Subscription plans allow you to charge customers periodic fees for using the service.
You can assign subscription plans to products (both main and add-on ones), customers, and accounts.
To add a subscription, click +Subscription plan on the Subscription plans panel and fill in the details. To save the subscription configuration, click Save. To save and continue editing the subscription details, click Save & Edit. To create more subscriptions, click Save & Add a copy.
General
On the General tab, you can define the general settings for a subscription plan.
Name
Type a unique name for the subscription plan.
Name visible to end users
Type a clear subscription name that end users see on their invoices and self-care interfaces.
Currency
Select a currency the subscription is priced in. Once saved, the currency can’t be changed.
Activation mode
Specify when the subscription becomes active and when any one-time or upfront charges (e.g., activation fee or the first month’s subscription fee charged in advance) are applied:
- At the given start date – subscriptions become active on the date specified in the Start date field. When you assign a subscription with the start date set to today, PortaBilling activates it within one hour of assignment (not immediately).
- Upon the account's first usage – subscriptions become active on the later of the Start date or the account's first usage date. The subscription activates within an hour.
Subscription charges applied
Select when recurring subscription fees are charged to the customer’s account after subscription activation:
- At the end of the billing period – the customer is charged the full subscription fee when their billing period closes.
- In advance – the customer is charged one or more periods in advance. The charges apply for the following period at the end of the current billing period.
For example, on April 1st, a postpaid customer activates a subscription charged 2 months in advance. Their invoice for April includes charges for April, therefore, and for the following 2 billing periods, May and June. The invoice for May includes charges for July since the subscription covers 2 periods in advance (June and July).
When activated within the current billing period, e.g., on April 10th, the customer's invoice contains the pro-rated subscription fee for the incomplete billing period (from April 10th to April 30th) and their advance subscription charges for the following 2 billing periods (May and June).
Periods in advance
Link copied to clipboardSpecify the number of periods to charge your customers in advance.
-
- Progressively – the customer is charged a pro-rated subscription fee on a day-to-day basis. This means that by the end of the billing period, the charged amount covers the total subscription fee. For example, if the monthly subscription fee is $9.99, a daily charge is equal to $0.33. On the 10th day, the subscription charges total $3.33, and by the end of the month, $9.99.
Generate XDR
Link copied to clipboardSpecify how PortaBilling generates xDRs for customer subscriptions.
-
- Select One per billing period to generate a single xDR that is updated every day to cover subscription charges from the beginning of the billing period until the current day.
- Select Every day to generate a separate xDR for each daily subscription charge. These xDRs can be used for accounting and reporting.For example, if the monthly subscription fee is $9.99, a daily charge is equal to $0.33. On the 10th day the subscription charges total $3.33 and by the end of the month, $9.99.
-
Can be applied more than once
Select a checkbox to assign the same subscription multiple times if needed. Once the subscription is saved, this option is read-only.
Fees
On the Fees tab, you can define the fees for a subscription plan:
Activation fee
Specify a one-time fee that automatically applies when a subscription is activated. It is not prorated.
Activation tax transaction code
Select a tax transaction code from the list. For more information about transaction codes, refer to the Add transaction code documentation.
Monthly fee
Specify a monthly fee. If you want to adjust periodic fees for non-monthly periods, click Matching mode 
and adjust the corresponding fields.
Prorate fee for the partial billing period
Select the appropriate billing periods. See the prorate fee for the partial billing period chapter for more details.
Usage tax transaction code
Select a tax transaction code from the list. See the usage tax transaction code chapter for more details.
Minimum subscription period
Specify the time interval in months. Refer to the Minimum subscription period, months chapter for more details.
Early cancellation penalty
Specify a one-time fee that applies if the subscription is cancelled before the minimum subscription period ends:
- Fixed – this is the charge you apply to a customer for early cancellation. It is fixed, regardless of the number of months/days left when the customer ends their subscription. Specify the Cancellation fee.
- Remaining subscription charges – the charge depends on the periods remaining.
- Sum of discounts applied – this charge depends on the billing periods during which the customer used the service. A penalty is determined by the sum of all the discounts provided to the customer since they signed up for the subscription.
Cancellation tax transaction code
Select an internal tax transaction code from the list. PortaBilling uses this code to extract taxation codes for Avalara, GST, or SureTax taxation plug-ins and send them for tax processing for services covered by the subscription cancellation fee (e.g., administrative costs).
Promotional periods
On the Promotional periods tab, you can configure special offers, such as “Only $9.99/month for the first six months.”
You can define an unlimited number of promotional periods, with different subscription fees for each. You can also define prepaid plans later while editing a specific subscription plan.
Billing period
Choose the billing period to define, view, or change the promotional schema.
Months (half months, weeks, days)
Specify the number of billing periods covered by the same fee.
Fee
Specify the charge you apply to a customer for a certain number of periods.
The rest of the period
This means all of the following billing periods when a customer uses the subscription.
Standard fee
This is the amount of money that is charged per month. To change it, go to Fees > Monthly fee and click Save.
For how to configure promotional periods, see the Configure promotional periods chapter.
Prepaid plans
On the Prepaid plans tab, add multi-month prepaid plans with a discount to encourage your customers to pay for several months in advance.
Months
Specify the number of billing periods for this prepaid plan.
Standard fee
This is the charge for all the periods without a discount. The calculation is based on the monthly fee defined on the Fee panel.
Discount, %
Specify a discount percentage that your customers receive. You can enter a value with a period (e.g., 33.3). The discount fee is then calculated automatically. A 100% discount means “free service”. To charge a subscription in full (with no discount), specify a “0” value.
Discount fee
Specify a fixed sum that your customers pay for this prepaid plan. The discount percentage is then calculated automatically.
