BrightenBooks Terms of Service

Last updated October 3, 2026

These terms are an agreement between you and the maker of BrightenBooks ("we", "us"). By creating an account or using BrightenBooks, you agree to them and to our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree, please don't use BrightenBooks.

1. What BrightenBooks is

BrightenBooks is a bookkeeping tool for small businesses. It helps you keep jobs, receipts, photos, quotes, invoices, payments, hours, mileage and reports, and it estimates HST and profit. Your books are stored on your device. If you choose to turn on Sync, a copy is also stored in a database in Canada, as described in our Privacy Policy. This service includes the iPhone and iPad app and the website at brightenbooks.ca.

2. Who can use it

BrightenBooks is a business tool for adults. To create an account or subscribe you must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority where you live if that is higher, and able to enter into a binding contract. Do not use BrightenBooks if you are younger. If we learn that someone under that age has an account, we may close it and delete its data. If you use BrightenBooks for a company or other organization, you confirm that you have the authority to agree to these terms for it.

3. Your account

Your account is created on your device. You can sign in with Apple, Google, or an email and password. If you turn on Sync, you also have an online account, and you can sign in to it on other devices and on our website.

• Keep your devices, passwords and Face ID secure. Anyone who can unlock your device and the app can see your books. You are responsible for everything that happens under your account.
• If you only use the on-device account, we cannot reset your password or recover your account, because we do not have your books. If you use Sync, we may be able to help you get back into your online account, but we cannot recover books that were never synced.
• Give us accurate information, and tell us right away if you think someone else has accessed your account.

4. Your data and backups

• You own everything you put into BrightenBooks. We do not claim any ownership of it.
• If you never turn on Sync, we never receive your books and cannot see them.
• If you turn on Sync, you give us permission to store, copy and show your data to you and the people you invite, only so that we can run the service. We may also access it as described in the Privacy Policy, for example to keep the service working or if the law requires it.
• The app saves your books in the BrightenBooks folder in the Files app and makes daily safety copies there. It never deletes them.
• Phones get lost, apps get deleted and servers fail. You are responsible for keeping your own copies of anything important, for example by copying the BrightenBooks folder to a computer or drive, or by using your device's backup. We do not guarantee that your data will never be lost or damaged.

5. Teams and invited people

If you invite a partner, bookkeeper or crew member, you decide who can see your books and what role they have. You are responsible for who you invite, for removing anyone who should no longer have access, and for telling them how their information is used. An owner can remove anyone at any time. If an owner deletes the online account, the whole company's online data is erased for everyone in it.

6. Information about other people

Your books may include information about your customers, workers and others, such as names, addresses, phone numbers, signatures, photos and pay. You are responsible for having the right to collect and store that information and for following the privacy, employment, tax and other laws that apply to you. We handle it only to provide BrightenBooks to you.

7. Not tax, legal or accounting advice

HST figures, the HST return helper, mileage and business-use calculations, profit totals and reports are estimates based on what you enter. They are provided to help you keep records. They are not tax, legal or accounting advice, and tax rules change. We do not file anything for you. Check important figures, and anything you file with the Canada Revenue Agency, with a qualified accountant. You are responsible for the accuracy of your records and your filings, and for any tax, penalties or interest.

8. Subscriptions and free trials

• BrightenBooks offers Simple, Essentials, Plus and Advanced plans, billed monthly or yearly in Canadian dollars. You can subscribe through the Apple App Store in the iPhone app, or by card on our website. Prices are shown before you buy. Each plan is bought under one account (one email address). You, as the owner, can share it with other people by inviting them to your company: they sign in with their own emails, see the same books, and use your company's plan. A plan can't be used for a separate company that you don't own.
• New subscribers may get a free trial. Unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the trial or billing period ends, your subscription renews automatically and Apple charges your Apple account.
• You can change or cancel your plan any time in your device's Settings › your name › Subscriptions. Refunds are handled by Apple under Apple's policies.
• If you subscribe on our website: your card is charged by Stripe, our payment provider. We never see or store your full card number. Your 7-day free trial starts when you subscribe, and your card is charged when it ends unless you cancel first. After that your plan renews each month or year at the price shown until you cancel.
• Cancelling a website subscription: sign in at brightenbooks.ca, open Account, and choose Manage billing. You can cancel there any time. You keep your plan until the end of the period you've paid for, and you won't be charged again. We don't refund the unused part of a period, but if something went wrong with a charge, email brightenbooks26@gmail.com within 14 days and we'll look at it.
• If tax applies to your purchase, it is shown at checkout before you pay. A plan bought on the website or in the app works on both.
• If your subscription ends, you can still open and look at everything you've already saved. Adding new records needs an active plan.
• Some plans have limits, such as the number of active jobs, receipt scans per month, or crew members. These are shown in the app.

9. Acceptable use

Use BrightenBooks only for lawful purposes. Don't use it to create false invoices, receipts or records, or to mislead customers, employees or tax authorities. Don't try to break, overload or get unauthorized access to the service or anyone else's data, and don't upload anything illegal or harmful. Signatures you collect in the app are your responsibility; make sure the person signing agrees to what they're signing.

10. The app itself

We license the app to you for your own business use on Apple devices you own or control, under these terms and the Apple Media Services terms. You may not copy, resell, or reverse-engineer the app. We may update the app, change features, or change prices for future billing periods; Apple will tell you before a price increase applies to your subscription.

11. Other companies' services

BrightenBooks relies on services from other companies, such as Apple (the App Store, Sign in with Apple and device backups), Google (Sign in with Google) and our hosting provider. Their own terms apply to those services, and we are not responsible for their outages, changes or actions.

12. Availability and changes to the service

We work to keep BrightenBooks reliable, but we do not promise it will always be available, error-free or uninterrupted, and Sync in particular depends on your internet connection and our hosting provider. We may change, suspend or stop features. If we ever stop the service completely, we will give you reasonable notice and a way to keep your books.

13. No warranty

To the fullest extent the law allows, BrightenBooks is provided "as is" and "as available", without promises of any kind, including that it will meet your needs, be free of errors, or that its calculations will be right for your situation.

14. Limit of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for lost data, lost profits, lost business, tax penalties or interest, or any indirect, incidental or consequential loss arising from your use of BrightenBooks. Our total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us for BrightenBooks in the 12 months before the claim. Nothing in these terms limits any liability, or any right you have under consumer protection or other law, that cannot legally be limited or waived.

15. Your responsibility for claims

To the extent the law allows, you agree to cover claims, losses and reasonable costs (including legal fees) that come from your content, from your use of BrightenBooks in breach of these terms or the law, or from disputes between you and your customers, workers or tax authorities, except to the extent we caused them.

16. Ending these terms

You can stop using BrightenBooks and delete your account at any time in Settings › Delete my account, and delete your online copy in Settings › Sync and team. We may suspend or end your access if you break these terms, if you are under the minimum age, or if we must for legal reasons. Sections that by their nature should continue (such as 4, 6, 7, 13 to 15 and 18) continue after these terms end.

17. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change is important, we'll mention it in the app. If you keep using BrightenBooks after a change, you accept the updated terms.

18. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply there. If you have a problem, please email us first so we can try to sort it out. Courts in Ontario can hear any dispute, except where consumer protection law gives you the right to go elsewhere.

19. General

If any part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies. If we don't enforce a part right away, we haven't given it up. These terms and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between you and us about BrightenBooks. We may transfer our rights to someone who takes over the service; you may not transfer yours without our written consent. We are not responsible for delays or failures caused by things outside our reasonable control.

20. Apple

• These terms are between you and us, not Apple. We, not Apple, are responsible for BrightenBooks and its content.
• Apple has no duty to provide maintenance or support for the app. If the app does not meet a warranty that applies, you may tell Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price if there is one. Apple has no other warranty duty for the app.
• We, not Apple, are responsible for any claims about the app, including product liability, legal or regulatory compliance, consumer protection, and intellectual property claims.
• You confirm that you are not in a country under a government embargo and are not on a list of prohibited parties.
• You must follow any third-party terms that apply when you use the app, such as your mobile carrier's.
• Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and may enforce them against you.

21. Contact

Questions or complaints about BrightenBooks? Email us at brightenbooks26@gmail.com.