Why Can't I Delete Users from Refari that were synced from my ATS?

This article explains how your Refari licence count is tied to your Applicant Tracking System (ATS), the platform your team uses to manage jobs and candidates, why users synced from your ATS cannot be deleted directly within Refari, and what to do if you want to reduce the number of users you are billed for.

How licensing works with your ATS

When your ATS is integrated with Refari, your Refari user list mirrors your ATS user list one to one. Every active user in your ATS is set up as a Company User in Refari and is included in your monthly subscription. Licences are managed from your ATS, not from within Refari, which is why the option to delete an ATS-synced user does not appear on your Refari dashboard.

Note: billing follows your ATS user list, not individual activity. A user who has never signed in to Refari, or never activated their account, is still a licensed user while they remain active in your ATS.

Licensing follows the role a person holds rather than what they do day to day, and the people your team works with through Refari (candidates, referrers, and the hiring managers you share candidates with) are never billed. For the full picture of who is included in your subscription and who takes part for free, see Who you are billed for on Refari (and who is free) ↗

Why we work this way

In the early days of Refari we allowed more flexibility in managing user accounts, including deletions. We soon found that this flexibility was sometimes used to significantly under-report the number of licences a team actually needed, which threatened the pricing model that keeps Refari fair for everyone. Since 2020, any user added to your ATS must also be included in your Refari billing, and the only way to remove a user from Refari is to remove them from your ATS.

• Fairness: aligning licences directly with your ATS removes any discrepancy in how costs are shared across our customers. Everyone is billed on the same basis.
• Sustainability: a stable revenue model is what funds the ongoing development and support of Refari.
• Consistency: requiring that all ATS users are also Refari users means there is no way to reduce costs by carving individual people out, which would quietly push those costs onto everyone else.

There is an upside to this structure: our revenue is directly tied to the size of your team. When your business grows, so does ours, and when your business contracts, our revenue reduces with it. That gives us a direct incentive to help you grow, because we only do well when you do.

How to reduce your user count

If someone no longer needs a licence, remove or deactivate them in your ATS. The change flows through to Refari automatically (user changes are checked hourly), their Refari account is removed, and your billing adjusts from that point. Billing is calculated daily, so a mid-month change is applied pro-rata rather than waiting for your next invoice.

Idea: the per-user rate follows a volume scale, so it adjusts slightly as your user count changes (a smaller team pays a slightly higher rate per user, a larger team a slightly lower one). If you are planning a change, the pricing calculator on our website is an easy way to preview your new monthly total.

Note: the reverse is possible, but not the other way around. If you need to delete someone from your ATS while keeping their Refari account and profile (for example a team member who left but whose profile you still want on your website), contact support before deleting them and we can unlink the two accounts. There is no equivalent option for keeping someone in your ATS while removing their Refari licence.

What about users who do not recruit?

We understand that roles like accountants, payroll managers and administrators are essential to your operations and sit in your ATS without ever posting a job. These users are still licensed. Excluding them from billing would mean increasing the rate for everyone else, which would undermine the fairness and transparency of the pricing model. Licensing is deliberately simple: if someone is an active user in your ATS, they hold a Refari licence.

Final Notes

It is worth reviewing your ATS user list from time to time, particularly after someone leaves your team, so your licence count always reflects the people actually working with you. If you have any questions about your user count or an item on your invoice, reply to any of our emails or raise a ticket and the team will be happy to walk you through it.

Other articles you might be interested in:  How to Delete or Remove a Team Member from the Refari platform  |  Understanding your Refari bill: what you pay for, and who's free