Recurring revenue is predictable and makes your company more valuable. Technically the difference to a one-off payment is small. What matters are the rules you define upfront: term, cancellation and what happens when a payment fails.
Requirements
Important: What you configure here must match your own contract terms. Term, notice period and renewal belong in writing before the first customer signs up.
Step by step
- Create a subscription productCreate the product and choose recurring billing instead of one-time. Set the interval, monthly or annual.
- Define the trial periodIf you offer a free trial, enter its length. Decide beforehand whether a payment method is collected at signup, this significantly changes both conversion rate and signup quality.
- Use payment plans as an alternativeFor high-priced one-off services a payment plan works better: a fixed total price split into several installments with a defined end. Unlike a subscription it does not run indefinitely.
- Handle failed paymentsDefine how often a failed payment is retried and what happens afterwards. Build a workflow that informs the customer politely instead of silently locking them out.
- Define the cancellation processSet out how customers can cancel and what happens to their access afterwards. A clear process prevents disputes and chargebacks.
- Connect the subscription to onboardingLink the signup to a workflow that onboards new customers automatically. The first few days decide whether someone stays.
Tip: Track your cancellation rate in the first thirty days separately from the rest. If many leave there, it is almost never the price, it is the onboarding.
Common issues
Billing does not run. Check whether the product is actually set to recurring and whether a valid payment method is on file for the customer.
Customers complain about unexpected charges. Almost always a communication issue: renewal and price were not clear enough. Add a reminder before renewal.
What comes next
That completes your billing setup. For deeper questions about your own configuration, our support team is the fastest route.
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