Pause Subscription
Introduction
Your customers may want to pause their subscription temporarily instead of canceling it entirely, for reasons such as:
- They do not need the service for a short period
- They are temporarily away from the location
You can also pause a subscription if there are issues with receiving payments from your customer. Until the payment issues are resolved, you can keep the subscription on hold.
Subscriptions placed on pause aren’t counted as churn, so your reports remain accurate. These subscriptions are identified by a distinct status—Paused. This helps you track paused subscriptions in Chargebee and communicate more effectively with third-party systems. For example, an order tracking system can determine whether to ship goods based on the subscription's paused status.
You can pause a subscription from your Chargebee site or via API. Customers can also pause their subscription using the Customer Self-Serve Portal.
Subscriptions can be paused for a defined period if the resume date/time is known, or paused indefinitely. Chargebee does not automatically provide credits for the unused billing period, but you can choose to manually provide credits to your customers if needed.
Configuring Pause and Resume Subscription
You can enable the Pause Subscription feature in your Chargebee site at Settings > Configure Chargebee > Billing LogIQ > Customers & Subscriptions > Pause Subscription > Enable.
Configure the default settings for how subscriptions, invoices, and charges are handled when you pause or resume a subscription:
Choose defaults for Pause:
| Action | Select a default |
|---|---|
| When Pause Subscription is invoked | You can choose to default to Pause immediately or Pause on Next renewal. |
| For how long should the subscription be paused | You can choose to default to Pause indefinitely or pause till a specific date/time. |
| If there are unbilled charges | Either retain the existing charges as Unbilled charges or invoice them |
| If there are invoices in Dunning | Either Stop Dunning or continue Dunning |
Choose defaults for Resume:
| Action | Select a default |
|---|---|
| When Resume Subscription is invoked | You can choose to default to Resume immediately or Resume on Next renewal. |
| If there are charges | You can choose what happens to the charges raised for a subscription that is resumed after the current billing period. |
| If there are unpaid invoices from previous terms | You can choose what happens to the unpaid invoices from the previous terms of the subscription. On resumption, all the current term invoices will be collected. |
Note
You can allow overriding the default settings via the Chargebee site and/or API when a subscription is paused or resumed. When overriding is locked, users cannot change the settings.
Pause a Subscription
Only subscriptions in the Active state can be paused.
Via UI
Once Pause Subscription has been enabled for your site, to pause an active subscription:
- Navigate to the subscription details page and click Pause Subscription. The default settings are preloaded, and you can override the options if allowed.
- Choose when you want to pause the subscription:
- Immediately: The subscription will be paused immediately. Prorated credits are not given when the subscription is paused.
- End of Term: The subscription will be paused at the end of the current billing term.
- Scheduled: The subscription can be scheduled to pause on a specific date. If the subscription is scheduled to be paused, it overrides other scheduled changes for that subscription and prevents further changes. For example, if you schedule an upgrade and then schedule a pause, the upgrade will not take place and the subscription will be paused instead.
- Set Resume Date: If you know when you want to resume the subscription, you can set the date/time here. Otherwise, you can resume later. If the resume date is not specified, the subscription will be placed on pause indefinitely.
Via API
You can pause the subscription using the Pause Subscription API.
Via Self-Serve Portal
If enabled, your customers can pause and resume their subscriptions using the Self-Serve Portal:
If you use the Hosted Pages Portal for your customers, and if the settings allow, your customers can pause or resume subscriptions from the portal.
Customers can choose to pause the subscription immediately or at the end of the current billing term. If resumption is enabled, they can also resume a paused subscription.
Renewals and Charges
- Subscription renewals will not occur if the subscription is paused.
- Subscription renewal reminder emails will not be sent to the customer during the pause period.
- Unbilled charges linked to the subscription will be invoiced when the subscription is resumed after the billing term.
Billing Cycle
- When you resume the subscription, the billing cycle remains intact.
- Managing the billing cycle of a paused subscription depends on the subscription period of the plan. For a monthly plan, pausing the subscription for two months does not affect the billing cycle. However, for a yearly plan, pausing the subscription for two months means your customer loses two months of service period.
Subscription Changes and Cancellation
- Editing a subscription is not allowed when the subscription is paused. You can make changes once the subscription resumes.
- Scheduled subscription changes (except cancellation) are removed when the subscription is paused or scheduled to be paused.
- Subscription cancellation (immediate or scheduled) will occur even if the subscription is on pause or scheduled for a pause.
- Advance invoices cannot be raised on a subscription that is on pause. If any advance invoices are raised on a subscription that is paused later, credits will be created for the invoice.
- The next billing date/time cannot be changed if the subscription is on pause. However, if the subscription is scheduled to be paused at the end of term, the next billing date/time can be changed to a date/time that falls within the resumption period.
- Record payment, write-off, or void can be performed on past invoices linked to the paused subscription.
Unbilled Charges
You can handle unbilled charges while pausing a subscription as follows:
- Invoice Now: Invoice the unbilled charges linked to the subscription when it is paused. If the subscription's Auto Collection is ON, Chargebee will attempt to collect the payment. If the payment fails, or Auto Collection is OFF, the invoice will be closed and marked as Unpaid.
- Retain as Unbilled: If you choose to retain the unbilled charges, they will be invoiced when the subscription resumes. The charges will be added to the next invoice raised—on resumption (if out of term), the next invoice raised after resumption, or can be invoiced manually. You can also choose to retain resumption charges as unbilled.
Dunning
When the subscription is paused, you can choose to continue dunning or stop dunning for related invoices.
- If you choose to continue dunning for a paused subscription, the final action will occur even if the subscription is on pause.
- If you have enabled Consolidated Invoicing and choose to stop dunning for a paused subscription, Chargebee will check if there is at least one active subscription listed in the invoice and will not stop dunning for that invoice. However, the paused subscription itself will be paused as expected.
Reporting and Analytics
- The MRR of a paused subscription is considered $0 and is only counted again when the subscription resumes.
- Subscriptions scheduled for pause and/or resumption are included in CMRR.
- Subscriptions on pause do not appear in reports as churn. You can filter subscriptions that are paused.
Discounts and Coupons
If a discount is applied to a subscription and the subscription is paused, the coupon duration is not extended. The coupon may expire even if the subscription is paused.
Resume a Subscription
A subscription in a paused state can be resumed at any time.
If your customer requests to resume, payment issues are resolved, or for any other reason the product or service should be delivered again, you can resume the subscription in Chargebee.
- Immediate: Resume the subscription immediately.
- Scheduled: Schedule the subscription to resume on a specific date/time. For a scheduled resumption, the resumption date/time can be updated even while the subscription is paused.
If a resume date/time is defined at the time of pause, the date will be preloaded and you can modify it. If a resume date/time was not specified, the subscription will be paused indefinitely. You can choose a new resume date/time or resume immediately.
Via UI
You can resume a paused subscription immediately or on a specific date/time.
Via API
You can resume a paused subscription using the Resume Subscription API.
When a subscription resumes, it can resume within the billing term or outside of it. The two scenarios are:
- In-term Resumption
- Out-of-term Resumption
Via Self-Serve Portal
If enabled for your Chargebee site, your customers can resume their subscription from the portal. Resumption from the Self-Serve Portal is immediate; scheduling resumption on a specific date is not supported in the portal. To schedule a resumption, use the Chargebee UI or the Resume Subscription API.
In-term Resumption
This occurs when a subscription is paused and resumed within the same billing term. For example, if the subscription renews on the 1st of every month, and it is paused on the 15th and resumed on the 25th, this is considered an in-term resumption.
When a subscription resumes in-term, new charges are not created.
- Chargebee will attempt to collect payment for the unpaid invoice of the current term upon resumption (if dunning is not in progress for the invoice).
- If the payment does not go through, Chargebee will keep the subscription on pause.
Out-of-Term Resumption
When a paused subscription resumes after the renewal date/time, it is considered an out-of-term resumption. For example, if the subscription renews on the 1st of every month, and it is paused on the 15th and resumed on the 10th of the next month, this is considered an out-of-term resumption.
A new invoice will be generated on March 10 (in this example).
- If the payment goes through, the subscription will resume; otherwise, it will remain paused.
- The collection of the invoice generated on February 1 will be scheduled as soon as the subscription resumes.
- If Calendar Billing is enabled, the subscription term will align with the billing date and charges will be raised accordingly.
- If Calendar Billing is not enabled, the renewal date/time will be set as the resumption date/time. For instance, if a subscription that renews on the 1st of every month is resumed (from paused state) on the 10th of the next month, the subscription renewal date will now be updated to the 10th.
Disable Pause Subscription
If you disable the Pause Subscription feature:
- You will no longer be able to pause subscriptions.
- Subscriptions that are currently paused will resume as scheduled or can be resumed manually.
FAQ
1. What will happen to the non-recurring charges if the subscription is resumed before the end of the billing term?
If the subscription resumes before the end of the billing term, non-recurring charges will not be invoiced right away. Said charges will be added to the invoice of the subscription renewal.
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