Trial and plans

How the free trial works, what the plans allow, the reminders you get, how to choose a plan, and what happens if the trial ends without one.

What it is for

A company created by signup starts on a free trial. During the trial you can use every feature. Before it ends you choose a plan to keep your company open. This page explains the trial, the plans and their limits, and what happens at the end.

Who can use it

• Owners and admins see the plan, the trial banner, the reminders and Settings > Billing, and can choose a plan. An admin can do everything an owner can.
• Supervisors, crew and accountants do not see billing. They are not told about the trial. If the company locks, they see a short "access is paused" page.

The company pays, not the person. One plan covers everyone in the company.

The free trial

• The trial starts when your company is created by signup. It lasts 14 days and needs no card. Your exact end date is in your welcome email and on Settings > Billing.
• During the trial your company has every feature of the top plan (at the time of writing: Business, with unlimited people and the API).
• Settings > Billing shows "Free trial (every feature of Business)" and, under it, the days left and the end date: "Your trial ends on (date); choose a plan to keep your company open."
• Export all company data (the one ZIP of everything, in Settings > Export) works during the trial too, the same as on a paid plan.
• A company that was not created by signup has no trial.

Trial reminders

Owners and admins are reminded before the trial ends:

• By email and by a bell notification, 7 days, 3 days and 1 day before the end. Each reminder is sent once. On a short trial you get only the nearest one, not all three at once.
• The email subject is "Your FSMCore trial ends on (date)". It says: "Your trial ends on (date). Choose a plan to keep your company open." and "After that date your company locks; its data is deleted 30 days later unless you choose a plan." It also names the plan that fits your company now, for example "With 4 people, the plan that fits is Small (€69.00 a month, + VAT where it applies). Accountants are free." It has a Choose a plan button that opens Settings > Billing.
• These emails are sent even if your company has email notifications switched off.

The trial banner

When 7 days or less are left, an amber banner shows at the top of every page of the admin area, for owners and admins only: "Your trial ends on (date) (N days left). Choose a plan to keep your company open." with a Choose a plan link to Settings > Billing.

The plans

The plan cards on Settings > Billing show the plans you can choose, with the current price in your company's currency. The plans and their limits at the time of writing:

Every plan has every feature; only the people, the storage and the API differ. Your accountant is free: people with only the Accountant role do not count.

Plans, limits and prices can change. The plan cards always show what applies now.

Prices

• Each card shows the price for the period you pick with the Monthly and Yearly buttons above the cards, for example an amount "a month" or "a year".
• When paying yearly costs less than twelve single months, the card shows the saving next to the yearly price, for example "2 months free".
• The price is in the currency of your company's country when FSMCore sells in that currency (euro, pound sterling, US dollar, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar or New Zealand dollar). For every other country the price is in euro.
• If a plan has no price in that currency yet, the card shows "Price coming soon" and cannot be chosen yet.
• Under the price each card lists what the plan allows: the people (for example "Up to 3 people"), the storage (for example "5 GB storage") and "API for other software" or "No API".

People limit

A plan allows a number of people. Everyone in the company who is not archived counts, except people whose only role is Accountant: the accountant is free. A person with Accountant and any other role counts.

• When the company is full, adding a new person or restoring an archived person is refused with "Your plan allows N people. Upgrade to add more." (or "Your plan allows 1 person. Upgrade to add more."). The AI assistant is refused in the same way.
• If the company already has more people than the plan allows (for example after moving to a smaller plan), nobody can be sent an invitation until you archive people or choose a bigger plan. Send invite email shows "Invitation not sent" and Copy invite link shows "Invitation link not created", each with "Your plan allows N people. Upgrade to add more." No link is made and no email is sent. Nobody is removed automatically.
• Giving another role to a person who has only Accountant makes them count. On a full plan that is refused with the same "Your plan allows N people. Upgrade to add more." Adding or restoring a person with only Accountant is never refused.
• Settings > Billing shows the count under People, for example "4 of 10" or "4 of unlimited", and under it "Accountants: N (free)".
• To make room, archive a person who no longer works with you, or choose a bigger plan. See People.

Storage limit

A plan includes an amount of storage for photos and files. Settings > Billing shows how much is used under Storage. When the storage is full, new uploads are refused with "Storage full: clean up in Settings > Storage, or upgrade." until you delete files or choose a bigger plan. Nothing is deleted automatically.

API

The API lets other software read your company's data. It is part of the Company, Large and Business plans (and of the free trial). On another plan the API cannot be switched on, no access token can be made, and calls from other software are refused. The message is "The API is not part of your plan. Choose a plan with the API in Settings > Billing." Settings > Billing shows "Yes" or "No" under API.

Choose a plan

Owners and admins only.

1. Open Settings > Billing.
2. In the section Choose a plan, press Monthly or Yearly.
3. On the card of the plan you want, press Choose plan. The payment window opens on top of the page.
4. Pay. You come back to Settings > Billing with the line "Thank you. Your plan shows here as soon as the payment is confirmed; you do not need to reload."
5. When the payment is confirmed, Your plan shows "Active:" with the plan name and "monthly" or "yearly", and "Next payment:" with the date. The card of your plan carries a Current plan badge.

If the cards show "Payments are not switched on yet", plans cannot be bought yet. Your trial carries on as normal until its end date.

Changing plan later, updating your card, receipts and cancelling are on the same page, Settings > Billing.

Manage your plan

Owners and admins only, on Settings > Billing. The buttons below show only once payments are switched on and your company has a paid plan.

What the page shows

The section Your plan shows the billing state, a line with the date that matters (days left in the trial, next payment, or when a cancelled plan stops), and three figures: People, Storage and API.

Change plan

1. With a paid plan running, the plan section is headed Change plan. Press Monthly or Yearly.
2. On the card you want, press Change to this plan. Your own plan and period has no button.
3. The window Change your plan? says: "The change starts now. Paddle charges or credits the difference for the rest of the period." Press Change plan.
4. The message "Plan changed to" with the plan name shows.

A plan smaller than the people you have now cannot be chosen: its card says "You have N people; this plan allows M." and has no button. Archive people first, or choose a bigger plan.

Update card

Press Update card at the top of the page. The payment provider's page for your card opens.

Cancel plan

1. Press Cancel plan at the top of the page.
2. The window Cancel your plan? says: "Access stays until the paid period ends ((date)). Then the company locks and its data is deleted 30 days later. Export first." Press Cancel plan.
3. The message Plan cancelled shows: "Your company works until the end of the paid period."

After cancelling, the page says "Your plan is cancelled. A new plan can be chosen when the paid period has ended." When the paid period ends the company locks, and the rules in When the trial ends without a plan apply, the deletion date included.

Receipts

The section Receipts lists your payments, newest first, up to 50: Date, Number, Status and Total. Press PDF on a row to open that receipt. Before the first payment it shows "No payments yet."

Billing states

Settings > Billing shows one of these under Your plan:

When the trial ends without a plan

If the trial reaches its end date and no plan was chosen, the company locks at once. There is no read-only period.

• Nobody can open the company. Every page goes to one lock page.
• Owners and admins see what ended and when, the plan cards, and a section Your company data. Everyone else sees "(Company)'s FSMCore access is paused. Ask your admin."
• Owners and admins get an email with the subject "(Company) is locked on FSMCore" and a Choose a plan or export your data button. It states the date the company data will be permanently deleted.
• The company data is due to be permanently deleted 30 days after the company locked. Until that date an owner or admin can sign in to choose a plan and carry on where they left off, or export all company data.
• Reminder emails go to owners and admins 7 days and 1 day before the deletion date, each once, with the subject "Your FSMCore company data will be deleted on (date)": "Your company data will be deleted on (date). Export it or choose a plan."
• Choosing a plan opens the company again and cancels the deletion date.

The same happens when a cancelled plan reaches the end of its paid period, or a complimentary plan with an end date reaches that date.

The lock page

What an owner or admin sees and can do on the lock page:

• The heading says what ended: "Your FSMCore trial ended on (date)", "Your subscription ended on (date)" or "Your complimentary FSMCore plan ended on (date)". Under it: "(Company) is locked: nobody can open it until a plan is chosen."
• Choose a plan: the same plan cards as on the billing page. After paying, the page says "Thank you. Your company opens as soon as the payment is confirmed; this page updates by itself."
• Your company data: the date the data will be permanently deleted, and two buttons.
• Export all company data starts the export. The page says "Export started. It is being prepared in the background; this page updates by itself." The export is a ZIP file with every record, every stored file and a PDF of every issued document. It is kept for 7 days. The exports are listed with Requested, By, Status and a Download link when ready. You can export as often as you need until the deletion date.
• Delete my company data now opens a window. Type the company name and press Delete my company data now. This cannot be undone. The page then says "Your request is recorded. The company data will be permanently deleted tonight (after 04:30 Irish time). No new export can be made; an export that is ready can still be downloaded until then." The other owners and admins are told by email.
• Sign out is at the foot of the page, for everyone.

Once the deletion date has passed, or after a delete request, no new export can be made. An export that is ready can still be downloaded on the lock page until the data is really deleted.

What happens after

• After you choose a plan, the trial banner and reminders stop.
• The plan's people limit, storage limit and API rule apply from then on. If you chose a plan smaller than what you used during the trial, nothing is deleted and nobody is removed, but you cannot add or invite people, or upload files, while you are over the limit.
• Every change of your company's billing state is recorded.

Common mistakes