Recurring Billing: An Overview (Coming Soon!)

Coming soon

Recurring billing lets you charge members an ongoing amount on a repeating schedule for as long as they stay enrolled. It is built for tuition, club dues, monthly training, lessons, and any program that continues indefinitely rather than ending on a set date. This article explains what recurring billing does, how it compares to a payment plan, and what to know before you set it up.

Recurring billing replaces the workaround of building a payment plan with dozens of installments, or asking members to re-register every month.

• What recurring billing is
• Recurring billing or a payment plan?
• How it works
• What you configure
• What members see
• Before you turn it on
• What is not available

What recurring billing is

A recurring billing program charges each member a set amount on a repeating cycle. There is no grand total and no fixed number of payments. Billing continues until you end it, the plan's end date is reached, or the member is removed from the program.

This is different from an Installment Payment Plan, which splits one known total into a set number of payments, and from Pay in Full, which collects everything at registration.

Recurring billing or a payment plan?

Both let members pay over time, but they solve different problems. A program uses one model or the other, never both.

What each model is built for

Use recurring billing for programming that continues indefinitely: a monthly membership, an open gym, a training academy, a class members stay enrolled in month after month. You are charging the same amount every cycle until the member leaves or you end the plan.

Use an Installment Payment Plan when a member owes a specific total and you want to spread it out. A club team season costs $5,000, and you let families pay it across several months. The total is known at registration, and every installment adds up to it.

Side-by-side comparison

Choose recurring billing when

• Members join at any point and stay enrolled for as long as they want.
• You charge the same amount every month or twice a month.
• You do not know, and do not need to know, what a member will pay in total.
• You want members who join mid-cycle to be charged a prorated amount rather than back charges.

Choose an installment payment plan when

• The program has a defined cost that every member owes.
• Installment amounts need to vary (example: $100 one month, $50 the next).
• The program has a defined season or end date.

How it works

1. You turn on recurring billing for the program and create one or more billing plans.
2. A member registers and chooses a plan.
3. The member saves a payment method. This is required, and their registration is not complete without it.
4. Charges run automatically on the schedule you configured, for as long as the member stays enrolled.

Each charge is generated on the member's invoice three days before it runs, which gives you a window to review it, adjust it, or record a payment made offline. Members get a reminder three days before a charge and again the day before.

What you configure

Each billing plan has its own settings, so a single program can offer members more than one option.

• Amount — what the member is charged each cycle.
• Cadence — monthly, or twice monthly on the 1st and 15th.
• When do charges run — either Anniversary of the registration date, where each member is charged on their own registration date every cycle, or A fixed day for everyone, where everyone on the plan is charged on the same day each cycle.
• When does billing begin — either At registration, where the first charge runs as soon as someone registers, prorated to align with the next billing date, or On or after the program start date, where the first full charge runs on the first billing date once the program has started, with no proration.
• End date — optional. Leave it empty for programming that runs indefinitely.
• Who it is for — free agents or team players.
• Public or private — private plans are how you offer a discounted or negotiated rate.

The charge day is worth thinking through, because it changes how your month looks. A fixed day for everyone puts the whole plan on one schedule, so your charges land together and you reconcile once a cycle. Anniversary of the registration date gives each member their own billing day, so someone who registers on the 13th is charged on the 13th every cycle. That spreads your income across the month rather than landing it all at once.

What members see

Members choose a plan during registration and see what they are charged today and when their next charge lands. They are never shown a lifetime total, because there isn't one.

In their member portal, members can see their next charge date, their amount, and the payment method on file, and they can update that payment method themselves.

Before you turn it on

Three things are worth knowing before you commit a program to recurring billing.

A program offers recurring billing or the standard model, not both. If a program uses recurring billing, Pay in Full and Installment Payment Plans are not available on it.

A plan is locked once members are on it. You can close, cancel, or delete a plan, but you cannot change its price, cadence, or end date. To change pricing, create a new plan at the new amount and close the old one. Members already enrolled keep the price they signed up for.

If a program is set to recurring billing and no plan has been created yet, registration is blocked and members cannot register until you create one.

What is not available

A few things you may be used to on other programs work differently here.

• Discount codes are not supported. Use a private plan at the lower price instead.
• Recurring billing plans are available to free agents and team players. Staff can register into the program but are never billed.

Frequently Asked Questions

My program runs for a set number of months. Which should I use?

Either can work, and the deciding factor is usually when members join. If everyone registers before the program starts and owes the same total, use an installment payment plan. If members join throughout and you only want to charge them from their join date forward, use recurring billing and set an end date on the plan.

Can I move an existing program onto recurring billing?

Not once it has registrations. Create a new program set up for recurring billing and register members into it.

Does recurring billing change how I set a standard registration price?

It replaces it on that program. A recurring billing program offers billing plans only, so pay-in-full pricing is not available alongside it.

Should charges run on a fixed day or on the registration anniversary?

A fixed day is the more common choice, because every charge on the plan runs on the same date and you reconcile once a cycle. Choose the registration anniversary when you would rather your income arrive steadily through the month, or when members joining on their own schedule matters more than everyone sharing one billing date.

What happens when a member leaves?

Removing a member from the program stops their future charges. Charges that have already been generated are handled separately.

Do members have to store a card?

Yes. A saved payment method is required to complete registration in a recurring billing program, including when nothing is due that day.

Can I still take a check or cash?

Yes. You can turn off auto-pay for an individual member and record their payments as they come in. Their charges are still generated on schedule.