Renewals¶

A renewal is what happens automatically at the end of every billing period. The platform generates a fresh invoice, charges the card (or emails a payment link), issues any tickets, and sends the customer their receipt. You don't have to do anything — the scheduler runs on its own.

What happens at each renewal¶

When a subscription's current period ends, the renewal scheduler:

1. Advances the period. Computes the next period start / end dates based on the subscription's cadence.
2. Generates a renewal invoice. Same items, same customer, same tax setup as the previous cycle. The invoice gets a fresh number from your invoice sequence.
3. Finalizes the invoice. Locks it for payment.
4. Charges or emails.
   • Auto-charge → charges the saved card on file the moment the invoice finalizes.
   • Manual collection → emails the customer a payment link.
5. Issues tickets. If any line items are ticket products, tickets get generated and attached to the email.
6. Sends the customer their email. Receipt for auto-charge, payment-link email for manual.

A successful renewal keeps the subscription Active. A failed auto-charge moves it to Past due and triggers dunning.

Trial transitions¶

If a subscription is Trialing, the trial-end date acts as the first renewal tick:

• The platform generates the first paid invoice the moment the trial ends.
• The subscription transitions from Trialing to Active on a successful first charge.
• If the first charge fails, the subscription goes to Past due and dunning starts immediately.

Billing cycle anchor¶

If you set a billing cycle anchor at creation, the first paid renewal runs on that anchor date. Subsequent renewals follow the subscription's cadence from there — anchor on the 15^th of the month on a monthly cadence and every future renewal is on the 15^th.

Dunning¶

Dunning is the platform's automatic retry sequence for failed auto-charges. When a renewal charge declines, the subscription goes to Past due and the platform retries on a fixed schedule:

After the third retry fails, the subscription transitions to Unpaid and the platform stops retrying. At that point you need to reach the customer out-of-band — the platform has given up on charging the card.

What recovers a Past due subscription¶

Any of the following moves the subscription back to Active:

• A retry succeeds. The customer's bank approves the next scheduled retry — no host action required.
• The customer pays the open invoice directly through a payment link you've shared.
• The customer updates their card and a retry runs. Once a fresh card is on file, the next scheduled retry uses it.

What to do when a subscription goes Unpaid¶

Once dunning is exhausted, the subscription is Unpaid and won't retry on its own. Your options:

1. Cancel and re-create when the customer is ready. Once their card is updated, set up a new subscription on the same items.
2. Cancel and let it go if the customer is gone. See Cancellation.

Renewals and tickets¶

If any item on the subscription is a ticket product, each renewal generates a fresh batch of tickets, attached to the receipt email. Customers don't need to take a second step — their tickets arrive with the receipt the moment payment clears.

Bundle items work the same way: a "VIP package" bundle generates a separate ticket per component on every renewal.

Troubleshooting¶