Add subscription plan

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

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  Specify 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

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  Specify 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.

Select a checkbox to assign the same subscription multiple times if needed. Once the subscription is saved, this option is read-only.

On the Fees tab, you can define the fees for a subscription plan:

Specify a one-time fee that automatically applies when a subscription is activated. It is not prorated.

Select a tax transaction code from the list. For more information about transaction codes, refer to the Add transaction code documentation.

Specify a monthly fee. If you want to adjust periodic fees for non-monthly periods, click Matching mode and adjust the corresponding fields.

Select the appropriate billing periods. See the prorate fee for the partial billing period chapter for more details.

Select a tax transaction code from the list. See the usage tax transaction code chapter for more details.

Specify the time interval in months. Refer to the Minimum subscription period, months chapter for more details.

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.

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).

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.

Choose the billing period to define, view, or change the promotional schema.

Specify the number of billing periods covered by the same fee.

Specify the charge you apply to a customer for a certain number of periods.

This means all of the following billing periods when a customer uses the subscription.

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.

On the Prepaid plans tab, add multi-month prepaid plans with a discount to encourage your customers to pay for several months in advance.

Specify the number of billing periods for this prepaid plan.

This is the charge for all the periods without a discount. The calculation is based on the monthly fee defined on the Fee panel.

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.

Specify a fixed sum that your customers pay for this prepaid plan. The discount percentage is then calculated automatically.