Refund Policy
Settl · Settl · Version 1.1 · Effective 2026-09-19 Part of the Licence Agreement and the Terms of Service. Contact: partners@piedmontaccounting.com
What changed in version 1.1. Two things we actually do, now written down. (1) We offer a trial: a real installation on your own server with a licence that expires after 14 days, for which you pay nothing — §2.1. (2) If we refund a fee, the licence for that installation ends, and because the software is on your own server the way that happens in practice is read-only mode as defined in the Licence Agreement §3.6 — §3.7. Nothing in either change takes away your data: you keep every record, and you can always export it.
One-line version: the one-time deployment fee is refundable if we cannot get the software working on your server within 30 days through no fault of yours; the monthly support fee is not refundable for a period already started, but you can stop it for future months at any time. Nothing here removes a right you have that the law does not allow us to remove.
1. You are buying as a business
You represent that you are acquiring the software and services for business purposes, not as a consumer for personal, family or household use. Consumer cancellation and "cooling-off" rules that apply to consumer purchases are not intended to apply, and we price and staff accordingly. If you are in fact a consumer, tell us before you order — we do not knowingly sell to consumers, and if we have sold to you in error we will cancel and refund in full.
2. What each fee is for
| Fee | What it pays for | When it is earned |
|---|---|---|
| One-time deployment fee | Building and signing the image and licence for you, the delivery kit, and the remote deployment work (typically 4–8 hours of engineering plus coordination), plus a 30-day tuning window | Progressively, from the moment we issue your licence and begin work on your install |
| Monthly support fee | Licence hosting and renewals, updates and security patches, and support | Monthly, in advance, for the month it covers |
| Offline / air-gapped uplift | Additional build and support path | When the uplifted build is delivered |
| Out-of-scope work | Custom work you ask for and we agree in writing | As performed |
2.1 Trials. We may give you a trial: a real, fully working installation on your own
server, with a licence that expires after 14 days, for which you pay nothing. A trial is not a
consumer free trial and carries no obligation. While it runs, everything in this policy that
concerns a fee does not apply, because there is no fee. Where you convert to a paying term
(annual or monthly), this policy applies from that point and nothing is reinstalled —
the same installation and the same data carry on. When a trial licence expires without
conversion, background automation stops and you keep the application, every record, and the
ability to export (Licence Agreement §3.3, §6.4). A lapsed trial is never placed in read-only
mode: that step needs one of the grounds in §3.7.
3. When you get a refund
3.1 We cannot deliver a working installation. If, despite your full cooperation and excluding causes attributable to your server, your network, your providers, your data, or your availability, we are unable to deliver an installation that meets the agreed completion test (§4.1 of the Licence Agreement) within 30 days of starting deployment, then (and note the floor in the paragraph after the example):
- you may cancel, and
- your sole and exclusive remedy is a refund of the one-time deployment fee, less documented engineering time already performed, charged at the published hourly rate.
One deduction rule, and it has a ceiling. The deduction is the lesser of (a) the documented engineering time already performed, at the published hourly rate, and (b) 50% of the one-time deployment fee. In other words, whatever the hours on the clock, at least half of the deployment fee comes back to you if we cannot get you working. The purpose is to keep this remedy real rather than nominal, and to make the arithmetic something you can check before you sign.
Example, so there is no argument later: a deployment fee of USD 5,000, 10 hours of documented engineering time at the published rate of USD 120 per hour, and an installation that still did not complete, gives a refund of USD 5,000 − USD 1,200 = USD 3,800. If the documented time had been 40 hours (USD 4,800), the deduction is capped at 50% (USD 2,500) and the refund is USD 2,500.
3.2 We cannot start at all. If we never begin work (no licence issued, no engineering time performed), you get the deployment fee back in full.
3.3 We discontinue the product or support while you are paid up. We will refund the unused part of any fee you have paid for a period we no longer intend to serve — calculated pro rata for the remaining complete months — and we will supply a licence file that keeps your installation running to the end of the paid period.
3.4 Duplicate or mistaken payment. Refunded in full, on request.
3.5 We are in material breach and do not fix it. If we are in material breach of the Licence Agreement and do not remedy it within 15 days of your written notice, you may terminate and receive a pro-rata refund of the current month's support fee, plus the §3.1 remedy if the breach also prevented delivery.
3.6 Something else. Anything not covered above is at our discretion, in writing. We would rather fix a problem than keep a fee for work that did not help you; ask.
3.7 What happens to the software when we refund. When we refund a fee, the licence for that installation ends. The software runs on your own server and we have no access to it, so the way that ending happens in practice is read-only mode, exactly as defined in Licence Agreement §3.6: the software stops accepting new work, and you keep every record, you keep the ability to sign in and read, and you keep the ability to export your invoices and customers to CSV — from inside your own installation, without asking us. We do not delete anything, we do not encrypt anything, and there is no code in the product that could. Read-only mode is not a punishment and not a collection tool: it is how a licence that has been refunded comes to an end without us reaching into your server. It applies from the moment we have refunded, not while a request is being considered. If a licence is refunded while you still hold a paid monthly term, the refund of that term ends with it — see §7 for cancelling forward instead.
4. When you do not get a refund
| Situation | Why |
|---|---|
| Change of mind after the licence file and image have been delivered and deployment has started | Digital delivery and deployment work are already performed; the licence is unique to you and we cannot re-sell it |
| The monthly support fee for a month already started | The service is delivered monthly in advance |
| You did not install the updates, patch the server, or secure the credentials, and something broke | Not our failure |
| Your server, hosting, firewall, network, or third-party provider (accounting system, email provider, telephony carrier) failed, changed, or was suspended | Outside our control (Licence Agreement §8.7) |
| You did not get the collection result you hoped for | The software automates a process; it does not guarantee that your customers pay |
| You configured the wrong contact windows, cooldowns, templates, or scripts, or turned required features off | Your configuration is your responsibility (Licence Agreement §1.6) |
| You were suspended for non-payment, breach of the permitted-use restriction, or a lawful requirement | Our suspension is a contractual remedy, not a failure to supply |
| Fees for out-of-scope work already performed | Time and materials, as agreed in writing |
| A fee change for a future period that you simply do not accept | Fees already paid for a period already served are unaffected; you may cancel forward |
5. How to ask
Email partners@piedmontaccounting.com with: your licence ID, what you are asking for, and the reason. Please talk to us before starting a chargeback or card dispute — most of these situations are solvable in one call, and a dispute usually delays the fix. We answer refund requests within 10 business days, and we pay an agreed refund within 14 business days, by the same method it was received where possible.
6. Chargebacks and disputes
We will not treat a good-faith dispute as a breach. If you reverse a payment for a fee that was properly due and not under discussion, we may suspend the licence until it is resolved, and we may recover the direct costs we incurred contesting the reversal (typically USD 15–100 of processor dispute fees, plus documented professional costs). We do not charge a fixed penalty for a chargeback, and nothing here takes away your rights under your card scheme's rules or under any law that applies to you.
7. Cancelling the monthly support subscription
You may cancel the monthly support fee at any time with 30 days' written notice (an email is enough), effective at the end of the current paid month. The software keeps running to the end of your licence term; after that, background automation pauses per Licence Agreement §3.3, and you keep access to your data and the application (manual use, export, editing) as described there. Cancelling support does not entitle you to a refund of the deployment fee. Cancelling support never places your installation in read-only mode — that step needs one of the grounds in §3.7, and stopping a subscription is not one of them.
8. Statutory rights
Nothing in this policy excludes or limits any right that the law does not allow us to exclude or limit, or any remedy for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation. If a mandatory rule in your jurisdiction gives you a stronger right than this policy, that rule applies.
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