Terms of Service

1. Acceptance

By creating an account on bmssa.co.za or app.bmssa.co.za("BMS") you agree to these Terms. If you don't agree, please don't use BMS.

2. The service

BMS is a software-as-a-service platform for South African SMEs covering invoicing, quotes, client management, expenses, payroll, tax-return drafts (VAT201, EMP201, provisional tax), document signing and related tools. The service is provided on an "as is" basis.

3. Your account

You are responsible for:

• Giving us accurate signup and billing information.
• Keeping your login credentials secure.
• Everything that happens under your account.
• Complying with South African law in how you use BMS.

4. Trial and subscription

Every new account begins with a 30-day Business trial. No card is required to start. At the end of the trial you can continue on any paid tier, downgrade to Free, or stop using BMS. You can upgrade, downgrade or cancel at any time from inside the app.

5. Payment and billing

Paid tiers are billed monthly in South African Rand (ZAR) unless we agree otherwise in writing. Payments are processed by reputable third-party payment providers. Unpaid invoices after 14 days may result in access being restricted. Subscription fees are non-refundable except where required by law.

6. Your content stays yours

You own everything you put into BMS - clients, invoices, documents, signatures, payroll records. We only store, process and display your content so the service works. You can export or delete your data at any time from the app.

7. Our intellectual property

BMS - the platform, code, design and name - belongs to us. You receive a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use BMS while your subscription is active.

8. Acceptable use

Don't use BMS to:

• Break any law, commit fraud or launder money.
• Upload malware, spam or content that infringes someone else's rights.
• Reverse-engineer the platform or probe it for security issues without our written consent.
• Resell, sublicense or white-label BMS except on the Enterprise tier.

We may suspend or close accounts that violate these rules.

9. Tax drafts are drafts

VAT201, EMP201, provisional tax and other tax outputs produced by BMS are drafts for you to check and file with SARS yourself (on SARS eFiling). They are not tax advice, not legal advice, and not a guarantee that SARS will accept the return. When in doubt, consult a registered tax practitioner.

10. AI-assisted drafts (BMS Brain)

BMS Brain is an AI assistant that can draft business documents (NDAs, contracts, demand letters, certificates, employment letters), summarise documents, decode SARS letters, forecast cash flow and answer questions about your business data and South African business / labour law. Brain output is informational and a starting point, not legal, tax or financial advice.

• Every document drafted by Brain is auto-appended with a footer stating it was AI-assisted, the parties should review with their attorney, and BMS is not liable for errors or legal interpretation. You may not remove this footer from documents you send to third parties without first reviewing the content with a qualified professional.
• Brain may make mistakes, omit relevant clauses, hallucinate facts, or apply outdated rules. You are solely responsible for the content of any document you finalise, sign, or send.
• Brain answers about South African labour law, tax law and other regulatory matters are general guidance. Always verify with a registered practitioner before acting.
• Brain conversations and any documents you ask Brain to process are sent to Anthropic in the United States to generate replies (see our Privacy Policy section 7 for details). Don't paste information you wouldn't want to leave South Africa.

11. Document signing

Electronic signatures captured in BMS are recorded with consent under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002. Some documents still require handwritten signatures under South African law (for example wills and long-lease agreements) - BMS should not be used for those.

12. Data processing

When you load your clients, employees or other people's personal information into BMS, you remain the Responsible Party for that information under POPIA. We are the Operator, processing it on your behalf only to deliver the service. We will:

• Process your customers' personal information only on your documented instructions and for the purposes of delivering BMS to you.
• Implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures (encryption in transit + at rest, role-based access, audit logs).
• Notify you within 72 hours of becoming aware of any personal information breach affecting your data.
• Help you respond to data subject access requests, corrections and deletions where they relate to information stored in BMS.
• On termination of your subscription, allow you 30 days to export your data, then delete it.

Cross-border data transfer (Brain → Anthropic in the US, optional storage integrations → Google / Dropbox / Microsoft in the US) is described in section 7 of the Privacy Policy and only happens for features you actively use.

13. Availability

We aim for high availability but we don't guarantee uninterrupted service. Planned maintenance windows are announced in-app where possible.

14. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by South African law, our aggregate liability for any claim arising from your use of BMS is limited to the subscription fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose. We are not liable for indirect or consequential losses (lost profits, lost data, lost business, missed deadlines, regulatory penalties etc.) or for any consequence of relying on AI-assisted output without independent professional review (see section 10).

15. Termination

You can cancel at any time inside the app. We may suspend or close your account for material breach of these Terms with reasonable notice where practical. On termination, you have 30 days to export your data.

16. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa. Disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the South African courts.

17. Changes

We may change these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be announced in-app or by email at least 14 days before they take effect.

18. Contact

Questions about these Terms: info@bmssa.co.za.