Terms of Service

Effective November 8, 2026

These Terms of Service ("Terms") are an agreement between you and Bearden Business Solutions ("we," "us" or "our"), the owner and operator of Aureus, including the Aureus website and app (the "Service"). By creating an account or using the Service, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy. If you don't agree, please don't use the Service.

1. What Aureus is, and isn't

Aureus is a budgeting and planning tool. It helps you organize income, bills, debts and goals, and it gives general educational information.

2. Who can use Aureus

You must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract. The Service is intended for use in the United States.

3. Your account

• Give accurate information and keep your password private. You're responsible for activity on your account.
• Tell us right away at cody.bearden1986@gmail.com if you think someone else has accessed your account.
• You can delete your account at any time in Plan & billing.

4. Plans, free trials and automatic renewal

• Standard is free.
• Upgraded is a paid subscription. Current prices are shown on our pricing page and at checkout (at launch, $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year, plus any applicable taxes).
• Free trial. New Upgraded subscribers may get a free trial (currently 3 days), limited to one per person. A valid payment method is required to start the trial.
• Automatic renewal. Unless you cancel before your free trial ends, your payment method will be charged the subscription price when the trial ends, and then automatically at the start of each billing period (monthly or yearly) until you cancel. By starting a trial or subscription, you authorize these recurring charges.
• Cancelling. You can cancel anytime in Plan & billing, or by emailing cody.bearden1986@gmail.com. Once you cancel, you won't be charged again. If you cancel during a free trial, the trial ends and you are never charged. If you cancel after a paid period starts, your subscription won't renew.
• 10 days to reconsider. After you cancel, you keep Upgraded for at least 10 days (or until the end of the period you already paid for, if that's later), at no charge, so you can change your mind. Tap "Keep Upgraded" during that time to continue. If you had a paid plan, it simply continues and bills on its normal date. If you cancelled a free trial, you'll confirm your card again, and billing starts when your 10 days end (or right away if fewer than 2 days are left). After the window, your account moves to Standard, and your budget stays.
• Refunds. Payments are generally non-refundable, and we don't give credits for partial periods, except where required by law. If you believe you were charged in error, contact us within 30 days and we'll make it right.
• Failed payments. If a payment fails, we may retry it and may move your account to Standard until it's resolved.
• Price changes. We may change prices. We'll tell you in advance, and changes apply at your next billing period. You can cancel before then.
• Payments are processed by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number.

5. Connecting your bank

Upgraded can connect to your bank accounts through Plaid Inc. ("Plaid"). By connecting an account, you authorize us and Plaid to access and use your account information (such as transactions, balances, account names and, where available, loan and card details) to provide the Service. Your use of Plaid is also subject to Plaid's own terms and privacy policy. Plaid collects your bank login, not us. Bank data can be delayed, incomplete or wrong, and automatic matching of bills and paychecks may make mistakes, so check anything important against your bank. You can unlink a bank at any time.

5a. Linked accounts and reminders

You can save the websites where you pay your bills ("linked accounts"). When a bill is due, Aureus can remind you and offer a "Go pay" button that opens that company's website. Aureus does not pay bills, log in to your accounts, or move money for you. You pay each bill yourself on the company's site. When your bank is connected, Aureus marks a bill paid only when the payment appears in your bank activity. You're responsible for making sure each payment is completed on time. Reminders, including push notifications, may be delayed or not delivered, so don't rely on them alone. You can turn notifications off at any time in the app or your device settings.

6. Your information and content

Your budget, transactions and other information you add belong to you. You give us permission to store and process them only to provide and improve the Service, as described in our Privacy Policy. We don't sell your personal information.

7. Our content

Aureus, including its software, design, logos, articles, illustrations and "Grow" content, belongs to Bearden Business Solutions and is protected by law. You may use it only for your own personal, non-commercial use of the Service. Grow content, including earn-extra-cash ideas and estimated earnings, is general information. It isn't a promise of income or results.

8. Acceptable use

Don't misuse the Service. For example, don't break the law with it, access another person's account or data, try to get around plan limits or security, reverse engineer or overload the Service, scrape it, or resell it.

9. Third-party services

The Service relies on third parties, including Stripe (payments), Plaid (bank connections) and our hosting provider. We're not responsible for their services, outages or actions, and their terms may also apply to you.

10. Disclaimers

The Service is provided "as is" and "as available." To the fullest extent allowed by law, we make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy and non-infringement. We don't guarantee that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free, that reminders or notifications will always arrive, or that using Aureus will prevent late fees, service shut-offs, overdrafts, collections or credit harm, or produce any savings or result. You are responsible for your own financial decisions and for paying your bills.

11. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent allowed by law, Bearden Business Solutions and its owners, employees and contractors won't be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost money, profits, data, late fees, overdraft fees or penalties, arising from or related to the Service, even if we were told they were possible. Our total liability for any claim related to the Service is limited to the greater of the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim, or $50. Some places don't allow these limits, so they may not fully apply to you.

12. Indemnity

You agree to defend and hold harmless Bearden Business Solutions from claims, losses and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from your misuse of the Service or your violation of these Terms.

13. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or close your account if you violate these Terms or misuse the Service, or if we stop offering the Service. If we stop offering Upgraded, we'll give you notice and won't charge you again. Sections that by their nature should survive termination will survive.

14. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Before filing a claim, please contact us at cody.bearden1986@gmail.com so we can try to resolve it informally. If we can't resolve it within 30 days, either of us may bring the dispute in the state or federal courts located in Texas, and you and we consent to their jurisdiction. Either of us may bring an eligible claim in small claims court.

15. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms. If we make a material change, we'll let you know in the app or by email before it takes effect. Continuing to use the Service after the change means you accept the updated Terms.

16. Contact

Bearden Business Solutions
Email: cody.bearden1986@gmail.com