This guide explains how customer subscriptions work after they have been created, including billing dates, cancellations, subscription changes, failed payments, refunds, and temporary pauses.
Understanding subscription billing
Each subscription has a billing schedule that determines when the customer is charged.
Before making changes to an existing subscription, it’s important to understand:
The customer’s current subscription
The next billing date
Whether the current billing period has already been charged
Whether the subscription is scheduled for cancellation
Example: Billing on the 25th
If you bill customers on the 25th for the following month’s service, the billing schedule might look like this:
August 25 → September service
September 25 → October service
October 25 → November service
Keep the billing date in mind whenever you cancel or replace a subscription. This helps prevent two subscriptions from billing the customer for the same service period.
Viewing a customer’s subscriptions
To review a customer’s subscriptions:
Open Customers.
Select the customer.
Select Subscriptions.
Review the customer’s active and previous subscriptions.
Before making a change, confirm that the subscriptions shown match what the customer should currently be paying for.
If you see more subscriptions than expected, don’t immediately create, cancel, or refund another subscription. Open each subscription and review its status and billing details first.
Canceling a subscription
Canceling a subscription prevents it from renewing after its current billing period.
When an active subscription is canceled, it may remain Active until the end of the current billing period.
For example, if a subscription shows 'Cancels September 25':
September 25 is the effective cancellation date. It does not mean the customer will be charged again on September 25 and then canceled.
Open the subscription details to confirm its cancellation date.
Important: A subscription that has been scheduled for cancellation may continue to appear Active until its current billing period ends.
Canceled subscriptions also remain visible in the customer’s subscription history. They do not disappear from the customer record.
Cancellation and refunds are separate actions
Canceling a subscription does not automatically refund a payment that has already been processed.
Likewise, refunding a subscription payment does not cancel the subscription.
If an incorrect subscription has already billed the customer, you may need to:
Cancel the incorrect subscription to prevent future billing.
Refund the incorrect transaction separately.
Always verify both before considering the correction complete.
Changing a customer’s subscription
You may need to change a customer’s subscription when their pricing or service changes.
Common examples include:
Moving from a standard rate to a new rate
Changing tuition or membership pricing
Moving the customer to a different subscription product
Adding a new subscription does not automatically replace the customer’s existing subscription.
Before adding the replacement:
Review the customer’s existing subscription.
Check its billing date.
Determine whether the current billing period has already been charged.
Cancel the subscription that should no longer renew.
Confirm its effective cancellation date.
Add the replacement subscription at the appropriate time.
Review the customer’s subscriptions and payment activity after making the change.
Avoid duplicate charges: If the old and new subscriptions overlap during the same billing period, the customer may be charged for both.
Changing a subscription price
If a customer’s price is changing, do not assume assigning the new subscription will update or replace the old one.
For example:
Current subscription: $165/month
New subscription: $175/month
Treat these as separate subscriptions. Confirm when the $165 subscription ends and when the $175 subscription begins.
Temporarily pausing billing
Sometimes a customer may need to skip a billing period and resume later.
For example, a student may attend a tutoring center in June, take July off, and return in August.
Example: Pausing a Subscription for One Month
A customer wants to pause their subscription for July and resume in August. The subscription has a billing date of the 25th of each month.
To skip the July billing period:
Before June 25: Cancel the customer’s current subscription. The subscription will remain active through the end of the current billing period.
After June 25: Add a new subscription to the customer’s account.
Set the new subscription to begin with the August billing period.
Important: The exact dates matter. Always confirm which service period the customer’s next payment represents before canceling or restarting their subscription.
After making the change, verify the customer’s subscription details to make sure billing will resume when expected.
Failed and past-due subscription payments
A subscription payment may fail if the customer’s bank declines the transaction, their payment method is no longer valid, or sufficient funds aren’t available.
A subscription with an unsuccessful payment may appear as Past Due.
If you see a Past Due subscription:
Open the customer’s profile.
Review Subscriptions to identify the affected subscription.
Review the customer’s payment activity for the associated payment.
Ask the customer to update their payment method if necessary.
Monitor the account to confirm that the payment is successfully collected.
Eligible failed subscription payments may be automatically retried.
Before manually charging the customer: Confirm that the original payment hasn’t succeeded or been scheduled for another attempt. This helps prevent collecting the same payment twice.
If the payment remains Past Due after the customer’s payment information has been updated, contact VanillaPOS Support.
Refunding a subscription payment
If a subscription charge needs to be corrected, you can issue a full or partial refund for an eligible completed transaction.
Refunds are returned to the original payment method used for the transaction.
Before issuing a refund, confirm:
You have selected the correct customer.
You have selected the correct transaction.
The payment was successfully processed.
The transaction hasn’t already been fully refunded.
You know whether a full or partial refund is required.
For a partial refund, refund only the amount that needs to be returned to the customer.
Remember: A refund corrects the payment. It does not cancel the subscription that created the payment.
After refunding an incorrect subscription charge, check the customer’s subscriptions and make sure the incorrect subscription won’t create another unintended charge.
Investigating a possible duplicate charge
If a customer reports being charged more than once:
Open the customer’s profile.
Review their Subscriptions.
Identify which subscriptions were active for the billing period.
Review the associated payment activity.
Determine which charges are correct before issuing any refunds.
Refund incorrect completed transactions as needed.
Confirm that any incorrect subscriptions have also been canceled or scheduled to end.
Don’t use the number of subscriptions shown on the customer record alone to determine how many times the customer was charged. Review the associated payment activity as well.
Verifying your changes
After changing, canceling, or correcting a subscription, perform a final check.
Confirm:
The customer has the correct active subscriptions.
Subscriptions that should end have an effective cancellation date.
Incorrect completed charges have been refunded when necessary.
Correct charges have not accidentally been refunded.
Past-due payments have been addressed.
The customer’s upcoming billing matches what you expect.
Taking a moment to verify both the subscription and the payment can prevent unexpected billing in the next cycle.
When to contact VanillaPOS Support
Contact VanillaPOS Support if:
A payment appears to have processed but you can’t locate the transaction.
A subscription’s billing or cancellation date doesn’t match what you expect.
A customer continues to be charged after the subscription should have ended.
A failed payment remains Past Due after the customer updates their payment method.
You’re unsure whether a customer may be charged twice before making a subscription change.
When contacting Support, include the customer name, subscription, expected charge amount, and billing date whenever possible.