#accexs - Subscription billing
pale silo
Hey there! This can be done with subscriptions in a couple of different ways.
- using
backdate_start_date: https://stripe.com/docs/api/subscriptions/create#create_subscription-backdate_start_date
You can backdate the subscription to charge for the time between the current date and whatever the start day was
If you set billing_cycle_anchor to the end of whatever your billing cycle is intended to be, then you can set a trial up until that day to ensure they're not charged
- using Subscription Schedules:
https://stripe.com/docs/billing/subscriptions/subscription-schedules
This allows you to set a phase for each subscription, which defines changes you want to make to it for a period of time.
I know that's a lot all at once, but I figured you might want to know your options before carving a path to resolution
coarse bolt
Thanks! so with backdate_start_date i can charge the customer at the end of the month, each month while the subscription is active, and lets say he subscribed at the first of the month
pale silo
Yeah! So you would just create a trial period each month for the subscription, which allows the subscription to remain unbilled, then on the final day of the subscription you can set the backdate_start_date to the first day of the billing cycle.
coarse bolt
ohh i see but what if i have metered products inside that subscription?
pale silo
Ahhh, so if you have metered Products, those Products won't be charged until the end of the billing period anyway.
coarse bolt
sure, but is the trial going to have an effect on products inside the subscription?
pale silo
Are you combining metered Products with non-metered Products? I assumed from your initial question (perhaps erroneously) that you weren't using metered billing, so apologies if that was a bad assumption.
coarse bolt
for example metered products on trial wont be charged right? and thats represents potential losses to our business. Just to add a lil bit of context:
We have a series of products -> subscription Tier 1 Tier 2 etc, those are combined with add-ons for the subscription, and there are some metered products as well, we already have a problem with metered prices and trial since those metered prices wont be charged while on trial. And the business also wants to change the way to bill users, instead of charging them at the beginning they want to charge at the end
pale silo
In that case, I wouldn't use trials. I would recommend adding the metered Price to the Subscription as normal to handle the metered products, then create a separate Price/Product for each add-on and assign those to the Subscription's items at the end of the billing cycle.
In an ideal situation, each of those scenarios you outlined would be separated out into their own lane, such that there are no side-effects when each product is added or adjusted.
Not sure if this helps at all, but there are a few hybrid scenarios mentioned here: https://stripe.com/docs/products-prices/pricing-models#advanced
Specifically this one might be of use: https://stripe.com/docs/products-prices/pricing-models#flat-rate-metered-usage
coarse bolt
Yeah i've been thinking on something like that, the thing is i need to charge everything at the end of the month (metered and flat) and it seems that doing a single subscription wont do
pale silo
It's definitely doable, though it requires a bit of extra tracking/managing from your integration's side.
coarse bolt
mi subscription product and add-ons are flat rate, so i will need to add trial and backtrack them to bill them at the end of billing cicle, so they wont be compatible with the metered ones, right?
pale silo
The trial will affect the metered billing, so if you only want the trial to apply to the flat rate add-ons, then you'd have to create a separate Subscription