Trial System Guide

Overview

PrivateACB includes a 30-day free trial that lets you evaluate all features before purchasing. During the trial, you can import transactions, calculate ACB, and view all reports — but export functionality is disabled until you activate a license.

Trial Duration: 30 days from first launch No registration, email, or sign-up required.

How the Trial Works

First Launch

When you launch PrivateACB for the first time, the trial begins automatically. The app detects it’s a fresh install and starts counting. No registration or account creation needed.

What You Can Do During Trial

Full access to all features:

Create and open databases
Import transactions (CSV files)
Configure currency rates and fetch market data
Calculate ACB (Canadian), Cost Basis (US), CGT (Australian), and Capital Gains (UK) with all methods
View all report types (Schedule 3, Form 8949, CGT Summary, SA108, T1135, etc.)
Use all tax rules (superficial loss detection, wash sale detection, CGT discount, Section 104 pooling)
Use all deletion and data management tools

Restricted during trial:

Export reports to PDF or CSV — locked until licensed
Copy report data — locked until licensed

Trial Status Display

The app shows your trial status:

“Trial: X days remaining” — Active trial with days left
“Trial Expired” — Trial period ended
“Licensed” — Valid license activated

Trial Expiration

What Happens After 30 Days

When the trial expires:

Export remains locked — You cannot export reports to PDF or CSV
Calculations blocked — The ACB Calculator shows a purchase prompt when you try to calculate
Reports show expiration notice — A one-time message appears; you can acknowledge it to continue viewing reports for the current session
Your data is NOT deleted — Everything you imported and calculated remains in your database

Once you purchase and activate a license, all features unlock immediately with your existing data.

Why This Model?

The trial lets you:

Verify PrivateACB handles your exchange CSV formats
Confirm calculations match your expectations
Review reports before committing to purchase

You only pay after you’ve confirmed the app works for your needs.

Purchasing a License

When to Purchase

Purchase a license when:

You’ve verified the app works with your data
You need to export reports for tax filing
Your trial is about to expire

License Editions

Five editions are available: Canada ($39 USD), United States ($39 USD), Australia ($39 USD), United Kingdom ($39 USD), or All Jurisdictions ($69 USD). All editions include CSV import, PDF/CSV export, and unlimited calculations. See the Licensing Guide for full details on what each edition includes.

How to Purchase

Visit https://www.privateacb.com/pricing (or click “Purchase” in the app)
Select your edition
Complete checkout via Stripe (secure payment)
Receive license key via email
Enter the key in PrivateACB (Settings > License & Activation)

See the Licensing Guide for detailed activation instructions.

Trial vs. Licensed Comparison

Feature	Trial (30 days)	Trial Expired	Licensed
Open databases	Yes	Yes	Yes
Import transactions	Yes	Yes	Yes
Calculate ACB/Cost Basis	Yes	Blocked (purchase prompt)	Yes
View reports	Yes	Yes (after acknowledging)	Yes
Export reports (PDF/CSV)	No	No	Yes
Copy report data	No	No	Yes

Technical Details

Machine Binding

The trial is bound to your computer’s hardware ID. This prevents trial abuse (reinstalling to get a new trial). If you:

Reinstall the app: Trial continues from where it left off
Use a different computer: A new trial begins on that machine
Significantly upgrade hardware: May be treated as a new machine

Where Trial Data Is Stored

Trial information is stored at the OS level (Windows Registry with DPAPI encryption), not in your database. This means:

The trial persists across all databases you create
Deleting databases doesn’t reset the trial
The trial status is encrypted and tamper-protected

Common Questions

Can I extend my trial?

No. The 30-day trial cannot be extended. However, your data remains intact — purchase a license anytime to unlock exports.

What if my trial expires before I’m ready?

Your data is safe. Everything you imported and calculated stays in your database. You can:

Purchase a license to continue with full access
Continue viewing reports (after acknowledging the expiration notice)
Return later when you’re ready to purchase

Can I use multiple computers?

Yes. Each computer gets its own 30-day trial. Licenses can be activated on up to 3 devices (deactivate one to free up a slot).

Is internet required during trial?

No. The trial works completely offline. Internet is only needed to purchase and initially activate a license.

Troubleshooting

Checkout page won’t load (blank page or spinner)

Some antivirus and internet security software (Kaspersky, Norton, Bitdefender, ESET, McAfee, and others) intercepts encrypted web traffic for scanning. This can prevent Stripe’s secure checkout page from loading.

Fix: Add these domains to your security software’s trusted sites or exclusion list:

buy.stripe.com
js.stripe.com
merchant-ui-api.stripe.com

The exact steps vary by software — look for “Trusted URLs”, “Web protection exclusions”, or “Encrypted connection scanning” in your security settings.

Quick checks:

Try incognito/private browsing — browser extensions (especially ad blockers) can also interfere
Try a different browser — if it works in another browser, a browser extension is the cause
Temporarily disable your security software — if checkout loads, you’ve confirmed the cause; re-enable it after adding the exclusions

This does not affect the security of your purchase — Stripe handles all payment processing on their own servers.

”Trial Expired” but I just installed

The trial is tied to your machine, not the app installation. If you previously had PrivateACB installed (even a different version), the trial may have already started. Purchase a license to continue.

I purchased but still see “Trial”

After purchasing, you must activate your license:

Go to Settings tab
Expand License & Activation panel
Enter your license key
Click Activate

See the Licensing Guide for detailed instructions.

”Trial status unavailable”

This usually means the trial data is corrupted or inaccessible. The app will treat this as expired (fail-secure). If this happens on a fresh install, try restarting the application.

Next Steps

During trial: Import your data, run calculations, review reports
Before expiration: Purchase at https://www.privateacb.com/pricing
After purchase: Activate your license (see Licensing Guide)

Last Updated: February 2026 PrivateACB Version: 2.0