vik-backdate-sub | Stripe Developers | Page 1

torpid grail Jun 22, 2022, 6:08 PM

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Hi there! Sorry for the delay

rapid blade Jun 22, 2022, 6:09 PM

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nono, all good!

torpid grail Jun 22, 2022, 6:09 PM

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Are you setting the billing cycle anchor to the future?

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Or you are just backdating?

rapid blade Jun 22, 2022, 6:09 PM

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yes, to the first day of the next month

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as well as backdating

torpid grail Jun 22, 2022, 6:09 PM

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And you want the proration to be on the following renewal?

rapid blade Jun 22, 2022, 6:11 PM

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right. So when the subscription is created, I don't want to create an invoice immediately. Instead, I want the invoice that will automatically be generated on the first of the following month to include the proration generated due to the backdating.

For example: if I create a subscription on June 15, with the start date backdated to April 1, and the billing cycle anchor set to July 1. I want the first invoice to be the one on July 1, and have it include the proration for April 1-July 1

torpid grail Jun 22, 2022, 6:13 PM

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Got it, thanks for clarifying. Don't think this is possible to do explicitly, but there may be a workaround. Give me a moment to think

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Okay

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So

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Here is the workaround

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You create the Sub and pass proration_behavior: 'none'

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This will stop the first invoice from occurring.

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So the Sub is active but no invoice is generated until the billing_cycle_anchor

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Then you use the retrieve an upcoming invoice endpoint (https://stripe.com/docs/api/invoices/upcoming) to preview what the proration would have been if you had not passed proration_behavior: 'none'

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Then you add an invoice item (https://stripe.com/docs/api/invoiceitems/create) to the Sub for that amount

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That invoice item will then be picked up with the invoice at the billing_cycle_anchor

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So the actual first invoice will include the Price amount plus the proration amount

rapid blade Jun 22, 2022, 6:42 PM

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okay that sounds like it would work! How would one preview the proration that would have been created for backdating though?

torpid grail Jun 22, 2022, 6:45 PM

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When you use the retrieve an upcoming invoice endpoint you can simulate creating a Sub

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So it would look something like: ```const invoice = await stripe.invoices.retrieveUpcoming({
subscription_items: [{
price: 'price_123'
}],

customer: "cus_123",
subscription_billing_cycle_anchor: "1656054000",
subscription_start_date: "1655103600",

})```

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Those are arbitrary timestamps

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Then the invoice that is returned will tell you the proration amount

rapid blade Jun 22, 2022, 6:49 PM

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Amazing! Okay let me try doing some sample requests to try it out

torpid grail Jun 22, 2022, 6:49 PM

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👍

rapid blade Jun 22, 2022, 6:52 PM

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Yup it returns a sample invoice with the correct amount. Thanks for your help!

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