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Payment recovery & downgrade

If a payment fails and is not resolved within the grace period, your FSM Navigator account is downgraded to the Free plan. This guide explains the timeline, what your team experiences after the downgrade, and how to restore full access.

Why accounts get downgraded

Automatic downgrade happens for one reason: an unpaid subscription balance after the grace period expires.

Here is the timeline from a failed payment to the automatic downgrade:

flowchart LR
    A["Payment fails"] --> B["Grace period<br/>(1 day)"]
    B --> C["12-hour warning<br/>email sent"]
    C --> D["Grace period<br/>expires"]
    D --> E["Account<br/>downgraded to Free"]

Step-by-step timeline

Step Timing What happens
1. Payment fails Day 0 Your card is declined at renewal. You receive a failure notification email.
2. Grace period starts Day 0 Your account operates normally. You can update your payment method and retry.
3. Warning email 12 hours before expiry A second email warns you that the downgrade is imminent.
4. Grace period expires Day 1 If the balance remains unpaid, your account is automatically downgraded to the Free plan.

Act during the grace period

You have a limited window to update your payment method and pay the outstanding balance. Once the grace period expires, the downgrade is automatic.

What happens after the downgrade

When the grace period expires, your subscription is downgraded to the Free plan. This affects your team in several ways.

Read-only access

  • You can view existing jobs, customers, invoices, and other records.
  • You cannot create, edit, or delete records — all write operations are blocked.
  • Your team can still log in, but the interface shows a downgrade notice explaining the situation.

Feature restrictions

All paid features become unavailable after the downgrade:

Feature Status after downgrade
Creating or editing jobs ❌ Blocked
Sending invoices ❌ Blocked
Auto-assignment ❌ Unavailable
Inventory management ❌ Unavailable
Customer portal ❌ Unavailable
KPI dashboard ❌ Unavailable
Recurring jobs ❌ Unavailable
REST API ❌ Unavailable
Viewing existing data ✅ Available
Downloading invoices ✅ Available
Updating payment method ✅ Available

User deactivation

The Free plan supports a maximum of 5 active users. If your team exceeds this limit when the downgrade takes effect:

  • Excess users are deactivated automatically.
  • The system protects the account owner and the most recently active team members.
  • Deactivated users cannot log in until they are re-enabled.
  • The account owner decides which users to reactivate after restoring the subscription.

Excess users lose access immediately

If you have more than 5 active users, some team members are deactivated as soon as the downgrade takes effect. They cannot log in or access the mobile app until the account is reactivated and the owner re-enables their accounts.

Which users are kept active

During automatic deactivation, the system uses the following priority:

  1. Account owner — Always kept active.
  2. Most recently active users — Users who logged in most recently are prioritized.
  3. Remaining slots — Filled by activity recency until the 5-user limit is reached.

What happens when a subscription is fully cancelled

A subscription can be ended outside the normal grace-period flow — for example, after repeated failed payments, a manual cancellation through your payment provider, or an account closure initiated by the account owner. When that happens, FSM Navigator applies a stronger downgrade than a temporary lapse:

Effect What you and your team will see
Plan moves to Free Your user limit drops to 5. If you had more than 5 active team members, the oldest-active accounts (excluding the account owner) are deactivated automatically.
All active sessions are signed out Every team member is logged out of the web app and the mobile app. They will need to sign in again to access read-only data.
Customer payment processing is disconnected If you accept invoice payments through your customer portal, the link to your payment provider is revoked. Customers cannot pay invoices online until you re-subscribe to a paid plan and reconnect.
Deactivated users are remembered A snapshot of your team at the time of cancellation is preserved. When you re-subscribe to a paid plan, the previously deactivated users are restored to active status automatically.

Re-subscribing restores your team

Your account data is never deleted. When you re-subscribe to a paid plan, your previous user limit is restored and the team members deactivated during cancellation are reactivated automatically — you do not have to re-invite them or manually flip their status. You will need to reconnect customer payment processing through Settings → Billing.

Inviting users while your subscription is inactive

If your subscription is cancelled, expired, or downgraded for non-payment, your account is treated as if it is on the Free plan — you can have at most 5 active users. New invitations beyond that limit are blocked until you re-subscribe to a paid plan with the user count you need.

This applies whether you reach the 5-user cap because:

  • You are on the Free plan from the start, or
  • Your paid subscription was downgraded or cancelled and you have not re-subscribed yet.

To invite more team members, re-subscribe to Pro or Enterprise from Settings → Billing, then send the new invitation.

How to reactivate your account

To restore full access, pay the outstanding balance and choose a paid plan.

  1. Log in to FSM Navigator as the account owner.
  2. Go to Settings → Billing. A downgrade notice shows the outstanding balance.
  3. Click Reactivate or Pay now.
  4. Complete payment through the secure checkout page.
  5. Select your plan and billing cycle (Pro or Enterprise, monthly or annual).
  6. Your account is restored immediately — all features reactivate and the downgrade notice disappears.

After reactivation

Action Details
Features All paid features for your chosen plan are restored immediately.
Data All your jobs, customers, invoices, and records are intact — nothing is deleted during the downgrade.
Deactivated users Go to Settings → Users to re-enable team members who were deactivated.
Mobile app Re-enabled users can log in again on the mobile app immediately after reactivation.

Your data is safe

FSM Navigator never deletes your data during a downgrade. Jobs, customers, invoices, inventory, assets, and all other records are fully preserved.

How to avoid an automatic downgrade

Follow these best practices to prevent payment disruptions:

  • Keep your card up to date — Update your payment method before your card expires. See Payment methods.
  • Monitor notification emails — Payment failure and grace period warning emails are sent to the account owner's address.
  • Use annual billing — Fewer renewal events mean fewer chances for a payment to fail. Annual billing also saves approximately 20%.
  • Check your billing page regularly — Visit Settings → Billing to confirm your plan status and next renewal date.

Frequently asked questions

Is any data deleted during the downgrade?

No. All your data is fully preserved. You retain read-only access to view existing records. Once you reactivate, everything is exactly as you left it.

Can I still log in after the downgrade?

Yes. You and your team (up to 5 active users) can log in and view existing data. However, you cannot create or modify records until you pay the outstanding balance.

What if I don't reactivate?

Your account stays on the Free plan with read-only access to data from your previous paid subscription. No data is deleted, but all paid features and excess users remain unavailable.

Can deactivated users reactivate themselves?

No. Only the account owner can re-enable deactivated users from Settings → Users after the subscription is restored.

How long do I have before my data is affected?

Your data is never deleted due to a downgrade. You can reactivate at any time — whether it is one day or several months later — and your data will be intact.

If your account has been suspended for cause

In rare cases, FSM Navigator may suspend an account for reasons other than non-payment — for example, a chargeback dispute, payment fraud, or a violation of our terms of service. If your account has been suspended for cause:

  • The interface shows a notice with the reason and a contact link.
  • You cannot sign in or use any feature.
  • Re-subscribing to a paid plan does not restore access on its own — the suspension must be reviewed and lifted.

If you believe your account was suspended in error, contact support directly. The team will review the case and respond.