---
title: >-
  Partner Program Agreement updates - Shopify as a billing agent, custom and
  public apps - Shopify developer changelog
description: >-
  Shopify’s developer changelog documents all changes to Shopify’s platform.
  Find the latest news and learn about new platform opportunities.
source_url:
  html: >-
    https://shopify.dev/changelog/partner-program-agreement-updates-shopify-as-a-billing-agent-custom-and-public-apps
  md: >-
    https://shopify.dev/changelog/partner-program-agreement-updates-shopify-as-a-billing-agent-custom-and-public-apps.md
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  affectedApi: []
  primaryTag:
    displayName: Platform
    handle: platform
  secondaryTag:
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  createdAt: '2020-03-02T10:38:48-05:00'
  postedAt: '2020-03-03T00:00:00-05:00'
  updatedAt: '2024-02-02T10:04:56-05:00'
  effectiveAt: '2020-03-03T00:00:00-05:00'
---

March 3, 2020

Tags:

* Platform

# Partner Program Agreement updates - Shopify as a billing agent, custom and public apps

We’ve updated our [Partner Program Agreement](https://www.shopify.com/partners/terms) (PPA) to include new definitions of public and custom apps, and to clarify our role as a billing agent. Being a billing agent means we’re the party responsible for facilitating payment transactions between partners and merchants of apps, themes, and services.

PPA updates regarding [public and custom apps](https://www.shopify.com/partners/blog/shopify-public-apps) are effective immediately, as communicated on our partner blog.

For PPA updates regarding the [billing and tax status](https://help.shopify.com/en/partners/how-to-earn#taxes-on-earnings) of some Shopify partners, we’ve made sure to provide partners with 90 days notice to assess the potential impact on how they run their businesses. As a result, the billing and tax updates to our PPA will come into effect on June 1st, 2020. Partners will begin to see product changes that reflect these billing and tax updates starting June 2020.

Partners who are impacted by these PPA updates have been directly notified by email and their Partner Dashboard.