diff --git a/app/models/order.rb b/app/models/order.rb
index 2171857f5..eaa47e8a9 100644
--- a/app/models/order.rb
+++ b/app/models/order.rb
@@ -5,4 +5,12 @@ class Order < ActiveRecord::Base
   has_many :order_items, :dependent => :destroy
 
   default_scope order('created_at DESC')
+
+  # when an order is completed, we update the member's account to mark
+  # them as paid, or whatever, based on what products they ordered
+  def update_account
+    order_items.each do |i|
+      i.product.update_account(member)
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/app/models/product.rb b/app/models/product.rb
index 9f318107c..830880478 100644
--- a/app/models/product.rb
+++ b/app/models/product.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,9 @@ class Product < ActiveRecord::Base
 
   # when purchasing a product that gives you a paid account, this method
   # does all the messing around to actually make sure the account is
-  # updated correctly -- account type, paid until, etc.
+  # updated correctly -- account type, paid until, etc.  Usually this is
+  # called by order.update_account, which loops through all order items
+  # and does this for each one.
   def update_account(member)
     member.account.account_type = account_type
     if paid_months
diff --git a/spec/models/order_spec.rb b/spec/models/order_spec.rb
index 57a878701..54d67d16f 100644
--- a/spec/models/order_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/models/order_spec.rb
@@ -17,4 +17,24 @@ describe Order do
     Order.all.should eq [@order2, @order]
   end
 
+  it 'updates the account details' do
+    @member = FactoryGirl.create(:member)
+    @order = FactoryGirl.create(:order, :member => @member)
+    @account_type = FactoryGirl.create(:account_type, :name => 'paid')
+    @product = FactoryGirl.create(:product,
+      :account_type => @account_type,
+      :paid_months => 3
+    )
+    @order_item = FactoryGirl.create(:order_item,
+      :order_id => @order.id, :product_id => @product.id)
+
+    @member.account.account_type.should be_nil
+    @member.account.paid_until.should be_nil
+
+    @order.update_account
+
+    @member.account.account_type.should eq @account_type
+    @member.account.paid_until.should_not be_nil
+  end
+
 end