Use phases in billing schedules to represent pre-agreed price changes, trial periods or pricing ramps
Key concepts
Start date | Date when the billing schedule begins |
End date | Date when the billing schedule ends |
Billing day | Aligns billing periods with a specific day of the month (useful to align contracts starting mid-month) |
Billing period | Time interval covered by each invoice |
Billing frequency | One-time, Monthly, Quarterly, Semi-annually, Annually |
Billing type | In-arrears (billing period end) or in-advance (billing period start) |
Phase | Distinct periods within a schedule with different pricing or terms |
Partial billing period | Period where fees may be prorated |
draft
. Once started, schedules become active
. If the start date is in the future, the status is set to upcoming
. The end of the last billing period marks a schedule complete
. While a schedule is active, price changes and additional phases can be added. Once completed, a schedule cannot be edited.
The schedule start date determines when the first billing period begins. If the start date is in the past, backdated draft invoices are generated for all retrospective billing periods. A schedule with an open-ended
duration continues billing indefinitely until manual cancellation.
Common use cases for phases
completed
and can no longer be modified.
Active phases: While a phase is active (current date falls within the phase), you can adjust its end date or change pricing for upcoming billing periods (for prices billed in-arrears).
Adding new phases: New phases can be added at any time while a schedule is active. Each new phase automatically aligns with the end date of the preceding phase, ensuring continuous coverage.
Phase transitions: When adding a new phase, you can choose to either align it with a billing period boundary (to avoid pro-rated fees) or set a specific date (which may result in partial billing periods).
Example: A customer on a 12-month contract with a monthly billing frequency completes 6 months and then requests an upgraded plan. To implement this: