippet (optional)

We file post_fest_contractor_burn_down_receipt_v1.json with 32 budgeted post-fest support hours W45–W47, tapering weekly, contractor offline dates from Nov 20, and hour-to-receipt mapping for crash recovery, retention smoke, and analytics jq hygiene. Denied unmapped lines are listed in denied_requests[].

Integration with November cluster

Scenarios A–G

A — Invoice arrives without receipt field

Reject or reclassify to normal backlog—B2 fail until mapped.

B — Crash recovery hours exceed W45 cap

B6 RED—negotiate scope or defer non-P0 smoke.

C — Art wants "fest polish" hours

B-STORE requires Z6—otherwise defer to winter HDR lane.

D — Contractor offline but still billing

B-WAIVER—freeze payment until return or waiver.

E — jq weekly RED triggers rebuild

Hours allowed under B-HOTFIX only with POSTFEST-PATCH row.

F — Finance merges upload + post-fest invoices

Split lanes—October O6 and November B6 are separate receipts.

G — Partner diligence

Attach burn-down JSON + weekly actuals table—no Slack screenshots alone.

RED / YELLOW / GREEN routing

Facilitator stand-up (ten minutes)

## Contractor burn-down — {iso_week}
- Cap remaining by role: {table}
- Actuals filed Y/N
- B6 status: GREEN/YELLOW/RED
- Offline contractors this week: {list}
- Block November sprint? {Y if B6 RED}

Common mistakes

• Treating fest support as unlimited after R5 GREEN.
• Hiding post-fest engineering under marketing invoices.
• Skipping contractor offline dates until December surprise.
• Approving smoke reruns without B-SMOKE stop rule.
• Merging October upload overtime with post-fest burn-down.
• Setting contractor_burn_down_ok without weekly actuals rows.

Enterprise notes

• Governance: Approval owner must differ from contractor for amounts >$500/week.
• Audit: Append-only actuals—do not edit prior week rows.
• ROI: Burn-down cap protects November feature runway—not player count promises.

Key takeaways

1. Post-fest support needs burn-down caps—not open-ended "fest help."
2. Gates B1–B6 on post_fest_contractor_burn_down_receipt_v1.json.
3. contractor_burn_down_ok feeds forward #12 capstone child crosswalk.
4. Map hours to retention, jq weekly, crash recovery receipt fields.
5. Burn-down curve lowers caps W45→W48—monotonic taper.
6. Pair October overtime—upload week only.
7. Pair December floor for offline handoff.
8. B-HOTFIX requires POSTFEST-PATCH opinion #9 P1–P6 rows on invoice.
9. verify_post_fest_contractor_burn_down.sh fail-closes empty weekly caps.
10. Contractor offline dates are B3 hard requirement.

FAQ

How is this different from October upload overtime?

October overtime caps upload-week O1–O6 hours. This URL caps post-fest support B1–B6 after fest ends.

Do founders count in the cap?

This worksheet tracks contractor hours—founder absorption after offline dates pairs December engineering floor.

Can we increase caps if refunds stay RED?

Only with documented waiver row in receipt notes and producer approval—do not silently raise caps.

When should B6 latch?

After first full weekly cycle (W45) with actuals filed and caps not exceeded—or after burn-down table approved pre-W45 if zero hours spent yet (document bootstrap: true in notes).

What if we have no contractors—only founders?

File the worksheet with founder_role rows and zero contractor caps—B3 still documents who approves founder P0 absorption when hours exceed December floor plans. The receipt schema supports solo studios; the discipline is mapping hours to receipt fields, not invoice vendors.

What about localization contractors?

Post-fest LQA belongs in localization burn worksheet lane—or defer to January—not B-HOTFIX engineering.

Related reads

• October Upload Week Engineering Overtime Cap Worksheet
• jq Gate Sketch for post_october_fest_retention Weekly Demo Row Diff
• 5-Night Post-October Fest Demo Retention Response Challenge
• We Recovered Steam Demo Crash Rate Spike After October Fest
• December Engineering Floor Cap Worksheet
• Friday November Closeout Capstone
• Stop Shipping Post-Fest Hotfix Patches Without Numbered Exception List — forward #9
• Friday Post-October Fest First-Week Capstone — forward #12
• March Engineering Cash Runway Worksheet

Closing

November runway disappears when post-fest support invoices arrive without caps—crash fixes, smoke reruns, and store tweaks billed as "fest help" while debrief slides still show green receipts. File post_fest_contractor_burn_down_receipt_v1.json, taper weekly caps, and let contractor_burn_down_ok mean finance and engineering agreed on hours—not that contractors invoiced in silence. When forward capstone indexes one more child receipt, November closeout sprint starts with cash you planned—not cash you already spent.