My credit balance dropped more than I expected

Balances that move unexpectedly almost always have one of six explanations. Work down the list — it is ordered by how often each one turns out to be the answer.

1. An export is running, and the credits are reserved rather than spent

Credits are reserved the moment you press Export, so two people cannot spend the same thousand. While a job is queued or running your available balance already reflects the full estimate. When it completes, the difference between the estimate and the rows actually written comes straight back.

Check: Account → Exports for anything not yet complete. Wait for it, then look again. The export lifecycle.

2. "Select all matching" instead of "select this page"

The header checkbox selects the 50 rows on screen. A separate link selects all 638 matches. This is the single most common cause of a big unexpected charge.

Check: the rows figure on the export's row in Account → Exports. If it is far more than you meant, this was it. The full explanation.

3. Someone else on the account

If more than one person uses the account, every one of them spends from the same credit pool.

Check: Account → Exports shows every export on the account, not just yours, with who created it and when.

4. An API key or an MCP agent

A script in a retry loop, a scheduled job you forgot, or an AI client with a key can all create exports. They appear in the same list.

Check: Account → Exports for jobs you did not create by hand, then Account → Security → Access keys for a key you no longer recognise. Delete anything you do not need — rotating and revoking keys.

5. The 30-day window moved

A business is billed once per rolling 30 days. Re-running the same export inside that window is free for rows you already have; running it on day 40 is a fresh charge for all of them. This catches people who export the same market monthly and expect the second run to be nearly free.

Check: the date of your previous export of the same search. The rolling window.

6. Rolled-over credits expired

Unused credits roll over for one month on Growth, three on Scale and twelve on Enterprise, and not at all on Starter. Each batch has its own expiry, so a balance can drop on your billing date without any export running — an old batch simply aged out. Fresh credits are always spent before carried-over ones, which is why the oldest batch is the one that tends to expire unspent.

Check: the balance breakdown on the dashboard, which shows this month's allowance and each carried-over batch with its expiry date. what happens to credits you did not use.

If none of the six fits

Email support@findandclose.com with the approximate time you noticed the drop and the export ids around it. We can see the full ledger — reservations, settlements and refunds — and will walk you through what happened. If it turns out to be ours, we credit it back.