Terms of Service

1. Agreement to Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("User," "you," or "your") and Stratum ("Company," "we," "us," or "our") concerning your access to and use of the Stratum tax planning software platform (the "Service").

By accessing or using our Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree to all of these Terms, you may not access or use the Service.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to use this Service. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you are of legal age to form a binding contract.

The Service is intended for use by licensed financial advisors, tax professionals, and financial planning firms. You represent that you have the necessary professional licenses and qualifications to provide financial or tax advice in your jurisdiction.

3. Account Registration and Security

3.1 Account Creation

To access certain features of the Service, you must register for an account. You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and to update such information to keep it accurate, current, and complete.

3.2 Account Security

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activities that occur under your account. You must:

• Use a strong password and keep it confidential
• Notify us immediately of any unauthorized access or security breach
• Not share your account credentials with others
• Log out of your account at the end of each session

3.3 Account Termination

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your account at any time for violations of these Terms or for any other reason at our sole discretion, with or without notice.

4. Subscription and Billing

4.1 Subscription Plans

We offer various subscription plans as described on our pricing page. By subscribing, you agree to pay all applicable fees for your selected plan.

4.2 Billing

• Subscription fees are billed in advance on a monthly or annual basis
• Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled before the renewal date
• All fees are non-refundable except as required by law or as expressly stated in these Terms
• We reserve the right to change our pricing with 30 days' notice

4.3 Free Trial

We may offer a free trial period. If you do not cancel before the trial ends, you will be automatically charged for your selected subscription plan.

4.4 Cancellation

You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings or by contacting support. Cancellation will be effective at the end of your current billing period.

Upon cancellation, you will retain access to your account for 30 days, after which your data may be deleted unless otherwise required by law.

5. Acceptable Use Policy

You agree not to:

• Use the Service for any illegal purpose or in violation of any laws
• Violate the intellectual property rights of Stratum or any third party
• Upload viruses, malware, or any malicious code
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service or related systems
• Interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers
• Use automated systems (bots, scrapers) to access the Service without permission
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any part of the Service
• Remove or modify any proprietary notices or labels
• Use the Service to provide services to third parties without authorization
• Share your account credentials or allow unauthorized access

6. Professional Responsibility

The Service is a Tool, Not Advice. Stratum provides tax planning software tools and does not provide tax, legal, or financial advice. You are solely responsible for:

• Verifying the accuracy of all calculations and projections
• Ensuring compliance with all applicable tax laws and regulations
• Exercising independent professional judgment in all client matters
• Maintaining appropriate professional licenses and insurance
• Complying with all professional standards and ethical obligations

The Service does not replace professional judgment. You should independently verify all information before relying on it or presenting it to clients.

7. Client Data and Privacy

7.1 Your Responsibilities

You are solely responsible for obtaining all necessary consents and authorizations from your clients before entering their data into the Service. You represent and warrant that you have the legal right to collect, use, and share all client data you input into the Service.

7.2 Data Ownership

You retain all ownership rights to your client data. We claim no ownership rights over any data you submit to the Service.

7.3 Our Use of Data

We will use your client data only to provide the Service and as described in our Privacy Policy. We will not sell your client data to third parties.

We may use anonymized, aggregated data for analytics, product improvement, and research purposes.

8. Intellectual Property Rights

8.1 Our Rights

The Service, including all software, text, graphics, logos, and other content, is owned byStratum and protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. All rights not expressly granted to you are reserved by Stratum.

8.2 License Grant

Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Service for your internal business purposes.

8.3 Restrictions

You may not copy, modify, distribute, sell, or lease any part of the Service, nor may you reverse engineer or attempt to extract the source code, unless permitted by law.

9. Disclaimers

We do not warrant that:

• The Service will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free
• The results obtained from the Service will be accurate or reliable
• Any errors in the Service will be corrected
• The Service will meet your specific requirements

10. Limitation of Liability

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages, so some of the above limitations may not apply to you.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Stratum and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses, including reasonable attorney's fees, arising out of or in any way connected with:

• Your access to or use of the Service
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any third-party rights, including intellectual property or privacy rights
• Your provision of advice or services to your clients using the Service
• Any client data you submit to the Service

12. Changes to the Service

We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the Service (or any part thereof) at any time, with or without notice. We will not be liable to you or any third party for any modification, suspension, or discontinuation of the Service.

13. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated Terms on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date.

Your continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the Service.

14. Dispute Resolution

14.1 Informal Resolution

Before filing a claim, you agree to contact us at support@swifton.com to attempt to resolve the dispute informally.

14.2 Arbitration

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service that cannot be resolved informally shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association. The arbitration shall take place in [Location to be determined], and judgment on the award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction.

14.3 Class Action Waiver

You agree that any arbitration or proceeding shall be limited to the dispute between you andStratum individually. To the fullest extent permitted by law, you agree that no arbitration or proceeding shall be joined with any other, and there is no right or authority for any dispute to be arbitrated on a class-action basis.

15. Governing Law and Venue

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of [State/Country to be determined], without regard to its conflict of law provisions. Any legal action or proceeding arising under these Terms will be brought exclusively in the courts located in [Jurisdiction to be determined], and you consent to personal jurisdiction in such courts.

16. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that these Terms will otherwise remain in full force and effect.

17. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any other policies referenced herein, constitute the entire agreement between you and Stratum regarding the Service and supersede all prior agreements and understandings.