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Payments, Credits, and Impacts on Orders

Payments and Credits

The invoice amount associated with an order is called its order amount. Whenever a subscription is paid, the invoice amount is distributed equally among each of its orders. If there are addons, the price of each addon is distributed equally among all the orders for that addon. Taxes and discounts applied are also linked to the relevant orders.

Full Payment of Invoice

Example:

  1. Consider a 12-month plan that ships an item every 3 months. This plan would have 4 orders for its entire billing period. If the plan price is $1,200, then once the invoice is paid, each order would have an order amount of $1,200 ÷ 4 = $300.
  2. Now, suppose the above subscription includes an addon worth $100 that ships every 2 months. In this case, the order amounts would be as follows (assuming the subscription starts on January 1):
Order DateOrder Amount
Order date 1: Jan 1$300 (plan) + $100 (addon) = $400
Order date 2: Mar 1$100 (addon)
Order date 3: Apr 1$300 (plan)
Order date 4: May 1$100 (addon)
Order date 5: Jul 1$300 (plan) + $100 (addon) = $400
Order date 6: Sep 1$100 (addon)
Order date 7: Oct 1$300 (plan)
Order date 8: Nov 1$100 (addon)

Partial Payment of Invoice

In some cases, the invoice may only be partially paid by the customer, while the remaining amount is adjusted by you using an adjustment credit note. In such cases, the adjustment credits are also distributed equally among the orders connected to the invoice.

Example: Consider a 6-month plan worth $300 that ships every 2 months. If the customer pays $200 and the remaining $100 is adjusted by you, then:

Plan period: 6 months

Plan amount: $300

Order period: 2 months

Invoice amount: $300

Paid amount: $200

Adjusted amount: $100

No. of orders:

(plan period ÷ order period) = 6÷2 = 3

Order amount:

(invoice amount ÷ no. of orders)

= $300 ÷ 3 = $100

Paid order amount:

(paid amount ÷ no. of orders)

= $200 ÷ 3 = $66.66 for first 2 orders

and $66.68 for the last one.

(Since an exact division is not possible,

the round-off amount has been

applied to the last order)

Order adjustment amount:

(adjustment amount ÷ no. of orders)

= $100÷3 = $33.33

for first 2 orders and $33.34 for the last one.

Note:

For a plan with only one shipment, there will be just one order. In this case, the entire invoice amount, paid amount, and adjustment amount (if any) are associated with that order only.

Impacts on Orders

Subscription Changes

This section explains how changes made to a subscription affect the orders associated with it.

Information

  • We recommend not using the proration feature when changing or canceling subscriptions that have shippable products. Proration in Chargebee is time-based. We are working on delivery-based proration. Until then, see the FAQ section for help with prorating shippable subscriptions.
  • The cases discussed in the table below assume that subscription changes are set to apply immediately and not on the next renewal.
Subscription ChangeImpact on Existing Orders
Subscription DeletionAll associated orders are deleted.
Subscription PauseAll queued orders with shipping date after the pause date — regardless of whether a resume date is set or not — are changed to on hold.
Subscription ResumeWhen a subscription resumes, all on-hold orders with shipping dates on or after the date of resume are changed to queued.
  • Changing the subscription plan price point to one with the same billing period
  • Changing the next billing date
  • Changing the subscription price
  • Changing the plan/addon quantity
  • Adding an addon
  • Changing shipping address or billing address
In these cases, the change happens only on the next renewal so the current orders aren't affected.

Changing the subscription plan price point to one with a different billing period

This does not impact the existing orders for the subscription in any way. However, since the subscription plan gets updated, a new invoice is raised for the new plan and new orders are created against it when paid. You may cancel the queued orders of the previous plan if they're not needed.
Cancelling a subscriptionAll of its orders with status queued and shipping date in the future are cancelled.
Reactivating a subscriptionIf reactivation happens such that a new invoice is generated for the subscription (For example, during out-of-term reactivation or if you change subscription and switch to a new plan), new orders are created when the invoice gets paid.
Changing subscription details such as shipping address, billing address, billing price, changing or applying coupons.No impact on the orders.
Adding a chargeSee this section.
Adding a quick charge to a subscriptionNo impact on the orders since a quick charge is not considered a shippable item.
Bill future renewalsNo impact on current orders. New orders are created when the invoice is paid for.

Invoice Changes

When an invoice is changed, any orders associated with it are affected as follows:

Invoice ChangeImpact on Existing Orders

For a plan/addon that has only one shipment per billing period if you

  • refund the invoice or
  • record refund against the invoice.
A credit note of the entire refund amount is created against the order with the entire refund amount associated with the order.

For a plan/addon that has multiple orders per billing period if you

  • refund the invoice or
  • record refund against the invoice.

A refundable credit note is created.

The credits are associated with the orders based on the following rules:

  • If the refund reason code is "product/service unsatisfactory":    &nbsp- From among the orders linked to the invoice, the refund amount is distributed among those with shipping date before the date of credit note creation.

  • For all other refund reason codes:    &nbsp- From among the orders linked to the invoice, the refund amount is distributed among those with shipping date as the date of credit note creation or later.

    Note: If the refund amount is greater than the total order amount of the orders it is applicable for (based on the above rules), the refund amount is distributed among all orders of the invoice.

Creating an adjustment credit note against an invoice for a plan/addon that has only one shipment per billing period.The credit note is linked to the order and the entire adjusted amount is associated with the order.
Creating an adjustment credit note against an invoice for a plan/addon that has multiple orders per billing period.

The adjusted amount is associated with the orders based on the following rules:

  • If the adjustment reason code is "product/service unsatisfactory":    &nbsp- From among the orders linked to the invoice, the adjusted amount is distributed among those with shipping date before the date of credit note creation.

  • For all other adjustment reason codes:    &nbsp- From among the orders linked to the invoice, the adjusted amount is distributed between those with shipping date as the date of credit note creation or later.

    Note: If the adjusted amount is greater than the total order amount of the orders it is applicable for (based on the above rules), the adjusted amount is distributed among all orders of the invoice.

Remove payment from an invoice.The removed amount is equally distributed among all the linked orders, reducing their paid amounts.
Adding payment to invoiceThe added amount is equally distributed among all the linked orders, increasing their paid amounts.
Void an invoiceAll orders linked to the invoice are cancelled.
Write-off an invoice before orders have been created

If it's only a partial write-off, the orders are created in queued status; if fully written-off, then orders are created in cancelled status.

Adjustment credits are raised against all the orders for their order amounts. If partially written off, credits for the written off amount are equally distributed among all the orders.

Write-off an invoice after orders have been created

Order statuses are not affected.

Adjustment credits are raised against all the orders for their order amounts. If partially written off, credits for the written off amount are equally distributed among all the orders.

Invoice billing address changeAll linked orders are updated with the new billing address.
Invoice shipping address changeQueued orders with shipping date in the future are updated with the shipping address changes.
If consolidated invoicing is enabledThe orders continue to be created and processed separately for each subscription.
Other changesNo impact on existing orders.

Customer Changes

Customer ChangeImpact on Existing Orders
Customer is deletedAll orders are deleted.
Charge is addedSee this section.
Adding a one-time chargeNo impact on the orders since a charge is not considered a shippable item.
Change customer detailsThe orders themselves are not affected but when the orders are synced to a third-party integration platform, the latest details are fetched.
Other changesNo impact on existing orders.

Other Changes

  • When a credit note is voided or deleted, the adjustment or refund associated with the credit note will be removed from all linked orders.

FAQ

1) I'm canceling a subscription. How can I ensure that only the unfulfilled orders are refunded?

As described above, when a subscription is canceled, all queued orders with shipping dates in the future are canceled automatically. Since Chargebee does not currently support delivery-based proration, choose Don't issue credits for the unused period while canceling the subscription. Then, do one of the following:

  • Use the refund order action for each unfulfilled order, choosing the maximum refundable amount pre-filled in the dialog. OR
  • Create a credit note for the invoice associated with the orders, for the amount equal to the total value of the unfulfilled orders. Choose the reason code Order cancellation to ensure that the refundable credits are associated with the orders that were canceled.

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