#trenton_best-practices
rotund nimbusBOT
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vocal sandalBOT
high nimbus
Hi there 👋 if you're only charging them one time, a Subscription may not be necessary. Unless you also plan to use the status of that Subscription object to drive things on your side.
lost timber
I use the subscription to drive our platform. Has to have an active subscription to access the platform.
rotund nimbusBOT
finite basin
Hello! I'm taking over and catching up...
If you want them to pay for multiple months up front you can do this:
- Create a one-off Invoice for the total amount, with whatever line items you want on it.
- When they pay that Invoice, add the amount they paid to their credit balance: https://docs.stripe.com/billing/customer/balance
- Create the Subscription; the Invoices the Subscription creates will be paid for by their credit balance until it runs out.
lost timber
Ok, good idea. I assume they wont get the $0 invoices along the way, right?
finite basin
You can also use a Subscription Schedule to schedule changes to the Subscription ahead of time, like canceling it automatically later: https://docs.stripe.com/billing/subscriptions/subscription-schedules
lost timber
Im confident they will continue using the platform. Before 7/1, I will move them to an Annual billing cycle.
finite basin
No, the Invoices will have the actual monthly amount due, but they'll be paid by the credit balance, so the customer won't need to actually pay them. They'll be automatically paid instantly. Give it a try in test mode with a test clock and you'll see how it works: https://docs.stripe.com/billing/testing/test-clocks
lost timber
Ok, will give this a shot after my next meeting. Thank you!
finite basin
Happy to help!
lost timber
Question
finite basin
Yep?
lost timber
Is there no way to have the invoice auto calculate the amount based on the supply date?
finite basin
I'm not sure about how it works in the Dashboard, but I don't think so.
lost timber
I have this Annual amount and set the supply date. I would expect the amount to be around half of the $5000
Ok, so I need to calcuate it myself and just add that as a custom amount?
finite basin
Yeah. Honestly I don't even know what "supply date" is there; it's not something in the API. What does the little info icon show when you hover over it?
lost timber
finite basin
Oh, interesting. Yeah, that's just for compliance then, it won't impact the functionality or amounts on the Invoice.
lost timber
I need it to show like it's doing, but would expect the amounts to adjust accordingly.
Ok
Feature request 😉
finite basin
To clarify, why are you expecting the amounts to adjust? The supply date seems intended to specify when you're supplying what's being paid for, it's not for making adjustments to the amount being paid.
For example, if I was buying a Subscription that started, say, two months for now, and I was paying for six months up front, you'd charge me for the six months now and the supply date would specify it's happening in two months.
lost timber
I guess you're right. I am thinking in Subscription terms and not customer Invoice terms.
I was thinking "supply date" in terms of "subscription term"
finite basin
Ah, yeah, this is a one-off Invoice not tied to a Subscription, you're just using it to collect the funds up front so you can then credit their balance for the Subscription you haven't created yet.
lost timber
That makes sense. I think this will work and should work for use cases going forward. This is a pretty standard request when we have customers joining before their fiscal year dates and want to pay annually.
finite basin
Sounds good!
lost timber
Thanks for the help Rubeus! Should be good now.