Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (the “Terms”) form a binding agreement between you and ACW & Associates LLC (“ACW & Associates LLC”, “ACESBA”, “we”, “us” or “our”), which owns and operates ACESBA and the website at acesba.com (the “Site”). They govern your access to and use of the Site and every product and service we offer through it (together, the “Services”).

Please read these Terms carefully. Section 20 requires most disputes to be resolved through binding individual arbitration and waives class actions and jury trials, unless you opt out as described there.

1. Agreement and parties

By accessing the Site, creating an account, starting an assessment or making a purchase, you accept these Terms, our Privacy Policy, our Refund Policy and our Disclaimer, each of which forms part of this agreement. If you use the Services on behalf of a business, you accept these Terms for that business and confirm that you have authority to bind it, and “you” includes that business. If you do not agree, do not use the Services.

2. Eligibility and business use

• You must be at least 18 years old and able to form a binding contract.
• The Services are designed for owners, founders and managers of businesses located in the United States who are preparing to seek business financing. You agree to use them for business purposes.
• You may not use the Services if you are barred from doing so under applicable law, including U.S. sanctions and export control laws.

3. What ACESBA provides

ACESBA is an education and preparation service. Through the Site we offer:

• the SBA Readiness Report, a scored self-assessment of how prepared a business is to apply for a loan guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (“SBA”);
• digital products, including templates, workbooks, guides, kits, bundles and add-ons;
• educational content, including guides to SBA loan programs and a loan payment calculator;
• workshops and similar events, when offered; and
• a customer account for accessing reports and purchased files.

Descriptions, contents and formats of each product are shown on its product page at the time of purchase.

4. ACESBA is not a lender or the SBA

ACW & Associates LLC is not a lender, bank, loan broker, loan packager, lender service provider, credit repair organization or financial adviser. We do not make, arrange, negotiate, originate or service loans; we do not submit loan applications on anyone’s behalf; we do not refer applicants to lenders for compensation; and we do not receive any fee, commission or other compensation from lenders in connection with any loan.

ACESBA is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by or acting on behalf of the U.S. Small Business Administration or any other government agency or lender. References to the SBA and to SBA programs, forms and rules are made only to describe the subject of our educational content. Lending decisions are made solely by lenders and, where applicable, by the SBA, under their own criteria.

5. No professional advice

The Services provide general information and preparation tools. They are not legal, tax, accounting, investment, credit or financial advice, and no attorney-client, accountant-client, fiduciary or advisory relationship is created by your use of them. You are responsible for your own business and financing decisions and should consult qualified professionals about your particular circumstances.

6. The SBA Readiness Report

• Price and timing. The SBA Readiness Report costs $19.99. You provide your details and answer the assessment questions first; payment is taken at checkout; your results are displayed once payment is confirmed.
• Nature of the report. Your score, readiness level, eligibility checks, program matches, red flags, checklist and plan are an educational estimate generated from your own answers and our interpretation of published SBA requirements and common lender practice. The report is not a loan decision, pre-qualification, pre-approval, commitment, credit report, credit score or offer of credit, and it is not a prediction that any lender will approve, decline or price a loan in any particular way.
• Your answers. The report is only as accurate as the information you provide. We do not verify your answers, review your documents or check your credit.
• Retake. Each paid report includes one retake of the assessment at no charge within 90 days of payment. A retake cannot itself be retaken.
• Detailed report by email. You may request a copy of your detailed report by email from your results page or your account.
• Rules change. Each report reflects SBA requirements as we understand them on the date it is produced. SBA rules, program limits and lender practices change, and we are not obliged to update a report after it is delivered.

7. Templates, kits and other digital products

• Delivery. Digital products are delivered electronically by download link after payment is confirmed, on screen and by email. Download links sent by email expire after seven days; while your account is active you can generate new links from your account.
• Kits and bundles. A kit or bundle includes the products listed on its product page at the time of purchase. Where a product is shown as “In preparation” it is not available for purchase.
• Not official forms. Our templates help you organize and present information. They do not replace any official SBA, IRS or lender form, and lenders may require their own formats. You are solely responsible for the accuracy and completeness of anything you submit to a lender or government agency.
• Versions and updates. Each product states the SBA rules it follows and its version. We may revise products as rules change. Except where a product description expressly includes updates (for example, the Complete Library’s 12 months of updates), we are not obliged to provide revised versions.
• Examples. Completed examples use fictional businesses and figures for illustration only.

8. License to use digital products

On full payment, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to download, copy, edit and use the purchased product for the internal business purposes of the single business that purchased it, including sharing your completed documents with your lenders, attorneys, accountants and advisers.

You may not, without our prior written permission: (a) sell, resell, rent, sublicense, distribute, publish or share blank or partially completed templates; (b) use the products to provide services to other businesses or clients, including as a consultant, broker, packager or adviser; (c) remove copyright or license notices; or (d) use the products to build a competing product or service. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. The license ends automatically if you breach these Terms.

9. Orders, prices and payment

• Prices. Prices are stated in U.S. dollars and are those shown at checkout. We may change prices at any time; changes do not affect orders already paid.
• Payment processing. Payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. and its affiliates (“Stripe”) under Stripe’s terms. We do not receive or store your full card number. By submitting payment you authorize us, through Stripe, to charge your payment method for the amount shown.
• Statement descriptor. Charges are made by ACW & Associates LLC and may appear on your statement under “ACW & Associates LLC”, “ACESBA” or a combination of the two.
• Taxes. Prices exclude any applicable sales or similar taxes, which will be added at checkout where required by law.
• Order acceptance. An order is accepted when payment is confirmed. We may refuse or cancel an order, and refund any amount charged, if a product was listed at an obvious pricing error, if we suspect fraud or unauthorized use, or if we are unable to deliver it.
• No subscriptions. All purchases are one-time payments. We do not charge recurring fees unless a product page clearly states otherwise and you expressly agree at checkout.

10. Refunds, billing errors and chargebacks

Because our products are digital and delivered immediately, all sales are final except as set out in our Refund Policy, which explains the circumstances in which we will correct a billing error, re-deliver a product or issue a refund (including duplicate charges, non-delivery and files we cannot repair). Please contact support@acesba.com before disputing a charge with your bank; we aim to respond within one business day. If you file a chargeback for a product that was delivered as described, we may contest it and provide the bank with records of your purchase, delivery and use, and we may suspend your account while the dispute is open.

11. Workshops

Workshop dates, prices, formats and any cancellation terms are shown at registration and form part of these Terms. If we cancel a workshop, we will offer you a place at a later date or a full refund of the ticket price. We may change speakers or agendas without notice. Workshops are educational and the no-advice terms in Section 5 apply to them.

12. Accounts and access

• Your account is linked to the email address you provide. We sign you in with a one-time code sent to that address; we do not use passwords.
• You are responsible for keeping your email account secure and for all activity under your ACESBA account. Notify us promptly at support@acesba.com of any unauthorized use.
• Your results page and report are accessible through private links. Treat those links and the emails we send you as confidential; anyone with a link may be able to view the information behind it.

13. Your information and responsibilities

You agree to provide accurate, current and complete information and to provide information about other people (such as co-owners) only where you are entitled to do so. You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to store, process and use the information you submit to provide, secure and improve the Services, as described in our Privacy Policy, including to create aggregated or de-identified data that does not identify you or your business.

14. Acceptable use

You must not: (a) use the Services for any unlawful, fraudulent or misleading purpose, including to misrepresent information to a lender or government agency; (b) attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Services, other accounts or our systems; (c) bypass, disable or interfere with security, payment or access controls; (d) scrape, crawl or harvest content or data by automated means, other than search engine indexing of public pages; (e) copy, frame or mirror the Site or reverse engineer our assessment or scoring; (f) introduce malware or overload our infrastructure; or (g) use the Services to infringe anyone’s rights.

15. Intellectual property

The Site, the assessment questions and scoring methodology, reports, templates, guides, text, graphics, software and all other content are owned by ACW & Associates LLC or its licensors and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark and other laws. ACESBA and the ACESBA logo are trademarks of ACW & Associates LLC. Other names and marks, including “SBA”, belong to their respective owners and are used only to identify the subject matter of our content. If you send us suggestions or feedback, we may use them without obligation to you.

16. Third-party services and links

The Services rely on third-party providers (such as Stripe for payments, Cloudflare for hosting and Resend for email) and may link to third-party websites, including sba.gov. We are not responsible for third-party websites, services or content, and your use of them is governed by their own terms and policies.

17. Disclaimer of warranties

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the Services, reports and products are provided “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied or statutory, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement and accuracy. We do not warrant that the Services will be uninterrupted, error-free or secure, that any content is complete or current, or that use of the Services will result in any loan approval, loan terms, funding amount or other outcome.

18. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law: (a) ACW & Associates LLC, its members, managers, employees, contractors and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, business, goodwill, data or financing opportunity, including any loan being declined, delayed, reduced or offered on particular terms, arising out of or relating to the Services, even if advised of the possibility of such damages; and (b) our total liability for all claims arising out of or relating to the Services or these Terms will not exceed the greater of the amounts you paid us in the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim or one hundred U.S. dollars ($100).

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, so some of these limitations may not apply to you. Nothing in these Terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded by law.

19. Indemnification

You will defend, indemnify and hold harmless ACW & Associates LLC and its members, managers, employees, contractors and agents from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to: (a) your breach of these Terms; (b) your misuse of the Services or products; (c) information you submit to us, a lender or any other party; or (d) your violation of any law or third-party right.

20. Dispute resolution and arbitration

20.1 Informal resolution first

Before starting any formal proceeding, the party with the dispute must send the other a written notice describing it and the relief sought: to us at support@acesba.com and ACW & Associates LLC, 500 Crawford Street, Houston, TX 77002; and to you at the email address on your account. Both parties will try in good faith to resolve the dispute within 60 days of the notice.

20.2 Binding individual arbitration

If the dispute is not resolved, any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services will be resolved by final and binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its applicable rules, before a single arbitrator. The Federal Arbitration Act governs this Section 20. Arbitration will take place in Harris County, Texas, or by video or written submission where the AAA rules allow. The arbitrator may award the same individual relief a court could award, and judgment on the award may be entered in any court with jurisdiction.

20.3 Exceptions

Either party may (a) bring an individual claim in small claims court if it qualifies, and (b) seek injunctive or equitable relief in court to protect intellectual property or to stop unauthorized access to the Services.

20.4 Class action and jury trial waiver

You and ACW & Associates LLC agree that each may bring claims against the other only in an individual capacity, and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class, collective, consolidated or representative proceeding. You and ACW & Associates LLC each waive any right to a jury trial.

20.5 Your right to opt out

You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by emailing support@acesba.com within 30 days of first accepting these Terms, stating your name, the email address on your account and that you opt out of arbitration. Opting out does not affect any other part of these Terms.

20.6 Time limit

To the extent permitted by law, any claim must be brought within one year after it arises, or it is permanently barred.

21. Governing law and venue

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or the Services are governed by the laws of the State of Texas and applicable federal law, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Subject to Section 20, the state and federal courts located in Harris County, Texas have exclusive jurisdiction, and you and we consent to personal jurisdiction there.

22. Changes to the services and these Terms

We may modify, suspend or discontinue any part of the Services. We may update these Terms by posting a revised version on this page and changing the date above; material changes will also be notified by email to account holders or by a notice on the Site. Changes apply from the date posted, except that the version in force when you made a purchase governs that purchase. Continued use of the Services after changes take effect means you accept them.

23. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Services, without liability, if you breach these Terms, if required by law, or to protect the Services or other users. You may stop using the Services at any time and may ask us to close your account. Sections 4, 5, 8 (restrictions), 10, 13 to 21 and 24 survive termination.

24. General terms

• Entire agreement. These Terms and the policies referenced in them are the entire agreement between you and us about the Services and supersede any prior agreements on that subject.
• Electronic communications. You consent to receive notices, receipts and other communications from us electronically, and agree that they satisfy any requirement that communications be in writing.
• Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our written consent. We may assign them to an affiliate or in connection with a merger, acquisition or sale of assets.
• Severability and waiver. If any provision is held unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted and the rest of these Terms will remain in effect. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver.
• Force majeure. We are not liable for any delay or failure caused by events beyond our reasonable control.
• Independent parties. No partnership, agency, employment or fiduciary relationship is created by these Terms.

25. Contact

ACW & Associates LLC
500 Crawford Street
Houston, TX 77002
United States
Email: support@acesba.com