Monthly or yearly billing: how it works

Billing questions usually come down to a few simple ones. When do I pay, how do I pay, and how do I stop? This article answers them in order. It does not list prices, because those live in one place at /pricing/.

Monthly or yearly

Every plan can be billed either way. You do not need a particular plan to get yearly billing. Office, Practice and Firm all offer both options.

• Monthly keeps the commitment short. It suits an office that is still deciding, or one with seasonal changes in headcount.
• Yearly is two months free compared with paying month by month for twelve months. It suits an office that already knows it will keep scanning.

If you are unsure, a reasonable approach is to start monthly, watch how your team uses the dashboard for a few cycles, and consider switching to yearly once the routine is established.

Nothing is charged during the trial

The trial lasts 14 days, counted from when you add your first computer. You save a card to start, and it is never charged automatically. When the trial ends, scanning pauses and you choose a plan and monthly or yearly billing; the card is charged only then. We send a reminder email 3 days before the trial ends, so the date is never a surprise. There is more on this in the day-by-day trial plan.

You choose your plan when the trial ends

The trial is the full product, at the Firm plan's limits, so you can try it on every computer and location. When it ends you choose the plan you keep and whether it is monthly or yearly; the plan chooser suggests the smallest plan that covers what you set up. Because device limits are enforced in the product, choose the plan that fits your computers and locations; you can add packs of 10 more computers and 3 more sites, or move up later, if you need to. Choosing a plan explains how to count them.

How you pay

The card is collected when you start the trial, through Stripe, which is a payment processor. That means your card details are entered into Stripe's payment form and are not typed into the MyVaultMate dashboard. The trial itself needs a card. If you would rather pay by ACH bank transfer after the trial, call (775) 229-2579 to set it up.

The founding offer, for the first ten companies, is half price on any plan for the first six months, billed monthly by card, then the standard price, in exchange for a logo, a written endorsement and a 20-minute feedback call each quarter. The terms are on the founding page.

Cancelling

You can cancel any time. A few practical tips before you do:

1. Export first. Download your findings and reports before cancelling. Scan data is kept for 90 days in case you come back, then deleted. The dashboard exports to PDF, CSV and XLSX, and those files are your record of what was found and when.
2. Note your open items. If findings are still unresolved, record who owns them, since the dashboard will no longer track them for you.
3. Tell your IT provider. If they set up MyVaultMate on your computers, they may want to choose Stop watching and Unpair, put back any quarantined files, and delete the program file on each one once you stop.

Cancelling stops billing. It leaves the files on your computers exactly as they are; MyVaultMate does not delete or change files.

Picking a billing period in practice

Think about two things: how sure you are, and how you like to budget. Some owners prefer a small monthly line item that is easy to review each month. Others like a single yearly payment that they can put in the budget once and forget. Neither choice changes what the product does. Every detection feature is in every plan, and the billing period only affects how often you pay and how much you save over the year.

Whichever you choose, put a reminder on your calendar a couple of weeks before renewal so that you can review whether the plan still fits your computers and locations.

Common questions

Can I start monthly and switch later? Talk to us about changing the billing period; it is a normal request. What if I outgrow my plan? You can move up later. What if I cancel during the trial? You are not charged, and the account stops at the end of the trial window.

If you need advice on how to treat the expense in your books, your accountant is the right person to ask.