Subscriptions and Recurring Purchases - Managing Automatic Renewals
Subscriptions (recurring purchases) automatically create renewal orders on a scheduled basis. They are the foundation of membership billing, service renewals, and any product that needs to be rebilled periodically. The Subscriptions tab on an account shows all active and cancelled subscriptions.
Viewing Subscriptions
To view an account's subscriptions:
- Open the account from the Accounts page
- Select the Subscriptions tab
The description reads: "Subscriptions with recurring charges for this account."
Each subscription row displays:
- Row — sequential number
- Selection — checkbox for individual subscriptions, or an info icon for membership-controlled subscriptions
- Name — the subscription name (clickable link to edit)
- Status — "OK" for active, "Canceled" for cancelled
- Item — the catalog item being renewed
- Recurring — the recurring price charged each cycle
- Started — the subscription start date
- Expiration — the current expiration date, or "Does Not Expire" for perpetual subscriptions
Additional details shown under the subscription name:
- Date to cancel (if a requested cancel date is set)
- Charges remaining count
- Date of last renewal notice
- Date to stop charging
- Group assignment information (if the subscription provides group membership)
Membership-Controlled Subscriptions
Subscriptions linked to the account's membership show an info icon instead of a checkbox. The tooltip reads: "This subscription is controlled by account membership. To make changes, edit the membership directly."
These subscriptions cannot be cancelled or deleted from the Subscriptions tab. Instead, manage them through the Membership tab.
Subscription Fields
Core Fields
- Account — the account being billed (required)
- Item — the catalog item that defines the product, pricing, and renewal terms (required)
- Charge Start (dateChargeStart) — the date billing began for this subscription
- Charged Through (dateChargedThrough) — the last day of the current paid period. The renewal order is created for the day after this date. This is also used as the group expiration date if the subscription provides group membership.
- Charge End (dateChargeEnd) — if set, the subscription will not renew on or after this date
- Requested Cancel Date (requestedCancelDate) — the subscription will be cancelled on this date
- Canceled — when checked, the subscription is inactive and will not create renewal orders
Pricing
- Custom Periodic Fee (CustomPeriodicFee) — overrides the item's recurring price. When set, this amount is charged on each renewal instead of the item's default recurring price. When empty, the item's recurring price (or unit price if no recurring price is set) is used.
Renewal Limits
- Charges Remaining (chargesRemaining) — controls how many more renewal cycles will occur:
- Empty/null — perpetual subscription, renews indefinitely
- Greater than 0 — the subscription renews this many more times, decrementing by 1 each cycle
- 0 — the subscription will be cancelled (no more renewals)
Renewal Scheduling
- Day of Month (chargeDayOfTheMonth0) — when set, the subscription renews on this specific day of the month instead of calculating from the charged-through date
- Second Day of Month (chargeDayOfTheMonth1) — an optional second renewal day for twice-monthly billing
Dependencies
- Dependency (dependencyId) — links this subscription to a parent subscription. When the parent subscription is cancelled, this dependent subscription is automatically cancelled as well. Use this for add-on services that should end when the main subscription ends.
Renewal Item
- Renewal Item (renewItemId) — when set, the subscription cancels itself at expiration and creates a new subscription using this different item. This supports scenarios where a product changes (e.g., introductory pricing transitions to standard pricing).
Tracking
- Created By Order (createdByOrderId) — the order that originally created this subscription
- Renewal Notice Date (dateRenewalNotice) — the date the last renewal notification was sent to the customer
How the Batch Process Handles Subscriptions
During the daily Housekeep batch process, the system checks each active subscription:
- Expiration Check — compares the Charged Through date against the current date
- Renewal Eligibility — verifies the subscription is not cancelled, charges remaining is not zero, and the charge end date has not passed
- Order Creation — creates a renewal order using the item's recurring price (or the subscription's custom periodic fee)
- Charges Remaining — if set, decrements by 1. When it reaches 0, the subscription is marked for cancellation.
- Charged Through Update — advances the Charged Through date to the end of the next billing period
- Renewal Notification — sends a renewal notification if configured on the item (sendRenewalNotification)
- Group Membership — updates group membership expiration dates if the item has a group assignment
Item Configuration for Subscriptions
The item linked to a subscription controls the billing behavior:
Key Item Fields
- Is Recurring Purchase — must be checked for the item to create subscriptions when purchased
- Recurring Price — the price used for renewals (if empty, the unit price is used)
- Unit Price — the initial purchase price
Membership Duration Type
The Membership Duration Type on the item determines how expiration dates are calculated:
- None (0) — no automatic expiration management
- Calendar (1) — membership expires on a specific calendar month each year. The Membership Month field specifies which month.
- Periodic (2) — membership expires after a fixed period. The Group Expiration Period (days) and Group Expiration Period Months control the duration.
- Perpetual (3) — membership never expires
- Day of the Month (4) — membership renews on specific days. The Charge Day of the Month fields specify which days.
Renewal Configuration
- Renew Count — the number of times the subscription can be renewed (maps to chargesRemaining on the subscription)
- Renew Item — an alternative item to use for renewal (maps to renewItemId on the subscription)
- Block Duplicate Recurring Purchases — when checked, only one active subscription per item per account is allowed
- Account User Charge — an additional charge per user on the account
Notification Configuration
- Purchase Email — an email template sent when the item is first purchased
- Renew Email — an email template sent on subscription renewal
- Send Renewal Notification — when checked, renewal notices are sent before the subscription expires
- Send Fulfillment Notification — when checked, notifications are sent when the item is fulfilled
- Fulfillment Notification Group — the group that receives fulfillment notifications
Group Membership
- Group — when set, purchasing this item adds the buyer to this group. The subscription maintains the group membership, and expiration of the subscription can expire the group membership.
- Group Expiration Period and Group Expiration Period Months — how long the group membership lasts per renewal cycle
My Account Visibility
- In My Account — when checked, the subscription appears in the customer's My Account subscription management page
- My Account Subscription Update Message — a message displayed to the customer when they update their subscription through My Account
Creating a Subscription Manually
To create a subscription without a purchase:
- On the Subscriptions tab, click the Add button
- This opens the admin editing interface for a new Recurring Purchase record
- Set the required fields: Account, Item, Charge Start, and Charged Through dates
- Optionally configure Custom Periodic Fee, Charges Remaining, and Day of Month
- Save the record
Cancelling a Subscription
To cancel one or more subscriptions:
- On the Subscriptions tab, check the selection boxes next to the subscriptions to cancel
- Click the Cancel Subscription button (enabled after at least one checkbox is selected)
The subscription's Canceled flag is set to true. The subscription remains in the list with a "Canceled" status but no longer creates renewal orders.
Membership-controlled subscriptions cannot be cancelled from this tab — use the Membership tab to cancel the membership, which will cancel the associated subscription.
Scheduled Cancellation
To cancel a subscription on a future date, set the Requested Cancel Date on the subscription record. The system will cancel the subscription on that date during the Housekeep process.
Cascade Cancellation
When a subscription with dependents is cancelled, all subscriptions that have it set as their Dependency are also cancelled automatically.
Deleting a Subscription
To permanently delete a subscription:
- Check the subscription's selection box
- Click the Delete Subscription button
This removes the subscription record entirely. Use with caution — deletion is permanent and removes the subscription history.
Tips
- Use Custom Periodic Fee when an account has negotiated a special renewal rate that differs from the item's standard recurring price
- Set Charges Remaining to limit renewal cycles — useful for fixed-term agreements (e.g., 12-month subscription = 12 charges remaining with monthly billing)
- Use Dependencies to link add-on subscriptions to a primary subscription so they cancel together
- The Renewal Item field supports product transitions — when an introductory offer expires, the subscription automatically switches to the standard product
- Review the Subscriptions tab periodically for subscriptions approaching their Charge End date or with low Charges Remaining values
- The Charged Through date is the key date for renewal timing — adjusting it changes when the next renewal occurs