We updated our Terms of Service as of June 10th, 2026, and created this guide to walk you through what changed and what it means for your practice. It's here to make the Terms easier to understand, but the full Terms of Service are the official version, and you can read them anytime at joinheard.com/terms-of-service.
Most of the updates reflect new features we've added, including Haven, our AI assistant, and give you clearer information about your subscription, your data, and your rights. Nothing here changes the core of what Heard does or how we work with you.
What is new
Haven and AI features
We recently launched Haven, Heard's AI-powered financial assistant, and with that we have added clear terms around how it works and what you should know.
Here's what that covers:
What is Haven? Haven is our AI assistant for your practice's finances. With Haven, we pull in details about your account to make it easy to get fast answers on your bookkeeping and tax questions personalized to you. You can also stay on top of your conversations with Heard through Haven, and the same team of support, bookkeeping, payroll, and tax experts you already know are still right behind it to provide additional support and expertise. We may use anonymized Heard customer data to improve Haven and our own features, but always within the protections mentioned above. Haven's answers are a helpful starting point, but are not professional tax or legal advice.
AI Outputs are directional, not definitive. Haven's responses are meant to give you helpful context and direction. Haven is trained on Heard’s knowledge base, however, it does not provide any professional financial, tax, or legal advice and it can make mistakes. Always verify anything important with a qualified professional before acting on it.
Do not enter client information into Haven. You should never enter personally identifiable information or protected health information (PHI) about your clients into Haven or any AI feature. This protects your clients and keeps you in compliance with your own professional obligations.
How your data is used. Heard may use aggregated, anonymized data from AI feature usage to improve the platform. We will not use your individually identifiable data to train general-purpose AI models in a way that makes it available to other users without your consent.
Your subscription options, spelled out
The updated Terms now formally describe the three plans Heard offers: Heard Lite, Essential, and Premium, along with the rules for upgrading and downgrading between them.
- Heard Lite is for sole proprietors and includes monthly bookkeeping, quarterly tax estimates, platform access, and expert support. It does not include annual tax preparation and filing.
- Essential is also for sole proprietors and includes everything in Heard Lite plus annual tax prep and filing.
- Premium is for S-corps and group practices and includes the full suite of services.
Upgrading from Heard Lite to Essential or Premium can happen at any time.
Downgrading is more nuanced. If you have ever used Heard’s annual tax filing services as part of your Essential plan, you cannot downgrade to Heard Lite. If you’re on an annual Essential plan and have opted out of Heard’s annual tax filing services, you can't downgrade until your current subscription term ends. If you're on a monthly Essential plan and have never used Heard’s annual tax filing services, you can downgrade at any time. If you are on the Heard Premium plan, you are not eligible to downgrade to Heard Essential or Heard Lite.
Not sure which plan you're on? You can ask Haven at any time or check in your account under Settings > Plan & Billing.
To see whether a change is available on your account and how to make it, follow the steps in How to change your Heard subscription plan
Cancellation Changes
Previously, the Terms didn't spell out any exceptions to the cancellation policy.
You can cancel your subscription without liability for future fees if:
- Your therapy practice has permanently closed or dissolved
- You've passed away or been legally incapacitated
- Heard has materially breached its obligations and hasn't corrected the issue within 14 days of written notice from you
These are meaningful protections, especially the first two, which acknowledge that life circumstances can change unexpectedly.
Electronic communications
We added an explicit section confirming that by using Heard and providing your contact information, you consent to receiving electronic communications from us—things like billing notices, account updates, and service-related messages. This was always how we operated; we've just made it official in the Terms.
What changed (but isn't new)
Refunds: credits instead of cash
The old Terms allowed for cash refunds on monthly subscriptions cancelled within the first 30 days. The updated Terms change this: if you cancel a monthly plan within 30 days of signing up, fees paid are credited toward future Heard services, not refunded to your payment method.
When your Terms take effect
The updated Terms are more explicit about when they kick in. They apply from the moment you first access or use Heard's services, create an account, or connect or upload a bank account or statement, whichever comes first.
Account security
We expanded the account security section to clarify that your login credentials are personal and should not be shared. Heard also now has the explicit right to disable an account at any time if we believe the Terms have been violated.
If you ever suspect unauthorized access to your account, email us immediately at contact@joinheard.com.
Dispute resolution
We added an arbitration clause, a jury trial waiver, and a class action waiver to the General Provisions section. These are fairly standard in agreements like ours and mean that in the event of a dispute, it would typically be resolved through arbitration rather than a court trial.
Force majeure
We added a standard force majeure clause, which means neither party is held liable for delays or failures caused by events outside their reasonable control, things like natural disasters, pandemics, or internet infrastructure outages.
What didn't change
The core of our relationship with you is the same. Heard still:
- Does not perform financial transactions on your behalf
- Does not share your SMS opt-in data for marketing purposes
- Retains your data as described in our Privacy Policy
- Requires written notice to cancel or not renew your subscription
- Caps its liability to fees paid in the three months before any issue arose