Docs
Subscriptions
Recurring services, renewals, dunning and self-service cancellation.
A subscription is a plan that bills a client on a schedule. ClientOS runs the schedule itself rather than handing it to Stripe or PayPal, so there is one renewal date, one set of rules and one place to manage it. Each cycle raises an invoice for the client and an order for your team.
Where it lives#
| What | Menu path | Route |
|---|---|---|
| All subscriptions | Work → Subscriptions | /subscriptions |
| One subscription | Click a row | /subscriptions/SUB-1001 |
| Renewal and dunning rules | Settings → Payments | /settings/payments |
| The client's view | Portal → Subscriptions | /subscriptions |
Subscriptions is an optional module. Turn it on or off in Settings → Modules.
How a subscription starts#
There are two ways:
- The client buys monthly. Any one-time service (except free, quoted and digital ones) can be taken monthly at the same price. When the buyer picks Monthly on the service page and pays, the subscription starts with that first payment. See Services and the store.
- You start one by hand, for a plan agreed on a call or moved from another system.
Start a subscription by hand#
- Go to Work → Subscriptions and click New subscription.
- Pick the Client company and the Service. Only services that can be billed monthly or on a schedule are listed.
- Choose the package, quantity and any add-ons.
- Under Collected by, choose:
- Whatever they have: their card on file if an earlier checkout saved one, otherwise an invoice each cycle.
- Invoice each cycle: mailed with Pay now. For PayPal, crypto, or a client who pays by transfer.
- Optionally set Starts. Left empty, the first period starts today.
- Click Start subscription. The first cycle's invoice is raised straight away.
Prices come from your store, never typed by hand.
How each cycle is collected#
| Collected by | How it works |
|---|---|
| Card on file | The buyer paid by Stripe and the card was saved. At each renewal, the cycle's invoice is raised and the card is charged automatically. |
| Invoice | The cycle's invoice is emailed to the client with Pay now. They pay with any method you offer. |
Only Stripe keeps a card for automatic charges. Subscriptions bought with PayPal or crypto are invoiced each cycle. On the service page, the buyer is told which applies before they pay.
Any account credit the client holds is spent on each new cycle's invoice first.
Each cycle's order#
At every renewal, ClientOS raises the period's order alongside its invoice, so your team sees the month's work in Orders and on the Todo board. If the service asks requirements, the new order's brief is filled in from the client's most recent answers on that subscription and starts at In progress, so they don't answer the same questions every month.
Statuses#
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Active | Renews on schedule. |
| Past due | The last cycle couldn't be collected. Dunning may still be retrying. |
| Paused | Not renewing until it is resumed, by hand or on a resume date. |
| Cancelled | Final. Nothing more is raised. |
The list page shows MRR (monthly recurring revenue, per currency) and counts of Active, Past due and Paused plans. Past-due plans are listed in their own panel with a Charge now button.
Manage a subscription#
Open a subscription to see its Terms (number, this period, next charge, amount, add-ons, how it's collected, the card), its client, its Invoices (one per cycle), Attempts to collect and the Orders each cycle produced.
The actions menu offers:
| Action | What happens |
|---|---|
| Change plan | Pick a new package, quantity or add-ons. The change is saved and applied at the next renewal; the current period is never repriced. Click Change from next renewal. |
| Pause | Stops renewing. Set Resume on to resume automatically, or leave it empty to resume by hand. |
| Resume | Inside the paid period, nothing else changes. If the paid period has run out, a new period starts today and its invoice is raised at once. Paused weeks are not billed. |
| Cancel subscription | Choose At the end of this period (the client keeps what they paid for) or Now (nothing renews and nothing more is charged). |
| Keep it | Takes back a scheduled end-of-period cancellation. |
| Charge now | Charges the card on file for what the plan owes today. If nothing is owed, nothing is charged. |
Cancelling never changes an invoice that was already raised.
Dunning and reminders#
Set these in Settings → Payments → Dunning.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Retry the card | The days to retry a declined card, counted from the first failure. For example 1, 3 and 5. |
| After the last retry | Pause it, Cancel it, or Keep it past due (keeps renewing while invoices mount up). |
| Invoices paid by hand are due | Days until a manually paid cycle invoice is due. After that, the plan becomes Past due. |
| Remind clients before a renewal | Sends an email a set number of days before each cycle is charged or invoiced. |
| Clients may change their plan | Lets clients change their plan from the portal, effective at the next renewal. |
| Clients may cancel | Lets clients cancel from the portal, at the end of the period they paid for. |
When a card is declined, the client is told each time, with a link to pay the invoice themselves. When a past-due plan's invoices are all paid, it becomes Active again. Clients are also warned when their saved card is about to expire.
What the client sees#
In the portal under Subscriptions, the client sees each plan with its amount, next charge, how it's paid and status. Opening one shows:
- its details and its invoices, each with a PDF
- a notice when a payment failed or the plan is paused
- Pay now on any open invoice
- Change plan and Cancel subscription (which ends it at the period end), if you allow them
Only an owner or admin of the client's company can change or end a subscription. Saved cards are managed under Settings → Billing in the portal.
Permissions#
| Permission | Lets someone |
|---|---|
| See subscriptions | Open the list and each subscription. |
| Start a subscription | Use New subscription. |
| Edit a subscription | Change plan, pause and resume. |
| Cancel a subscription | Cancel or keep a plan. |
| Charge now | Charge the card on file. |
| Payments (settings) | Edit dunning and renewal rules. |
Tips#
- Encourage card payment through Stripe for recurring work. Card-on-file plans collect themselves; invoiced plans depend on the client remembering.
- Keep retry days spread out (for example 1, 3, 7) so a temporary card problem has time to clear.
- Use Pause with a resume date for clients taking a break, rather than cancelling and restarting.
- Watch the Past due panel weekly and chase from the invoice.