Seat Expires but Connection Stays

One of the most important concepts in Policy Stack's advisor model is that seats and connections are independent. When a seat expires, the connection between you and your client does not end automatically. You retain the read/write or read-only access the client granted.

Why This Matters

This design reflects the reality of advisor-client relationships. A client relationship does not end because a billing arrangement changes. You may revoke a seat because:

• The client decided to self-subscribe to Builder Pro
• You are restructuring which clients receive seats
• The client relationship is pausing but not ending

In all of these cases, you likely still want visibility into the client's banking system data. The connection persisting means you do not need to re-invite the client or go through any reconnection process when the seat situation resolves.

What Happens When a Seat Ends

When a client's seat ends — manual revoke, downgrade-driven boot, cancellation, or freeze:

| What changes | What stays the same | |---|---| | The assigned seat ends; temporary Builder Pro access continues for seven days before Starter unless another source takes over | Your connection to their account | | Your seat count decreases (the seat returns to your pool, available to reassign) | Your client-granted access to their data (subject to their data-sharing consent) | | Seat-related billing for this client | Their connection status in your client list |

The Practical Implication

Imagine this common scenario:

1. You seat a client for a year while actively working with them
2. They decide to self-subscribe to Builder Pro — they no longer need your seat
3. You revoke the seat
4. The client now pays for Builder Pro themselves
5. Your client-granted access continues uninterrupted

No re-invitation. No reconnection flow. The data bridge that formed when they first accepted your invite remains active.

Ending the Connection Explicitly

If you want to remove a client from your account entirely — no seat and no connection — you need to take two separate actions:

1. Revoke the seat (if one is active)
2. Disconnect the client

Both actions are available from the client's detail panel in your advisor dashboard. You can do them in either order.

From the Client's Side

The client sees the same distinction. When their seat ends, they keep Builder Pro for the seven-day transition and then continue on Starter unless another access source takes over. The advisor indicator in account settings continues to show you as their connected advisor until one of you explicitly disconnects.

This transparency is intentional — clients always know whether an advisor has read/write, read-only, or no access to their data.

Summary

• Ending a seat (revoke, downgrade-driven boot, cancellation, freeze) starts a 7-day Builder Pro transition window
• Ending a seat does NOT disconnect the client; your client-granted access continues
• Disconnecting ends advisor access
• Disconnecting does NOT affect any billing state
• To fully remove a client relationship: end the seat AND disconnect