Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you and FineShield ("FineShield," "we," "us," or "our") governing your access to and use of the FineShield website and compliance calendar service (collectively, the "Service").

By creating an account, clicking "Get Started," or otherwise accessing or using the Service, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated herein by reference.

If you are using the Service on behalf of a business or other legal entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind that entity to these Terms. In that case, "you" refers to that entity.

If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not access or use the Service.

FineShield provides a credential and license compliance tracking platform for trade contractors — including electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, roofers, and general contractors. The Service helps you track employee licenses, certifications, and continuing education requirements, and alerts you before they expire.

The Service includes:

• Employee credential and license tracking with expiration monitoring.
• Continuing education (CE) credit logging and tracking.
• Email expiration alerts before credentials lapse.
• Shareable compliance packets for clients, general contractors, and project bids.
• Document storage for license certificates and supporting files.

We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Service at any time with reasonable notice to users.

Compliance requirements vary by jurisdiction, business type, business size, industry, and individual circumstances, and are subject to change at any time. While we make reasonable efforts to keep our information current and accurate, we cannot guarantee that all information displayed is complete, accurate, up-to-date, or applicable to your specific situation.

Regulatory deadlines can shift due to legislative changes, IRS or agency announcements, emergency extensions, and other factors that may not be immediately reflected in our database. Always verify deadlines and filing requirements directly with the relevant government agency before taking action.

We strongly recommend consulting with licensed attorneys, certified public accountants, enrolled agents, and other qualified professionals for advice specific to your situation before making compliance decisions.

To access the full Service, you must create an account by providing a valid email address and password. By registering, you agree to:

• Provide accurate information — All information you supply during registration and in your business profile must be truthful, accurate, and current.
• Maintain account security — Keep your password confidential. Do not share your credentials with others or allow others to access your account.
• Report unauthorized access — Notify us immediately at hello@fineshield.co if you suspect unauthorized use of your account.
• Accept responsibility — You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account, whether or not you authorized it.
• One account per user — You may not create multiple accounts to circumvent subscription limits or other restrictions.

You must be at least 18 years of age to create an account. By registering, you represent that you meet this requirement.

FineShield offers a 14-day free trial followed by paid subscription tiers (Solo, Team, and Pro). Paid subscriptions unlock full credential tracking, email expiration alerts, compliance packets, and increased employee and storage limits.

Payment Processing

All payments are processed by Paddle.com Market Limited, who acts as our Merchant of Record. By subscribing to a paid plan, you agree to Paddle's terms of service and authorize Paddle to charge your payment method on our behalf. Paddle is responsible for all billing, tax collection, and payment compliance obligations.

Auto-Renewal

Paid subscriptions automatically renew at the end of each billing period (monthly or annual, as selected) at the then-current price, unless you cancel before the renewal date. You authorize us (via Paddle) to charge your payment method on file for the renewal amount.

Cancellation

You may cancel your subscription at any time from your account's Billing settings page. Cancellation takes effect at the end of your current paid billing period — you will retain access to paid features until that date. We do not provide partial refunds or credits for unused time within a billing period.

Refund Policy

All sales are final. There are no refunds on unused subscription periods. Because Paddle.com Market Limited acts as our Merchant of Record and processes all payments on our behalf, all refund requests are handled directly by Paddle in accordance with Paddle's refund policy. Paddle processes refund requests at their sole discretion on a case-by-case basis.

Price Changes

We will provide at least 30 days' advance notice by email before increasing subscription prices. Price changes take effect at the start of your next billing period following the notice period. Your continued use of the Service after a price change constitutes your acceptance of the new pricing.

Taxes

Paddle, as Merchant of Record, is responsible for calculating and remitting applicable sales taxes, VAT, and GST. The price displayed at checkout may include applicable taxes depending on your location.

You agree to use the Service only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You must not:

• Use the Service in any way that violates applicable federal, state, local, or international law or regulation.
• Scrape, crawl, spider, index, or systematically extract data from the Service using automated tools without our express written permission.
• Reproduce, republish, resell, sublicense, or commercially distribute compliance data or any other content from the Service without authorization.
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Service, its infrastructure, other user accounts, or our backend systems.
• Introduce malware, viruses, ransomware, spyware, Trojan horses, or other harmful or disruptive code into the Service.
• Engage in denial-of-service attacks or actions that disproportionately burden our infrastructure.
• Impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity.
• Use the Service to provide compliance information services to third parties without our written permission.
• Circumvent any technical measures we use to enforce these Terms or protect the Service.

Violation of these acceptable use provisions may result in immediate account suspension or termination without refund.

FineShield's Intellectual Property

The Service and all of its content and components — including but not limited to the software, source code, algorithms, database schema, compiled compliance data, design, user interface, trademarks, service marks, logos, and brand assets — are owned by FineShield and its licensors and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. All rights not expressly granted to you in these Terms are reserved.

You may not copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or create derivative works from any part of the Service without our prior written consent.

Your Data

You retain all ownership rights to the information you submit to FineShield, including your business profile data. By submitting this information, you grant FineShield a limited, non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, store, and process that information solely to provide and improve the Service for you. We do not claim any ownership over your business data.

Government Data

The underlying compliance data (tax rates, filing deadlines, penalty amounts) is sourced from official US government publications and websites, which are generally in the public domain. Our original contribution lies in the curation, structuring, formatting, and presentation of this data within the Service.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages. In those jurisdictions, our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless FineShield and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, and service providers from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses, or fees (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or relating to:

• Your violation of these Terms or our Privacy Policy.
• Your use of the Service, including any compliance decisions made in reliance on information provided.
• Any content or information you submit to the Service that is false, misleading, or inaccurate.
• Your violation of any third-party right, including intellectual property rights.
• Your violation of any applicable law or regulation.

We reserve the right, at our expense, to assume exclusive control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, in which case you agree to cooperate with our defense of that claim.

Governing Law

These Terms and any disputes arising from them shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to its conflict of law principles.

Informal Resolution

Before initiating any formal legal proceeding, you agree to first contact us at legal@fineshield.co and give us 30 days to attempt to resolve the dispute informally. Most concerns can be resolved quickly this way.

Binding Arbitration

If informal resolution fails, any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be resolved by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. The arbitration shall be conducted in the English language. The arbitrator's decision shall be final and binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Class Action Waiver

Exceptions

Notwithstanding the above, either party may seek emergency injunctive or other equitable relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to protect intellectual property rights or prevent irreparable harm, without waiving the right to arbitrate the underlying dispute.

By You

You may delete your account at any time from your account Settings page, or by contacting us at hello@fineshield.co. If you have an active paid subscription, cancel it first to avoid further charges. Account deletion is irreversible — we cannot recover your data after deletion is complete.

By FineShield

We may suspend or permanently terminate your access to the Service, with or without prior notice, if:

• You materially breach these Terms and fail to cure the breach within 7 days of written notice.
• You engage in conduct that is abusive, fraudulent, or harmful to other users or to FineShield.
• Continued provision of the Service to you would expose FineShield to legal liability or violate applicable law.
• We discontinue the Service entirely (in which case we will provide at least 30 days' advance notice).

Upon termination, your right to use the Service immediately ceases. Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11) shall survive.

We may modify these Terms at any time. When we make material changes, we will:

• Update the "Effective date" at the top of this page.
• Send an email notification to the address associated with your account at least 14 days before the changes take effect.
• Display a notice within the Service for the first 30 days after a material change.

Non-material changes (such as clarifications, grammar corrections, or formatting updates) may be made without notice. Your continued use of the Service after updated Terms become effective constitutes your acceptance of those Terms. If you do not agree to modified Terms, you must stop using the Service before they take effect.

• Entire Agreement — These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and FineShield regarding the Service and supersede all prior agreements, representations, and understandings.
• Severability — If any provision of these Terms is found by a court or arbitrator to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, and the remaining provisions shall continue in full force and effect.
• No Waiver — Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of that right or provision. A waiver in one instance does not constitute a waiver in any other instance.
• Assignment — You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may freely assign these Terms without restriction, including in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
• Notices — We may send notices to the email address associated with your account. Notices are deemed received 24 hours after sending. Notices to us must be sent to legal@fineshield.co.
• Force Majeure — FineShield shall not be liable for delays or failures in performance resulting from circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of God, internet outages, government actions, or third-party service failures.
• Relationship of the Parties — Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, employment, or agency relationship between you and FineShield.

If you have any questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us:

We aim to respond to all legal inquiries within 5 business days.