Subscriptions

Subscriptions are "contracts" with customers that generate invoices based on their pricing and term and send them to the customer.

The pricing of a subscription consists of one or more of the following three components:

Offer prices (required; they define the term / billing period of a subscription)
Discounts (optional)
Tax rates (optional)

You can combine these three components freely, which lets you create a wide range of subscriptions.

Once set up, keinaufwand automatically renews your subscriptions and emails the resulting invoices.

Subscriptions are only available if your keinaufwand plan includes subscription management. Otherwise, the Add subscription button is disabled. If the feature is removed from your plan, existing subscriptions are canceled at the end of their current term, but no later than after 30 days.

Set up offer prices

To set up a subscription, you need an offer with a price that has a billing period.

If you haven't set up an offer yet, you can do so in the Offers section. Learn more in the guide: Set Up Offers.

Once you've set up an offer, you'll find the Prices section further down on the offer's overview page. Follow these steps:

Click the Add price button
Select the currency (CHF, EUR, USD or GBP) and enter the amount.
Select Recurring
Select the Billing period: Monthly, Every 3 Months, Every 6 Months or Yearly
Add a description (optional). The description helps tell similar prices apart and is shown on invoices.
Click Save

The new price is now created and can be used to create subscriptions.

Set up discounts and tax rates

Discounts let you add a price reduction to a subscription's pricing. A common use for discounts is combo subscriptions with multiple offer prices. Tax rates let you add inclusive or exclusive percentages.

From the admin panel, you create discounts under Offers > Discounts with the Add discount button. To learn how discounts are calculated and combined, see the guide Discounts.
You create tax rates under Offers > Tax rates with the Add tax rate button. For details on the calculation, see the guide Tax Rates.

New discounts and tax rates can be used to create subscriptions right away.

Set up subscriptions

Once you've created the offer prices, discounts, and tax rates you need, you can use them to create your subscriptions.

Follow these steps:

From the admin panel, go to Payments > Subscriptions.
Click the Add subscription button.
Select an existing customer or click create a new customer.
Under Pricing, select an offer price and adjust the quantity if needed. Use Add offer to add more offer prices.
Use Add discount to add a discount (optional).
Use Add default tax rate to add a tax rate for all offer prices, or select a tax rate per offer price (optional).
Under Subscription schedule, select the start date of your subscription.
The Summary section shows the price of the subscription and the date on which the first invoice will be created and charged.
When you're happy with the subscription, click Save.

Your new subscription is now created. If the customer is still a lead, they're marked as a customer.

When putting a subscription together:

All offer prices in a subscription must have the same billing period and the same currency.
Each offer price can only be added once per subscription. Increase the quantity for multiple units.
Fixed amount discounts must be in the same currency as the offer prices.

The first term starts on the start date. For a monthly subscription starting on March 15, for example, it runs up to and including April 14. The start date can be in the past as long as the first term hasn't ended yet.

If the start date is in the past or today, an invoice is created immediately. If the start date is in the future, the invoice is created on that start date. After each term, the subscription is renewed automatically and a new invoice is created.

Important Invoices created by subscriptions are not sent immediately. After a subscription invoice is created, you have one hour to correct any mistakes by deleting the incorrect subscription. To do so, click the ellipsis icon > Delete subscription next to the Subscription status on the subscription overview. The draft invoice is deleted as well. Once a subscription invoice has been sent, the subscription can no longer be removed.

Subscription overview

Click a subscription in the list to open its overview. There you'll find the current period, the status, the pricing, a preview of the Next invoice, previous invoices and pauses.

Use the tabs above the list to filter subscriptions by status:

Current: The subscription is running.
Paused: The subscription is currently paused.
Scheduled: The start date is in the future.
Canceling: The subscription ends on a scheduled cancellation date.
Canceled: The subscription has ended.

Change the pricing

Changes to offer prices, quantities, discounts or tax rates apply from the subscription's next renewal. Invoices that have already been created stay unchanged.

From the admin panel, go to Payments > Subscriptions.
Click the subscription.
In the Pricing section, click Edit.
Adjust the pricing.
Click Save.

The overview then shows the current and the scheduled pricing, each with its start date. Use Delete scheduled changes to discard the scheduled changes.

Adjust the period

You can move the end of the current period, for example to give a month for free or to align subscriptions to a common date. The next invoice is then created later or earlier accordingly.

Open the subscription.
Next to Current period, click Adjust period.
Select the new End of term. It must be after the start of the current period.
Click Update period.

If a cancellation at the end of the period is scheduled, the cancellation date moves along with it.

Pause subscriptions

You can pause an active subscription if a customer should temporarily not pay or attend. While paused, the subscription is not renewed automatically and no new subscription invoice is prepared. When the pause ends, the current term is extended by the length of the pause.

Follow these steps:

From the admin panel, go to Payments > Subscriptions.
Click the subscription.
Click the Pause button.
Under From, choose when the pause should start.
Under To, optionally choose when the pause should end.
Click Pause.

Depending on the start date, the subscription is paused immediately or scheduled to be paused later. If you chose an end date, the pause lasts up to and including that date and then ends automatically. You can end an active pause with End pause. You can delete a scheduled pause with Remove pause.

Important Each subscription can only have one open pause at a time. Subscriptions that are already canceled or haven't started yet can't be paused. A pause can start no earlier than the start of the current period.

Cancel subscriptions

If a subscription should no longer renew at the end of the current term, you can cancel it. Follow these steps:

From the admin panel, go to Payments > Subscriptions.
Click the subscription.
Click the Cancel subscription button.
Choose when the subscription should be canceled. With Cancel at the end of the period, the subscription is canceled at the end of the term. With Cancel immediately, the subscription is canceled right away and draft invoices are voided.
Click Cancel subscription

Depending on your choice, the subscription is now scheduled for cancellation or canceled immediately. Invoices that have already been sent remain. If you no longer want to charge one of them, you can void it.

A paused subscription can only be canceled immediately, and a subscription that hasn't started yet only at the end of the period.

Important Scheduled cancellations can be undone with Don't cancel subscription before the cancellation takes effect. Subscriptions that have been permanently canceled can't be reactivated. Create a new subscription instead.