Terms of service.
Acceptance & who we serve
These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of Unlevered, Inc. (“Unlevered,” “we”). By creating an account, requesting access, ordering a study, or using the Service, you accept these Terms on behalf of yourself and any firm you represent.
The Service is used by two audiences, and these Terms address both: Clients — property owners who purchase a cost segregation study, whether directly from Unlevered or on the recommendation of their advisor — and Professional Partners — CPAs, EAs, RIAs, and wealth advisory firms who recommend Unlevered to their clients and use the platform to manage those engagements.
Each delivered study is additionally governed by the Study Terms, Limiting Conditions & Taxpayer Acknowledgment attached to it, which the Client accepts electronically before release. If these Terms and the Study Terms conflict with respect to a study, the Study Terms control.
The Service
Unlevered prepares engineering-based cost segregation studies and operates the platform around them: deterministic component classification with cited federal authorities, an engineered review of every study before delivery, client document intake, depreciation schedules and tax-software import files (ProConnect, Drake, Fixed Assets CS), supporting workpapers (including §481(a) catch-up computations and §1.168(i)-8 election statements), and payment collection. Unlevered generates and signs each study as the preparer of the cost segregation study.
The platform is provided on an “as available” basis; scheduled maintenance and updates may interrupt access.
What Unlevered is not
Unlevered is not a tax return preparer within the meaning of IRC §7701(a)(36) and Treas. Reg. §301.7701-15. We do not prepare, sign, or file tax returns, and we do not represent taxpayers before the IRS or any taxing authority. The tax professional who prepares your return — your own CPA, EA, or other qualified preparer — reviews the study, exercises independent professional judgment in adopting its classifications, and remains solely responsible for the positions taken on the return.
Nothing in the Service constitutes tax, legal, investment, or accounting advice, and no output of the Service is a tax opinion. The cost of a study does not include your tax preparer’s fees to review the study, gather information, or implement the results on your return; consult your preparer about their fees. See the Disclaimer for additional notices.
Accounts & access
Access to the platform is granted on approval of a request for access. You must be at least 18 years old and authorized to act for the firm or entity you register. You are responsible for activity under your account and for keeping credentials secure. We may decline, suspend, or revoke access at our discretion, including where use would be inconsistent with these Terms or applicable professional standards.
Fees & payment
Studies are priced per property, as a flat fee quoted before the engagement begins. Current standard rates are published on our pricing page; direct engagements typically start at $5,000 per property, varying with property type, basis, and complexity. Quoted fees are fixed for the engagement they quote.
No fee is ever contingent on your tax outcome. Fees do not vary with the size of any deduction, refund, or savings the study produces, and we do not offer success-based pricing.
Payment is collected through our payment processor. A study is released when its fee is paid and the Client has accepted the Study Terms. Fees for delivered studies are non-refundable. Deposits are non-refundable once paid, and once the engine has produced the study’s analysis the full fee is earned; any exception is at our sole discretion. Where a study’s signed engagement letter states refund terms, those terms control for that study.
Direct client engagements
Property owners may engage Unlevered directly, without an advisor referral. In a direct engagement: we prepare the study from the property facts and documents you supply; the deliverables are addressed to you; and the study is prepared for use by you and your own tax preparer, who must review and adopt its results before they are reported on a return. We may decline or pause an engagement where we cannot obtain the facts needed to prepare a defensible study.
If you do not have a tax preparer, we may, at your request, introduce you to professionals who use the platform. Any engagement between you and such a professional is between you and them; Unlevered is not a party to it.
Professional partners & referrals
Professional Partners recommend Unlevered to their clients and remain at the center of the client relationship. Partners pay nothing to participate. The Client’s study fee is paid to Unlevered directly, and the Partner’s own professional fees are the Partner’s own — invoiced by the Partner to their client, never routed through or set by Unlevered.
Referral compensation is optional and defaults to none. Where Unlevered offers a referral fee or revenue share and a Partner elects to accept it: (a) the amount is a fixed or flat amount per delivered study and is never contingent on the size of any deduction, refund, or tax outcome; (b) the Partner is solely responsible for confirming the arrangement is permissible under the rules that govern them — including AICPA ET §1.520 (commissions and referral fees), their state board of accountancy, and any fiduciary or “fee-only” standard they observe — and for making written disclosure to the client at the time of the referral; and (c) no referral compensation is available with respect to any client for whom the Partner performs attest services.
Fiduciary and fee-only track. A Partner may decline all referral compensation, or direct that any amount otherwise payable be applied instead as a credit against their client’s study fee. Partners subject to fee-only or fiduciary standards (including NAPFA members and CFP® professionals avoiding sales-related compensation) should use this track.
Methodology & accuracy
Every study is produced by Unlevered’s deterministic classification engine and passes an engineered review before delivery: component allocations are computed against published cost data, classified under §1245/§1250 with cited federal authorities, reconciled to the property’s total depreciable basis, and re-checked by an automated audit-readiness review calibrated to IRS examination standards (including the IRS Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide). The methodology, sources, and the specific computation run behind each study are documented in the audit trail attached to it.
AI at intake, deterministic engine for the numbers. AI models assist with transcribing facts from the documents and photographs you upload; owner identity (names, tax IDs, contact and account details) is redacted or masked before material is sent for processing. Every classification, allocation, and dollar figure in a study is produced by the deterministic engine and its review gates — never by an AI model.
Studies rely on the information you supply. Acquisition costs, improvement costs, placed-in-service dates, land allocation, and property use come from you, your advisor, or sources you authorize. We do not audit or independently verify this information, and conclusions are only as reliable as the inputs. You represent that information you provide is accurate and complete, and you are responsible for reviewing it.
Estimates are not the deliverable. Preliminary estimates, calculators, and published ranges are illustrative, based on typical-case assumptions, and are not a promise of any study result. Only a delivered study supports a filing position.
No guaranteed outcome. We do not guarantee any particular tax result, deduction, refund, or savings, nor that any position will be accepted by the IRS or any taxing authority.
Corrections and reissues. If new facts, corrected inputs, or changes in law warrant it, we may amend and reissue a study; the reissued version supersedes the original. Correction and re-performance is your first and primary remedy for any claimed error in a study.
Audit support
If a delivered study is examined, Unlevered will provide, at no additional charge, written responses to questions about the study’s engineering methodology, component classifications, and conclusions, supported by the study’s workpapers and audit trail. Notify us promptly — within ten (10) business days of the first correspondence from the taxing authority that concerns the study.
Audit support does not include representation before the IRS or any taxing authority, testimony or appearance in any administrative or court proceeding, preparation or amendment of tax returns, or defense of positions not contained in the study. We do not guarantee any outcome of an examination.
Comprehensive examination support beyond defense of the study itself — preparing responses to information and document requests concerning the study and supporting you and your authorized representative through the course of an examination — is available as a separate paid audit-defense engagement, and we recommend adding it.
Client data & confidentiality
Clients and Partners retain ownership of the data, documents, and engagement records they bring to the platform. Unlevered holds a limited license to process this data to provide the Service, as described in the Privacy Policy and, for Partners, the Data Processing Addendum. We treat property and taxpayer information as confidential and do not sell it.
Deliverables & intellectual property
Unlevered retains all intellectual property in the platform, the classification engine, its methodology, cost data, templates, and study formats. Upon payment, the Client receives a license to use the delivered study and its workpapers for tax reporting, financial reporting, and related professional purposes.
A study may be relied upon by the Client, the Client’s tax preparer, attorney, and lender, and may be furnished to the IRS or a state taxing authority. It may not otherwise be republished, resold, or relied upon by third parties without our written consent.
Acceptable use
Use of the Service is subject to our Acceptable Use Policy. Violations may result in account suspension or termination.
Disclaimers & limitation of liability
Except as expressly stated in these Terms or the Study Terms, the Service is provided “as is” and we disclaim all other warranties, express or implied, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
To the maximum extent permitted by law: Unlevered’s total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to a study is limited to the fee actually paid for that study; our total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to the platform otherwise is limited to the amounts paid to us in the twelve months preceding the claim. In no event are we liable for indirect, consequential, special, incidental, or punitive damages, including lost profits, additional tax, interest, penalties, or opportunity costs, even if advised of their possibility.
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Unlevered and its personnel from claims, liabilities, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of information you supplied that was inaccurate or incomplete, your use of a study outside its permitted purpose, or your violation of these Terms — except to the extent finally determined to result from our gross negligence or willful misconduct.
Termination
You may close your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate accounts for material breach of these Terms, AUP violations, fraud, or non-payment. On termination, in-progress studies pause and are refunded per Section 5; delivered studies remain accessible to the Clients they belong to.
Changes, governing law & disputes
We may update these Terms, with at least 14 days’ notice for material changes; continued use after the effective date is acceptance. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules. Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or a study shall be resolved by final and binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, seated in Delaware (or, by mutual agreement, conducted remotely); each party waives trial by jury and any class, collective, or representative action, and disputes are arbitrated only on an individual basis. Any claim must be brought within one (1) year after it accrues, to the extent permitted by law. If any provision is held unenforceable, the remainder stays in force.