Renewal & maintenance

The Updates plan is the optional annual subscription that keeps you current. Year 1 is included with your purchase; Year 2+ is the renewal decision. This page covers the mechanics — when it bills, what happens at lapse, how to re-enroll.

For what's actually in the Updates plan vs what's perpetual, see Pricing → What's included with what.

What it is

When it bills

Year 1 is included in your purchase price. Billing for Year 2 happens on the anniversary of your original purchase date — buy on March 15, 2026, you're billed for the Year 2 plan on March 15, 2027.

Two weeks before the anniversary, you get a renewal-notice email with:

• The amount that will charge
• The card on file (last 4 digits)
• A link to update card details, change tier, or cancel

If you do nothing, the renewal charges automatically on the anniversary. The Updates plan extends another 12 months.

If the charge fails (expired card, insufficient funds, etc.), Solid retries on the next two days, then on the 14th day. After that, the plan goes into a 30-day grace period before lapsing — see Grace period below.

Cancelling before renewal

You can opt out of the auto-renewal any time before the renewal date:

• solidaccounting.com → My Account → Updates plan → Cancel renewal
• Or email support@solidaccounting.com

After cancellation, your current Updates plan stays active through its end date. Solid still gets updates and support; the just-cancelled-renewal means no charge happens at the end. You can re-enable auto-renewal any time before the anniversary.

Grace period

If a renewal charge fails or you cancel, your Updates plan enters a 30-day grace period before formal lapse:

The grace period exists to prevent disruption from a temporary card issue. If you fix it within 30 days (update the card, complete payment), the plan continues unbroken.

What happens at lapse

When the Updates plan lapses (after the grace period):

This is the deliberate trade-off: the software stays usable indefinitely; the services and integrations stop. See Cloud Backup → Lapse policy for the specific 1-year restore window.

Security patches at lapse

Critical security patches keep arriving for 3 years from your last paid date even after lapse. The definition of "critical" is tight:

• Vulnerabilities that allow data loss
• Vulnerabilities that allow unauthorized access
• Vulnerabilities that allow remote code execution

These patches arrive automatically through the normal update channel — you don't need to do anything to receive them. They're delivered as small patch releases targeting your version specifically.

Bug fixes that don't fall into critical-security categories (annoyances, performance, edge-case failures) require an active Updates plan.

Re-enrolling after lapse

You can re-enroll any time:

• solidaccounting.com → My Account → Updates plan → Re-enroll

Re-enrollment:

• Charges the standard annual price for the new term
• New term starts on the day you re-enroll (not retroactive)
• You're back on the latest version — Solid downloads the current release and applies any necessary file-format migrations
• Cloud Backup resumes (re-enable from settings; existing backups within the 1-year restore window are still accessible)

The re-enrollment doesn't penalize a gap — there's no "back-pay for the months you missed" mechanism. You pay one annual fee for the next 12 months from re-enrollment.

Special cases

Multi-year prepay

You can prepay 2 or 3 years up front for a discount:

• 2 years — 5% off ($283 instead of $298 for Pro)
• 3 years — 10% off ($537 instead of $597 for Pro)

The prepay locks in the current price; if we raise prices in year 2 or 3, you're not affected for your prepaid term.

Email support@solidaccounting.com to set up multi-year prepay.

Tier changes mid-cycle

Upgrading tiers mid-cycle:

• New tier price applies immediately
• Difference is prorated based on remaining time on the current cycle
• Example: 6 months into a Standard $149 plan, upgrade to Pro. You've used $74.50; you owe $99.50 for 6 months of Pro

Downgrading: takes effect at the next renewal. You don't lose Pro features mid-cycle just because you elected to renew at Standard.

Annual prepay vs auto-renewal

By default, Updates plans are auto-renewing — your card on file charges yearly. If you prefer to manually renew (no card on file, you handle billing each year):

• My Account → Updates plan → Switch to manual renewal
• We send a renewal-due email 30 days before the anniversary
• You pay via credit card or invoice (for invoice billing, contact support)

Manual renewal is common for businesses where the card-on-file owner is a business owner who's strict about renewals.

Refunds for unused maintenance time

If you cancel mid-cycle and want a refund for unused months:

• See Refunds for the policy
• Short version: prorated refunds are available for technical reasons (the file became unusable on a system Solid no longer supports, etc.); not for change-of-mind cancellations

Common gotchas

"My card was charged but I didn't expect it." Auto-renewal triggered. Check your renewal-notice email from two weeks before the charge. To cancel future renewals, My Account → Cancel renewal.

"I cancelled but Solid still says my plan is active." It is — cancellation stops future renewals but keeps the current plan active through its expiration date.

"I want to upgrade tiers but only get the new tier price." Tier changes are prorated. Upgrading mid-cycle pays the difference; you don't lose what you've already paid.

"My Updates plan lapsed but I'm still getting features." The version you have at lapse is still up-to-date for that version's release line. Solid pushes critical security patches even at lapse. New feature releases require an active plan.

"I renewed but Cloud Backup isn't running." After lapse + re-enroll, Cloud Backup needs to be re-enabled from Settings → Cloud Backup → Resume. The configuration is preserved; just toggle it on.

"I want to pause my plan for a few months." Pausing isn't a feature — you cancel, then re-enroll when ready. The trade-off: during the gap, you're on the version you had when paused; new features and integrations arrive only when you re-enroll.

Cross-references

• Pricing page — public price comparison
• Account & Billing overview — the full pricing model
• License keys — license stays valid even when Updates plan lapses
• Cloud Backup → Lapse policy — what happens to backups specifically