Subscription Cancellation

Introduction

When an active subscription moves to an inactive state and further renewals do not take place, it is canceled. You can cancel an active subscription at any time. There are five ways in which a subscription can be canceled:

• You can manually cancel the subscription via Web Interface.
• Send a cancellation request via Cancel Subscription API.
• Due to nonpayment in the dunning process.
• At the end of the renewal period, when the number of billing cycles reaches zero.
• Customers can cancel the subscription from the Self-Serve Portal.

Cancellation Reasons

Subscription cancellation can happen due to various reasons. If a subscription gets canceled for any of the following cases, the subscription_canceled event will notify you of the reason for the cancellation.

• Not Paid
• No Card
• Fraud Review Failed
• Non Compliant EU Customer
• Tax Calculation Failed
• Currency incompatible with Gateway
• Non Compliant Customer

If the subscription gets canceled due to any other reason, the subscription_canceled event will not include the reason for cancellation.

Configure Subscription Cancellation

You can configure Chargebee's default subscription cancellation settings by navigating to Settings > Configure Chargebee > Billing LogIQ > Customers & Subscriptions > Subscription cancellation.

The following table explains the various options available for each setting.

Chargebee also allows you to override the default settings or add a condition. You can perform these actions by clicking the vertical ellipsis available next to each setting.

• Allow overriding via Chargebee interface: By enabling the "Allow overriding via Chargebee interface" for a setting, you can allow your users to override the default option.
• Add condition to this rule: A different behavior can be set for subscription cancellations based on whether the cancellation is invoked via the web interface, API, by the customer through the Self-serve Portal, or due to scheduled cancellations.

For Future Subscriptions

• The subscription can be canceled only immediately. There is no option to set it to cancel at the end of term after the subscription gets activated.
• If you want to cancel it at the end of the first term, you can use the Edit Subscription operation and set the number of billing cycles to 1.

From Scheduled Cancellation to Active

When the number of billing cycles increases for a subscription or when the subscription is changed to a plan that has a different term period, it will switch from non-renewing state to active state.

Example

If the number of billing cycles for a monthly subscription scheduled for cancellation (number of billing cycles set to 0) is set to any non-zero number, or if the plan is changed to a yearly one using the Edit Subscription operation, the subscription will become active. Customers can be offered a way to turn their subscriptions to "active" from "non-renewing" by extending their subscription.

Edit Scheduled Cancellation

The date/time of cancellation for a subscription that is scheduled to be canceled upon the next renewal can be changed via web interface using the Edit Scheduled Cancellation available in the subscription details page.

If the cancellation date is postponed, the subscription will still continue to be in the non-renewing state until the cancellation date/time. An option to raise prorated charges for the extended period is also made available while performing this action.

The following are the options for scheduled cancellation of a subscription:

• Cancel immediately: This option is used to cancel the subscription with immediate effect.
• Cancel at end of current term: This option is used to cancel a subscription at the end of the current billing cycle.
• Cancel on a specific date: This option is used to cancel a subscription on a specified date.
• Cancel at end of subscription billing term: This option is used to cancel a subscription either at the end of the advance term, if it's billed for future renewals, or at the end of its current billing cycle.

Reactivating Canceled Subscription

To re-start the billing for a canceled subscription, you need to ‘reactivate' your subscription. Learn more.

You cannot reactivate a decommissioned subscription.

Decommission a canceled subscription

In some cases, you might need to retain a canceled subscription for audit purposes but prevent any further action on it. To support this, Chargebee allows you to decommission a subscription when you cancel it.

You can decommission a subscription only during the cancellation flow, from the Chargebee interface or the Cancel a subscription for items API. You cannot decommission a subscription after it has already been canceled.

Decommissioning retires a subscription while preserving its data for reference and compliance. After a subscription is decommissioned, all operations on it are disabled except deleting the subscription. This action is irreversible. You cannot undo it from the Chargebee interface. If you need to reverse it, contact Chargebee Support.

A decommissioned subscription has the following restrictions:

• You cannot reactivate it.
• You cannot edit it.
• You cannot add one-time charges or non-recurring addons to it.
• You cannot perform other subscription operations on it, except deleting it.
• It remains canceled and inactive, and available for audit and historical reference.

Show the decommission option during cancellation

The Show Decommission Option During Cancellation setting controls whether the cancellation flow includes Decommission this subscription. The setting is enabled by default.

To change the setting, go to Settings > Configure Chargebee > Billing LogIQ > Customers & Subscriptions > Subscription cancellation.

Turn the setting on to show Decommission this subscription in the cancellation flow. Turn it off if you do not want users to decommission subscriptions from the Chargebee interface. You can still decommission a subscription using the Cancel a subscription for items API.

This setting only controls visibility of the option. A subscription is decommissioned only when you select Decommission this subscription during cancellation, or when you pass decommissioned as true in the cancel API request. The option is not available after a subscription is already canceled.

Decommission a subscription from the Chargebee interface

You can decommission a subscription only when the required setting is enabled, and when you cancel the subscription from the subscription details page. The decommission option is not available after the subscription is already canceled.

This action is irreversible. After the subscription is decommissioned, you cannot undo it from the Chargebee interface.

1. Open the subscription details page.
2. Click Cancel Subscription.
3. Select when to cancel the subscription.
4. Select Decommission this subscription.

5. Complete the cancellation.

If you schedule the cancellation for a later date, decommissioning takes effect when the subscription is canceled, not when you schedule it.

Filter decommissioned subscriptions

You can filter decommissioned subscriptions on the Subscriptions page and through the API.

To filter from the Chargebee interface:

1. Click Subscriptions.
2. Click Filter list.
3. Select the Decommissioned filter and set it to True.
4. Click Apply Filter.

You can also filter decommissioned subscriptions using the List subscriptions API and the Export subscriptions API.

Use cases for decommissioning a subscription

Common scenarios for decommissioning a subscription can include:

• Recreate a subscription under a different customer
  When a subscription needs to be continued under a different customer, cancel and decommission the original subscription, then create a new one under the target customer. Decommissioning prevents reactivation and retains the original subscription for audit purposes.

  • Example 1
    Company A has an active subscription. Company B acquires Company A, and Company A is no longer active. Company B takes over the subscription.

    To support this transition:

    • Cancel and decommission the subscription under Company A to retain it as a historical record.
    • Create a new subscription under Company B.

    The decommissioned subscription serves as an audit record of the transfer.

  • Example 2
    A customer can operate multiple businesses, each with its own subscription and billing account. These are often created as separate customers in Chargebee.

    For example, a business operates three businesses:

    • Pet store (billing account ending 1111)
    • Provision store (billing account ending 2222)
    • Toy store (billing account ending 3333)

    Each business has its own subscription.

    If another customer acquires one of these businesses (for example, the Pet store) and wants to continue the subscription.

    To support this transition:

    • Cancel and decommission the subscription associated with the Pet store to retain historical invoices and transactions.
    • Create a new subscription under the acquiring customer.

    This approach ensures that:

    • Historical data remains with the original customer for audit purposes.
    • The new customer starts with a clean subscription.
    • Sensitive financial data is not shared across customers.

• Data migration
  During migrations, you might cancel and decommission legacy subscriptions and create new ones. Decommissioning keeps the older subscriptions available for audit purposes.

• Operational changes
  When a subscription needs to be replaced due to system-level changes (for example, a change in currency), you cannot modify the existing subscription. Instead, cancel and decommission the current subscription, then create a new one with the updated configuration. The decommissioned subscription remains available for audit and tracking.

  • Example
    If there is a user who has a USD subscription and has moved to a new location, the user now wants to pay in EUR. To avoid making any credits in USD after the user moves to EUR, you cancel and decommission the USD subscription and create a new subscription in EUR. The decommissioned USD subscription is preserved as a historical record.

Decommissioning and cancellation

Decommissioning happens as part of cancellation, not as a separate action after the subscription is already canceled. Use the following guidelines:

FAQ

1) Why can't I set the time when I change the cancellation date?

Your Chargebee site must be in day-based proration mode. In this mode, it is implied that the cancellation happens at the end of the day.

2) How is the refund calculated when a day-based proration subscription gets canceled on the created day?

In day-based proration, whether the subscription is used for one hour or one day, the usage duration is considered as one day. When the credit note gets generated, it will deduct one day usage amount.