Subscription Plan Billing Cycles and Double Billings

[KTTT]

Hi, I've already chatted with a Customer Support Agent on this matter. Maybe other users have had similar issues?

1) I create a new Subscription Plan for my clients that want to participate in a "Massage Membership Program".

2) I set up the Subscription Plan so that Clients are NOT allowed to "pause/un-pause" the plan. Only I, the Seller, am allowed to Cancel or pause plans on the Client's behalf if there's conveyed need to do so.

3) I set up the Subscription Plans to run for 6 billings. After which, I communicate with clients to determine options;

a) Start a new 6 month plan? (Potentially after updating card on file if needed, and/or changing the day of the month that the Subscription Payment is processed, etc.)

b) Allow the 6 month plan to expire (no future charges will take place beyond the 6th billing)?

Let's assume a client opts to start a new 6 month subscription plan, using the same card on file and continuing to billed on the same day of the month for the new 6 month subscription...

So, I create a NEW 6 month subscription to START on the 1st June 2025.

* The OLD subscription's 6th payment was billed on 1 May 2025

ISSUE; 

The OLD subscription - for some unknown reason - collects a 7th billing on 1 June 2025!

* The client is ALSO billed on 1 June 2025 for the NEW subscription plan!


The Client is NOT happy! And with good reason.

Anyone else having any issues like this!?

Am I doing something WRONG here? Am I misunderstanding HOW Subscription Plan billing cycles are supposed to work?

I appreciate any feedback. 

Thanks sincerely! 

 

[_Violet]

Hello @KTTT and thanks for your post. I'm happy to look into this with you.

When you set up the initial Subscription, are you always starting it on the 1st of the month, or on a different date?

For the Subscription start date, you can choose to bill your customers at the time the subscription starts, the last day of each month, or a billing date of your choice.

I'll keep an eye out for your reply! 👀

[KTTT]

For this particular Client/Customer, she chose the 5th of the Month as the "day" of the month she'd like to be auto-billed.

When I create the Subscription Plan, I don't require any "pro-rating". 

I set the "start date" for whatever date the client/customer chooses for the billing.

I set all my plans for 6 months of billings. And, they're supposed to automatically "cancel" after that 6th billing, unless I'm misunderstanding how these Subscription Plans work for clients/customers. 

I assumed, since I "turned" of the ability for the client to "pause/un-pause" their plans on their end, that after the 6th billing, the plans would automatically cancel after whatever "cycle" I chose in the settings.

But, that's not what happened, for this particular client/customer. 

[KTTT]

So, I noticed that for this client, the previous initial billing was done via invoice on the 7th of the month (because I neglect to "start" a new 6 month plan on the 5th, as the client desired.) I was a couple days late.

So, on the 7th December 2024, I "started" a new plan for the client. "how" the bill was paid was set to "invoice", but, I used the "take payment" button to process the billing.

I set the billing date for the 5th on the plan (as the client desired).

I assumed the Square Subscription Plan application would "treat" the billing on the 7th as the "first billing" of the 6 cycle billing plan.

Maybe since the 5th was chosen, the application coding processed the 7th billing on the 5th - (ignoring the initial billing on the 7th of December) - an did the "6 billings taking place on the 5th of the month"??

Maybe in the future if I'm "late" setting up a Subscription plan for clients, I need to set it up as a 5 month plan, plus a separate invoice for the "late" payment (late because I neglected to "renew" on time?