Terms of Service

Pilot version · Effective November 2, 2026

VessBooks is in a free pilot with a small group of users. These Terms may be updated before general release; if they change, you'll be asked to agree again in the app.

1. Agreement and who may use VessBooks

These Terms are an agreement between you and VessBooks LLC, a South Carolina limited liability company ("VessBooks," "we," "us"). They apply to the VessBooks app, website and emails (the "Service"). By creating an account, joining a vessel, or approving or paying anything through VessBooks, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy.

You must be at least 18 years old and able to make a binding agreement. If you use VessBooks for a business (for example a service provider, management company or your own captain's business), you agree to these Terms for that business and confirm you have authority to do so.

2. What VessBooks is and is not

VessBooks is a record-keeping and communication tool. It helps owners, captains, managers, crew, service providers and technicians keep one written record for each vessel: items found, quotes, approvals, change orders, work, invoices, payments, logs, maintenance and documents.

VessBooks is not a party to any agreement between users. In particular:

• We do not perform, supervise, inspect or guarantee any work, parts, survey or advice.
• We do not choose, vet, license or insure service providers, captains, managers or crew.
• We do not set prices, send invoices on our own behalf, or decide disputes between users.
• We do not hold, send or receive money for users (see section 5).
• We are not a classification society, surveyor, flag authority or marine insurer, and a VessBooks log or maintenance record is not a certified or official log.

Each agreement for work, goods or services is solely between the users involved. You are responsible for your own decisions about your vessel, its safety, and the people you hire.

3. Accounts, roles and vessel records

Your account. Give accurate information and keep your password private. You are responsible for what happens under your account. Tell us right away at info@vessbooks.com if you think someone else has used it.

Roles. People join a vessel by invitation in a role: owner, captain, manager, crew, service provider or technician. Each role can see and do different things. The person who sets up a vessel is its organizer and manages who is invited. Only an owner can add or remove an owner, and any owner can take over as organizer.

Invites. Invite codes and links work once. Send them only to the person they are meant for. If you forward an invite or invoice link, you are responsible for what the recipient does with it. If you claim a vessel as its owner, you confirm that you are the owner or are authorized to act for the owner.

Who controls a vessel's records. The vessel's owner controls its record on VessBooks: who has access, and transfer of the record. Everyone who adds to a vessel's record gives the owner (and later owners) the right to keep and use those entries as part of the vessel's history.

Sale of a vessel. When a vessel is sold, the owner may hand the vessel and its full history to the new owner, including past jobs, prices, invoices, messages on jobs, logs and documents.

Leaving. You can leave a vessel at any time (an organizer must first hand over that role). Your past entries stay in the vessel's history.

4. Approvals, electronic records and the paper trail

Electronic approvals. When you tap Approve or Decline on a quote or change order, send a quote or invoice, sign off work, or record a payment, you agree that this is your electronic signature and has the same effect as signing on paper. You also agree to receive records and notices electronically.

The record is kept as written. Each step is recorded with who did it and when. Once sent, a quote, a change-order price or an invoice can't be edited. A revised quote keeps the earlier one in the record, crossed out, and an approval only counts for the version that was shown. Cruising log entries are never deleted; corrections are added with a reason, and earlier versions stay visible.

What the record does and doesn't do. The record shows what users entered and approved in VessBooks. It does not replace a written contract users may choose to sign, and VessBooks does not verify that what was entered is true.

Approval rules. Owners can approve or decline any quote or change order and record payment of any invoice. Captains and managers can also do these things on the owner's behalf:

• Before limits are set. While a vessel has no owner in VessBooks, or the owner has not yet set approval limits, captains and managers can approve, decline and pay with no dollar limit.
• After limits are set. Once the owner sets limits, a captain or manager can approve or pay only up to the limit the owner set for their role, and only while any monthly or yearly team budget the owner set has room. Anything over the limit or over the budget goes to the owner.
• What you agree to as owner. By setting limits and a budget, or by leaving them unset, you authorize your captains and managers to approve and pay on your behalf within them. You are responsible for those decisions as if you had made them. You can change the limits or remove a person at any time; changes apply going forward, not to decisions already made.
• The record. Every decision shows who made it and why they were allowed to (for example, "within the captain's limit" or "no owner limits set").
• Budget alerts. VessBooks tells the owner and the team when a budget is 80% and 100% used. These alerts are a convenience; don't rely on them alone to control spending.
• No one approves their own work. A service provider can't approve their own quote, and a captain or manager can't approve or pay an invoice they sent.

5. Payments, invoices and taxes

VessBooks does not handle money. Payments go directly between users. When an owner taps Pay invoice, they leave VessBooks for the issuer's own payment page (for example Square, Stripe, QuickBooks or PayPal), or use the issuer's Zelle, bank or check instructions. Those payments are governed by the payment service's own terms. VessBooks is not responsible for them, including refunds, chargebacks, delays or errors.

Payment details are the issuer's responsibility. Anyone who adds a payment link or payment instructions confirms they are accurate and belong to them. VessBooks does not verify them. Before paying, check that the details are right.

Recording a payment. The payer records that a payment was sent; the person paid confirms it arrived or says it hasn't. An invoice shows as Paid only after the person paid confirms it. These records do not prove that money moved.

Invoices and taxes. Issuers are responsible for their own prices, invoices, sales tax rates and tax filings. VessBooks only calculates totals from what the issuer enters.

Captains' and managers' invoices. A captain or manager may bill the owner from their own business, including expenses with receipts and markups. Markups always appear to the owner as their own line, showing what they are on. The captain or manager is responsible for having the owner's agreement to their rates, expenses and markups. Recurring monthly invoices are sent automatically until the sender pauses them or the owner stops them.

6. Fees

VessBooks is free while it is in the pilot. We will tell you before any charge starts, and nothing is charged without your agreement. Replying to a job or quote request will always be free.

7. Your content, feedback and acceptable use

Your content. You keep ownership of what you add to VessBooks (text, photos, files, prices). You give VessBooks a license to store, copy, display and send it as needed to run the Service, including showing it to the people on the vessel and to later owners of the vessel as described in section 3. This license continues for content that stays in a vessel's history after you leave.

You confirm you have the right to add what you add, including photos of people and other people's contact details.

Feedback. If you send us ideas or suggestions, we may use them freely without owing you anything.

Don't:

• enter false information, fake approvals, or payment details that aren't yours;
• use another person's account or an invite meant for someone else;
• harass anyone, or post unlawful, abusive or infringing content;
• try to get around VessBooks' access rules, read data you are not allowed to see, or disrupt the Service;
• copy, resell or reverse-engineer VessBooks, or use it to build a competing product.

We may remove content or suspend accounts that break these rules.

8. Alerts, disclaimers, liability and indemnity

Alerts are a convenience. Reminders, alerts, maintenance due dates, document expiry warnings and weekly summaries help you keep track, but they may be late, held during quiet hours, or not arrive. They are based only on what users entered. You remain responsible for your vessel's maintenance, documents, insurance, safety and legal requirements.

Scanned photos. Scan uses an AI service to read a photo or PDF and fill in a form. It can misread names, numbers, dates and amounts. Nothing is saved until you check the form and tap Save, and you are responsible for what you save.

Translations. The app is offered in English and Spanish. Text that users type is not translated. These Terms are in English; if a translation differs, the English version controls.

Disclaimer. VESSBOOKS IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE." TO THE EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT PROMISE THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE OR THAT DATA WILL NEVER BE LOST. KEEP YOUR OWN COPIES OF IMPORTANT RECORDS.

Limitation of liability. TO THE EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, VESSBOOKS AND ITS MEMBERS, MANAGERS AND SUPPLIERS ARE NOT LIABLE FOR INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR LOST PROFITS, DATA OR USE, OR FOR DAMAGE TO ANY VESSEL, PROPERTY OR PERSON ARISING FROM WORK, ADVICE OR PAYMENTS BETWEEN USERS. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE 12 MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM OR US $100.

Indemnity. You agree to defend and hold VessBooks harmless from claims arising from your content, your work or services, your payments or payment details, your dealings with other users, or your breach of these Terms.

9. Ending use, changes, law and contact

Ending use. You can stop using VessBooks and close your account at any time. We may suspend or close an account that breaks these Terms or puts others at risk. Vessel records stay with the vessel as described in section 3 and the Privacy Policy. Sections 4, 5, 7 and 8 continue after your account ends.

Changes. We may change these Terms. If a change is significant, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect, and may ask you to agree again.

Law and disputes. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of South Carolina, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute will be heard in the state or federal courts in Spartanburg County, South Carolina.

General. If any part of these Terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies. These Terms and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between you and VessBooks about the Service. We may assign these Terms in a merger or sale.

Contact. VessBooks LLC, info@vessbooks.com.