#Adam_Kimbo-checkout-sub-schedules
magic kernel
Hey there. Checkout does not support Subscription Scheduling, no. Thinking about other ways we can support this! 🤔
One option would be to create the subscription via the Checkout Session for the initial 2 month cost, and then schedule the change to the annual billing they need
You can create a schedule from a pre-existing sub: https://stripe.com/docs/api/subscription_schedules/create#create_subscription_schedule-from_subscription
wooden acorn
Nice idea! I'll look into that and give it some though. Thanks!
Just a quick follow-up to this. If I create an initial two-month prorated sub for this customer, with the intention of moving them to a standard yearly sub after that, will it show-up at the checkout that the initial period is for two months after which they will be billed yearly at the standard yearly rate?
magic kernel
I'm assuming you're passing a recurring Price object?
Checkout has no knowledge of your intended 'end date' at that point, so the UI just reflects that its an ongoing monthly (I assume?) committment
wooden acorn
It's a yearly commitment. Currently we issue 1 year license keys that customers have to manually purchase again each year. Going forward, we'll still be sending license keys out each year, but this time in response to success invoice paid events for the subs. This scenario is specifically for customers who aren't yet on the sub model but need to increase/decrease seat counts. We've considered blocking them from increasing/decreasing the seat count until their current license expires, but that didn't turn out to be feasible from a business perspective. So at the moment, just trying to explore my options.
magic kernel
So ideally:
- You create a Checkout Session using your annual Price object.
- The initial period is at a prorated (2 months) cost (i.e. you can set a billing anchor).
- Subscription renews at the full annual cost.
wooden acorn
Cool. That sounds great. Thanks again for your help.
magic kernel
But I don't think that's possible (was just confirming that was what you wanted 😂 )
You can't set a billing anchor date with Checkout
magic kernel
Do you definitely need to use Checkout in this instance?
wooden acorn
Unfortunately. That's one of the restrictions I've been given.
Though if it's not possible then that's that really 😄
magic kernel
Considering the variables and limitations, my recommendation:
- Use Checkout in
mode: 'subscription', and pass in 2 line items: the recurring annual price (to start in 2 months) and a one-time payment (the pro-rated amount for the remaining 2 months)
You can 'fake' the start date of the subscription to be in 2 months using a trial
wooden acorn
Ok cool. I'll have a look at what that would look like in our system and, fingers crossed, that'll do the job. Thanks!
magic kernel
It's less than ideal, but at least when it's all contained to Checkout and you don't need to introduce complexity with the schedule
wooden acorn
Yeah that's a fair point. I can provision some explanation prior to the checkout for those specific customers as well, explaning what the one-off payment is and why they're seeing a 'trial' period.
magic kernel
Do you think a 'start date' parameter for subscriptions would be advantageous in these instances?
Really, this is what you need: https://stripe.com/docs/billing/subscriptions/backdating#backdating-billing-cycle
But those parmeters aren't available via Checkout 😦
wooden acorn
Yes something like that looks ideal.