If you pay for other people's CoVet plans, each paid plan sits on a seat on your subscription. This article explains how seats work, how an open seat appears, and how to give it to someone else.
What a seat is
Everyone you pay for has a seat on your subscription, on either the Essentials or the Unlimited plan. Support accounts are free and don't use a seat.
How an open seat appears
A paid seat becomes an open seat when nobody is using it. This happens when:
You convert a member you pay for to Support. This takes effect immediately.
You switch your own account to Support.
You remove a member from your team and tick Also remove from billing.
How long an open seat lasts
An open seat stays on your bill until your next renewal date. If nobody takes it by then, it drops off that invoice.
If you switch from a monthly to a yearly billing cycle, your open seats are removed right away, with no credit for them, and they can't be filled afterwards. Seats that are in use get the usual prorated credit.
Who can take an open seat
You. If you have a Support account, choose Assign to myself.
Someone on your teams who is on Support, cancelled, expired or on a trial.
A new person. Invite them to one of your teams and assign them the seat.
Someone who already has a paid seat can't take it. If you don't own a team yet, CoVet asks you to create one first, because open seats are assigned through a team you own.
What it costs
Filling an open seat is free. You already pay for it.
If you invite someone with Manage and pay on the same plan as the open seat, the open seat is used automatically and there is no extra charge.
If you upgrade an open Essentials seat to Unlimited, you pay only the prorated difference for the current billing cycle, then the full Unlimited rate.
Where to find open seats
Open Subscription and Billing. An open seat shows in a banner at the top and in the Billed members list, each with an Assign button.
What does not open a seat
"Stop managing" a member who is waiting for their trial to end. They have no seat yet, so nothing opens.
Removing someone without ticking "Also remove from billing". Their seat stays on your bill. They keep their plan, and you keep paying for it.
Changing a member's plan. An upgrade charges the prorated difference on their own seat right away. A downgrade waits for the end of the billing cycle. Open seats are only used when a seat starts.
Centrally billed organizations
If your organization pays centrally, open seats work the same way, but are managed by the Billing Contact, enterprise managers and organization seat managers. See Seats and Billing for Centrally Billed Organizations.