How to set up subscription billing cycles
Recurring revenue keeps your business stable. Setting up billing cycles ensures your customers are charged the right amount at the right time without you having to manually send invoices or track down payments.
How to set up a subscription billing cycle
Follow these steps to configure how often your customers are charged for a product or service.
- Log into your WooShop dashboard and navigate to Products > All Products.
- Click on the product you want to edit, or click Add New to create a fresh one.
- Scroll down to the Product Data section.
- In the dropdown menu, select Simple subscription.
- In the Subscription price field, enter the amount you want to charge.
- Set the frequency using the next two dropdowns. For example, to charge someone once a month, set it to "every month."
- Define the Subscription length. Select how long the subscription should last (e.g., 12 months) or choose "Never expire" if you want the billing to continue until the customer cancels.
- Click Update or Publish to save your changes.
Practical billing scenarios
The billing cycle you choose depends on what you sell. Here are a few common ways to set this up:
- Weekly Produce Box: Set the price to $35 every 1st week. This ensures customers are billed every seven days for their delivery.
- Quarterly Maintenance: For a service performed every three months, set the interval to every 3rd month.
- Annual Software License: Set the price to $120 every 1st year. This simplifies things for the customer by only requiring one transaction per year.
Troubleshooting common issues
The billing date is different for every customer
By default, the billing cycle begins on the day the customer hits "buy." If someone signs up on the 12th, they will be billed on the 12th of every month. If you need everyone to be billed on the 1st, you will need to enable "Subscription Synchronization" in your WooCommerce settings.
Price changes aren’t affecting old customers
If you increase the price of your subscription product, it only applies to new sign-ups. Existing subscribers are locked into the price they agreed to when they first joined. To change the price for existing customers, you must manually edit their individual subscription profiles.
Payments are failing on the renewal date
This is usually related to the payment gateway (like Stripe or PayPal). Check that your "Webhooks" are configured correctly in your payment settings. This allows the payment processor to tell your website that the payment was successful so the order can be marked as "Complete."
Next steps for your shop:
