Terms of Use
Important: All calculations, tables and reference values in BenchTool are guidance values. They replace neither expert verification nor training. The invoicing and tax features are not tax advice. Check every result before working or billing on the basis of it.
1. Scope and parties
These terms govern use of the BenchTool web application, operated by Philipp Spengler – Goldschmied, Kurt-Schumacher-Ring 55, 65195 Wiesbaden, Germany (the "Provider"). Deviating terms of the user apply only if the Provider agrees in writing.
The service is aimed at businesses, and at apprentices and students using the discounted plan, who may be consumers. Where these terms distinguish between the two, this is stated expressly.
2. Scope of services
BenchTool is a toolkit for goldsmiths and jewellery makers. It comprises calculation modules, reference tables, a job planner, customer and invoice management including export as an electronic invoice, a form through which the user's own customers can enter their contact details, recording of business expenses with receipts and recurring costs, matching of bank transactions uploaded by the user, reports and exports for handover to a tax adviser (including the DATEV field layout), and synchronisation of projects across the user's devices. It is provided as an installable web app and works largely offline once installed.
The Provider develops the application continuously. Features may be added, changed or replaced as long as the core benefit owed under the contract is preserved.
3. Formation of contract, plans and seats
The contract is formed when the order is completed and confirmed by the Provider. All plans are subscriptions; there is no one-time purchase. All prices are final prices. Under § 19 of the German VAT Act no VAT is shown.
- Individual, monthly: €7.99 per month for one person. A seven-day free trial is available; unless cancelled before it ends, the trial converts into a running subscription.
- Individual, yearly: €79 per year for one person.
- Workshop licence: €24.99 per month or €249 per year, including four seats. Each additional seat costs €4.99 per month. The licence holder manages members and may add or remove them. Members work in a shared data space: projects, customer records and the workshop profile are visible and editable by all members; personal settings and each member's own calculation history are not. Invoices are issued from a single shared, sequential number range for the workshop.
- Discounted access for apprentices and students: €3 per month for one person, cancellable at any time. Valid proof from a vocational school, art college or comparable institution is required. The proof is submitted before the contract is concluded and reviewed by the Provider; the discounted plan can only be booked once it has been accepted. No charges arise until then. An acceptance covers one booking and lapses if it is not used within 60 days. The expected end of training or study follows from the proof; the subscription ends automatically on that date, no cancellation is required and no further charges arise afterwards. Anyone needing access beyond that date enters into a new contract. The Provider may request proof again; if the conditions cease to apply before the stated end date, the plan may be converted to the regular individual plan at the end of the current billing period. Where details are incorrect, access may be suspended.
Access is personal and non-transferable. Concurrent use of one access by several people is not permitted outside the workshop licence. The number of simultaneously registered devices is limited technically to enforce this.
Price changes for existing subscriptions are communicated in text form at least six weeks before they take effect. The user may then terminate with effect from the date of the change.
4. User obligations
- Keep credentials confidential and do not pass them on.
- Verify results professionally before relying on them.
- Maintain your own additional backups. Export functions are provided.
- You are responsible for the content you enter, in particular customer data, and confirm that you are entitled to process it.
5. Invoices, tax and retention
The invoicing features support the creation of documents and can be set to the country in which the user is established:
| Country | Supported schemes | Currency |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | Standard VAT 19/7 %, small business § 19, margin scheme § 25a, reverse charge § 13b, output as XRechnung and ZUGFeRD | EUR |
| Austria | Standard VAT 20/13/10 %, small business § 6(1)(27), margin scheme § 24, reverse charge § 19(1) | EUR |
| Switzerland | VAT 8.1/3.8/2.6 %, not liable below the turnover threshold (Art. 10), exempt export (Art. 23), rounding to 5 centimes | CHF |
The user selects their country before the first invoice and can change it in the workshop profile. They are responsible for ensuring the setting matches their actual place of taxation. A margin scheme along German or Austrian lines is not available in Switzerland, as Swiss law provides no equivalent regime for scrap gold.
The Provider is not a tax adviser and owes no tax or legal advice. Which tax treatment applies, which mandatory details a document must carry, and whether a generated document satisfies the relevant tax authority is for the user to verify — in case of doubt with their tax adviser. This applies equally to all supported countries; the stored rates, thresholds and mandatory texts reflect the position at the time of release and may be superseded by legislative change. The same applies to expense recording and its reports and exports: account mappings (such as SKR03 or SKR04), totals and figures are calculation and handover aids without tax review; the assessment of the user or their tax adviser is decisive.
The obligation to retain invoices and electronic invoices properly and unalterably, including the authoritative XML data, rests with the user. The Provider supplies export and output functions but owes neither an audit-proof archive nor procedural documentation.
6. Availability
The Provider operates the application with due care but does not warrant any particular availability. Maintenance is announced where possible and scheduled outside peak hours. The offline capability of the application largely shields users from server interruptions.
7. Liability
The Provider is liable without limitation
- for intent and gross negligence,
- for injury to life, body or health,
- under the German Product Liability Act, and
- to the extent of any guarantee given.
In cases of ordinary negligence the Provider is liable only for breach of a material contractual obligation, meaning an obligation whose fulfilment makes proper performance of the contract possible in the first place and on whose observance the user may regularly rely. In such cases liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical for this type of contract.
For loss of data the Provider is liable, within the limits above, only up to the effort that would have been required for recovery had the user maintained proper and regular backups.
Any further liability is excluded. In particular the Provider accepts no liability for the economic consequences of incorrect calculations, for damage to workpieces or material, or for tax consequences arising from the unverified adoption of calculation results. These limitations also apply in favour of the Provider's agents.
8. Data protection and processing on your behalf
How the Provider handles personal data is described in the Privacy Policy. Where the user processes third-party personal data in BenchTool — in particular customer records — this is done on the user's behalf. The Data Processing Agreement applies in addition and becomes part of the contract upon use of those features.
9. Term and termination
All subscriptions run for an indefinite period and may be terminated by either party with effect from the end of the billing period paid for — monthly plans at the end of the month, yearly plans at the end of the subscription year. Notice in text form to support@benchtool.de is sufficient; a cancellation option is also available in your account. Cancelling during the seven-day trial incurs no cost. The right to terminate for good cause remains unaffected. After the contract ends, export of your own data remains possible for 30 days.
10. Changes to these terms
The Provider may amend these terms where necessary to reflect changes in law, case law or the scope of services. Changes will be communicated in text form at least six weeks before they take effect. If the user does not object before that date, the changes are deemed accepted; the notice will draw attention to this consequence separately. If the user objects, either party may terminate the contract as of the effective date.
11. Right of withdrawal for consumers
Consumers have a statutory right of withdrawal of 14 days. The full withdrawal instructions and model withdrawal form are available at any time and are shown again during the order process. Businesses have no right of withdrawal.
12. Dispute resolution
The Provider is neither willing nor obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.
13. Final provisions
German law applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. For consumers this choice of law applies only insofar as it does not deprive them of the protection of mandatory provisions of their country of habitual residence. If the user is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, the place of jurisdiction is the Provider's registered office.
Should any provision be invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions is unaffected.
14. Contact
Philipp Spengler – Goldschmied · support@benchtool.de