Subscribing a Customer to a Plan

Subscription Overview and Modifying Billing Date

To see the list of subscriptions for a customer, select the Subscriptions menu on the left of the Customer Details screen.

To create a new subscription, click the Create Subscription button.

At the top of the Subscription Details page, you will see an overview section. The overview gives you some details about the type of subscription it is, the created, provisioned, and activated dates, next recharge date, etc.

You can modify the next recharge date by clicking the Modify button next to the date. This will allow you to move it to a new Billing Period, or to move it onto an existing Billing Period (so that it is charged at the same time as another subscription for the same customer for example).

Changing these settings here has the same effect as if you were to move the subscription to a new Billing Period by using the Billing Periods screen under Billing Settings. Note that these changes also can have a financial impact; these are described on the Billing Periods page as well.

Subscribing to a Plan

Before you can add a subscription to a customer's account, at least one Plan must also exist. Please see Creating Plans to learn more about creating Plans.

1. Navigate to the desired customer - Choose the Customers tab, and click Details beside the customer.
2. Click Create Subscription to open the Configure Subscription screen.
   
3. From Select Plan dropdown, choose the correct subscription. (Note, this field only appears on the first screen as you create the Subscription.)
4. From Frequency (billing interval), choose from the available frequencies offered. (Note, this field only appears on the first screen as you create the Subscription.)
5. The Name and Description field contain the default name and description for this Plan. To modify the Name or Description, click Add Override. Enter the new value. Note that these overrides apply only to this specific subscription.

6. Enter a Reference code, if desired. This reference code can be any alphanumeric value that helps to identify this subscription to other systems.

   Note: This information will appear on the Invoice, following the Plan Name and Description fields.
   

7. Set Scheduled Activation Date allows you to set the Plan to activate on a future date. When clicked, a calendar will appear that allows you to choose when you want the Plan and associated products to activate (charge).
8. Set Expiry allows you to the number of periods after which the subscription expires, and a default renewal extension.
   • Set the Number of Periods the Plan should be in an active state. For example, if you have a monthly Plan that is contracted for 1 Year, you would enter 12 for the number of periods whereas for an annual plan you would enter a 1.
   • The Default Renewal Extension is the number of periods that the subscription will be extended by if a customer renews their subscription themselves (see Expiry Management with the Customer Self-Serve Portal), or if an Agent uses the Push Expiry button. Some common examples:
     • Initial term is for 12 months and the customer can renew for an additional 12 months.
     • Initial term is for 3 years, renewal term is for 1 year.
     • Initial term is for 12 months, renewal term is for 3 months.

     Note: Both settings must refer to the same type of frequency, and are expressed in the frequency of the current subscription. You cannot, for example, set an initial term of 1 year and a renewal term of 3 months. Instead, you would set them for 12 months and 3 months.

   • The Push Out Expiry button (which only appears on Active Subscriptions) simply extends the expiry by the Default Renewal Extension value at the bottom. You can also edit both of these numbers to override the defaults.
   • If no expiry is set the subscription will be "evergreen" and continue until canceled.
     

9. If needed, enter the Contract Start and Contract End dates.

   Note: These fields have no specific function in Fusebill; they are for reference purposes only.

10. Add a Coupon allows you to enter a predefined coupon code. You will get a pop-up that allows you to choose a coupon from among those that are applicable to this Plan.
    

11. Click Add.

    Note: The subscription will be in a Draft status until you activate it by clicking Activate. This allows you to review and make changes before finalizing the subscription details.

Activating the Subscription

When you are ready to activate the Subscription, click Activate. You will be given a preview window where you can review what the invoice will look like with your current settings. If you are happy with the settings, you can choose either to Activate the Subscription and respect the customer's Auto-Post settings or to Activate without Auto-Posting. If the customer's billing settings are set to Auto-Post, then the first choice will automatically post the invoice and then, if they are also set to auto-collect, the payment will be collected immediately.

Alternatively you can choose to Activate without Auto-Posting; in this case, even if the customer is set to Auto-Post, this invoice will be created in Draft status so you can do a final review before posting it. This can be handy upon initial setup to give you a chance to proofread the first invoice before you post it to the customer's account, without having to change their settings for all invoices.

If you click Cancel on this window, you will be returned to the Subscription setup and the Subscription will remain in Draft mode (and no invoices will be created).