How to find, create, manage, and update subscriptions in the Billing Workspace
This page covers how to use the Subscriptions section of the app. For a conceptual explanation of how subscriptions work, what drives invoices, and how lifecycle states behave, see Subscriptions explained in Core Concepts.
The Subscriptions page is your operational view of all billing activity. From here you can see every subscription across your customer base, create new ones, update units, and track what’s happened on each subscription over time.
When one or more subscriptions require action, such as an invoice discrepancy or a credit note that needs allocating, an Attention Needed banner appears at the top of the page. Click View to go to the affected subscription.
Click New in the top right to open the new subscription form. You can also create a subscription directly from a customer’s details page by clicking Add.
Customer: search for and select the customer. If expected customers aren’t appearing, a prompt will suggest how to find them.Plan: select the plan that defines the pricing and billing structure. The plan’s subscription period determines when the first renewal will occur.Number of Units: enter the total unit count. This must be above the plan’s minimum units.Subscription Start Date: the date billing begins. The estimated renewal date is shown automatically below the picker.
If the estimated renewal date is within the Invoice Create Days set in your Company Settings, Saasybill will confirm that the subscription will renew immediately on save (unless you are in Setup Mode).
Subscription End: set the subscription to automatically end after a specified number of billing cycles. The estimated end date is shown once you enter a cycle count.
The Add-ons section lists all add-ons currently attached to the subscription. Each row shows the add-on’s name, add-on ID, description, and price per billing period.
You cannot remove add-ons once they have been added to a subscription.
To attach a new add-on, click Add an add-on, then select an existing add-on from you Product Catalogue. Once selected, a new invoice will be generated billing for the new add-on.
Add-ons can only be added to Pending subscriptions.
The Deferred Line Items section shows line items that have been generated but not yet invoiced. They will be included in the next renewal invoice when the subscription renews. Each line item row shows:
Column
Description
Effective Date
The date the charge took effect
Item
The item being charged
Amount
The charge amount of the line item
Invoice now
Create an invoice and bill for this line item immediately
Click to show more details of the line item
If you need to invoice a line item before the scheduled renewal date, click Invoice now. This immediately creates an invoice in Xero for that line item and it will no longer be billed on renewal.
The Credit Notes section shows all credit notes that have been generated on this subscription. Each credit note row displays:
Column
Description
Date
The date the credit note was generated
Number
The Xero credit note reference number
Amount (ex. tax)
The credit note total excluding tax
Amount (inc. tax)
The credit note total including tax
Xero Status
The current status in Xero
Application
Unapplied, Partial, Applied, or Error
Click the on any credit note to expand it and see the line items and actions available for that credit note.
Credit notes are generated automatically by Saasybill when an increase in units results in a lesser payable amount. They are synced to and managed in Xero. For more information, see Billing Changes.
Click Download data to export all credit note line items on the subscription as a CSV file.
The history table shows every unit change over the subscription’s lifetime:
Column
Description
Created Date
The date the change was made in Saasybill
Effective Date
The date the change took effect
Previous Units
The unit count before the change
Updated Units
The unit count after the change
Unit Change
The delta: the positive or negative unit movement
Type
The type of change (New, Renewal, Expansion, or Contraction)
Charge Type
The type of associated charge created on an update:
N/A: The change was made within the paid units or amount
Charged: The change was prorated and charged immediately
Deferred: The change was prorated and charged on renewal
No Charge: The change was not prorated and not charged
Credit: The change was prorated and generated a credit note
Click Download Data to export the history as a CSV file.You can also click the of any subscription in the subscriptions list to view a simplified unit change history at a glance.
To update the number of units on an active subscription, click the current units in the Pricing section on the subscription details page. You can also update units directly from the subscriptions list row by clicking the units. An icon will show if the units can be updated.
Enter the new total unit count, not the change amount.Proration toggle: turn on to apply a prorated charge for a mid-cycle change. When enabled, choose a proration behaviour:
Immediate: takes effect from the chosen effective date; a prorated invoice is created in Xero immediately
**On Renewal: **takes effect from the chosen effective date; a prorated line item is added to the Deferred Line Items table to be billed on the renewal invoice
Credit notes are always generated as a prorated update and are creditted immediately. You can not adjust the proration behaviour in this case.
Effective date: the date from which the new unit count applies. Can be backdated or forward-dated within the current period.Saasybill will show additional informational prompts based on your inputs and a description that summarises the change.If the renewal is within one month, you’ll also be asked whether to add the updated amount to the upcoming renewal invoice rather than raising a separate one.Click Confirm to apply. The subscription updates immediately and Xero receives the relevant document.
For a full explanation of how proration is calculated and when invoices vs credit notes are created, see Billing changes.
From the subscription details page you have three options:
Action
What it does
End subscription at period end
Schedules the subscription to stop at the next renewal date. Billing continues normally until then.
End subscription now
The subscription is stopped immediately. You cannot make any more updates to the subscription and no refund for the unused period is given.
Delete subscription
Permanently removes the subscription immediately. Invoices are voided and deleted in Xero.
To end a subscription: open the details page, click End Subscription, and choose whether you want the subscription to end immediately or at the current period end.
A deleted subscription cannot be recovered. Use End subscription to keep the subscription
Reverting a subscription: if a subscription has been ended immediately but has not passed its renewal date yet, you can revert it back to active from the details page by clicking Revert subscription.
