Table of Contents
1. How Mid-Term User Charges Work (Proration)
When you add a user or license in the middle of your billing cycle, you're not charged for a full new month or year right away. Instead, you're billed a prorated amount covering only the days between when you add the user and your next renewal date — and in some cases, you're not charged at all. Which applies depends on which of these three situations you're in.
Scenario A: You have an unused, already-paid-for license
If your subscription is paid for more seats than you currently have active, adding a user up to that paid count does not generate a new charge.
For example, if your firm is subscribed for 8 users but only has 5 active, you can add a 6th, 7th, or 8th user at no additional cost, since you already paid for those seats.
Note: the system will still display a proration quote when you go to add the user — this is a default message and doesn't mean you'll actually be charged. As long as your paid seat count covers the new user, no charge is applied.
Scenario B: You're adding a user beyond your currently paid seat count
If adding the user increases your total paid seats, you're charged a prorated amount covering the time from the day you add them through your current renewal date. On your next renewal date, that user's full cost folds into your regular renewal charge along with everyone else — your renewal date itself doesn't change.
Example: Your firm is on an annual Pro plan that renews September 28. You add a new user on August 26 — about 33 days before renewal. You're charged only for those 33 days (a small prorated amount), not a full year. On September 28, your renewal invoice includes the full annual cost for that user along with your other active users.
Scenario C: You're upgrading your subscription tier (e.g., Pro to Advanced)
Upgrading your plan tier works a little differently than simply adding a user. Your subscription updates to the new tier right away, and you get billed for the full upgraded tier minus the credit of the remainder of your current annual billing cycle, which starts a new billing cycle with a new renewal date.
How the prorated amount is calculated
Proration is calculated on a daily basis, the same way on monthly and annual plans: your per-user rate is divided across your billing cycle, and you're charged only for the days remaining until your next renewal.
Removing a user mid-term
Deactivating a user stops that seat from being billed at your next renewal, but it does not retroactively refund the prorated amount you were already charged for the current period. Per our Terms of Service, service fees are final and non-refundable once charged, and subscriptions generally can't be cancelled or reduced mid-term for a refund.
Because of this, the best time to deactivate a seat you no longer need is before your next renewal date, not after — that way you simply avoid being billed for it going forward, rather than needing to request an exception.
If you believe you were charged in error (for example, a user was accidentally reactivated and then quickly deactivated again), reach out to your account manager or MyCase Support with the details so they can look into the situation.
Adding someone temporarily / Temporary Users
MyCase subscriptions aren't built around short-term access, but if you need to bring someone on temporarily (a seasonal hire, temporary coverage), have your Admin user reach out to Support before adding them by emailing [email protected] so they can document it properly.
Here's the key detail: once approved, you'll add the user and pay all associated fees upfront. Your firm is billed for a minimum of 6 months for that seat, regardless of when the user is deactivated. Once you let Support know the temporary user has been deactivated, our team will review the remaining time on your subscription and approve a refund for any unused time beyond that 6-month minimum.
2. Best Practices for Managing Users
How you add, remove, and edit user profiles affects more than who can log in — it directly affects your billing accuracy and the integrity of your historical case, time, and billing data. These are the habits that keep both clean.
Replacing a departing employee: deactivate first, then add
The most common billing mistake is adding a new user before deactivating the person they're replacing. If your paid seat count doesn't already cover both people active at once, this triggers a prorated charge for an extra seat you didn't intend to keep (see Scenario B above). The correct order:
Deactivate the outgoing employee's user profile.
Confirm the deactivation took effect (Settings > Firm Users, filtered to Inactive).
Add the new employee as a new user.
If you still see a charge after following.
Never rename or recycle a user profile for a new person
It can be tempting to save a step by editing a departing employee's profile — changing the name and email to the new hire's information — instead of creating a new profile. We strongly recommend against this, for two reasons:
Historical data gets misattributed. Every time entry, note, task, document, and calendar event tied to that login stays tied to it. Once you rename the profile, all of that historical activity now appears to belong to the new person, even though they didn't create it.
Reporting and billing accuracy break down. Because the system can't distinguish "the old employee's work" from "the new employee's work" once they share a profile, you lose the ability to run accurate financial or activity reports segmented by person for that login going forward.
The correct approach is always: deactivate the outgoing employee's profile, then create a fresh, separate profile for the new hire. If a profile has already been renamed and reused, the fix is to edit the name back to the original employee, deactivate that profile, and create a new, separate profile for the current employee.
Reusing an email address for a new hire
If you'd like the new employee to use the same email address the departing employee had (for example, a role-based address like [email protected]), you don't need to recycle the profile to do it:
Go to Settings > Firm Users and switch the view to "Inactive."
Open the deactivated user's profile and select Edit.
Change that profile's email to a placeholder (it doesn't need to be a real, working address).
Create a new user profile for the new hire using the now-freed email address.
What actually happens when you deactivate a user
Deactivating a user doesn't delete any associated data. All of their historical time entries, notes, documents, and case activity remain intact and accessible in your account — the only thing that changes is that the deactivated user can no longer log in or create new entries. This is exactly why deactivating (rather than renaming or recycling) is the safe option: your historical reporting stays accurate, and nothing is lost.
Some users can't be deactivated right away
A couple of situations will block deactivation until you clear them first:
Connected integrations. If a user has set up an integration, you'll need to uninstall or reassign that integration before their profile can be deactivated.
Account ownership. The account's admin user can't simply be deactivated if they're the sole admin — you'll need to transfer admin status first by editing another active user's permissions to grant them admin access. We recommend keeping at least one user with admin/edit permissions active on your account at all times.
Planning for training overlaps
If an outgoing and incoming employee need to be logged in at the same time for a handoff or training period, both seats will be active — and billed — simultaneously for that overlap, prorated for however long it lasts. If avoiding that cost matters more than the overlap, consider a clean handoff (deactivate, then add) instead, or budget for the short overlap charge upfront so it isn't a surprise.
Timing removals around your billing cycle
If you know a seat won't be needed going forward, deactivate it before your next renewal date rather than after. Charges already billed for the current period are final.
3. Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I remove a user shortly after adding them?
You won't be charged for that user again at your next renewal, but the prorated charge for the time they were active still applies and generally isn't refunded.
Will adding a user change my renewal date?
No. Adding a user within your existing plan keeps your current renewal date. A tier upgrade or a change in billing frequency is handled a little differently — check with Support if you want to confirm your exact renewal date.
Can I get a refund if I cancel my subscription mid-term?
Our Terms of Service state that service fees are final and non-refundable, and subscriptions aren't prorated for early cancellation. Your account manager or Support can submit a request on your behalf, but approval isn't guaranteed.
Is the calculation different for monthly vs. annual plans?
No, the method is the same — proration is calculated by the day, from the date you make the change to your next renewal date. The only difference is the length of the billing cycle it's spread across.
What if I rename a user's profile for a new hire instead of creating a new one?
Avoid this. All of the original user's historical data stays attached to the login, so it will appear to belong to the new person, and you'll lose the ability to report on each person's activity separately. See Best Practices above for the correct fix if this has already happened.