Close a syndicate

Close a syndicate when the group is winding down. Closing is a reversible soft-close, not an immediate deletion: it stops all activity, cancels the Direct Debit mandates at the payment provider and ends the subscription, but keeps your data read-only for a retention window during which you can reinstate it.

Before you start

You must be an admin of the syndicate.
Resolve any money in flight first. Closing is refused while a Direct Debit collection is still clearing, or while any member still owes an outstanding balance. Settle these before you close.
Clear any bookings that still need attention. Closing is refused while anyone has a past booking that is confirmed but not yet finalised, or a future booking that already has a usage log against it. Finalise the past flights and sort out the future booking first.
Once you close, the syndicate becomes read-only and its ledger is frozen. You can reinstate it within the retention window, but reinstating is refused if you already have another open syndicate on the free plan; you would need to make room first.

Close the syndicate

Open the syndicate and tap the pencil icon next to its name.
Scroll to the Close this syndicate card and tap Close syndicate.
The app checks whether the syndicate can be closed. If something is unresolved (an in-flight collection, an unsettled balance, a past booking that still needs finalising, or a future booking with a usage log), it tells you what to fix and stops.
Otherwise a confirmation appears explaining how long your data is kept. Confirm to close.

On close, Syndik8:

cancels every member’s Direct Debit mandate at the payment provider, so no live mandate is left behind;
ends the subscription;
cancels all upcoming bookings;
keeps the financial ledger, read-only, so balances and history survive.

The retention window

Your data is kept for a period that depends on whether payments were taken:

If payments were taken (an active mandate, or provider payment activity in the last 18 months), the data is kept until 18 months after the last payment, so any late payment issue (for example a Direct Debit indemnity claim or a card dispute) can still be handled. The confirmation shows the exact period, rounded up to a whole month, and never shorter than 30 days.
If no payments were taken, the data is kept for a flat 30 days, matching the account-closure window.

Throughout the window the syndicate is read-only and you may be notified of any payment issue that needs attention.

Reinstate a closed syndicate

Within the retention window, any admin can bring the syndicate back:

Open the closed syndicate and tap the pencil icon.
On the closed banner, tap Reinstate syndicate and confirm.

The syndicate reopens on the free plan. Because it comes back on the free plan, reinstating is refused if you already have another open syndicate on the free plan; you would need to make room first. Because provider cancellations are final, members must re-sign their Direct Debit mandates and, for paid features, re-subscribe. Bookings that were cancelled at close stay cancelled.

After the window

When the retention window elapses, a scheduled job removes the syndicate permanently. Where any financial history exists, an anonymised money trail is kept for accounting and late dispute handling, with personal, bank and provider details stripped. A syndicate that never recorded anything financial is removed entirely.