Payment schedules and retries

Start a payment schedule from a membership plan, follow and change it on the Schedules tab, and set how Prevarro retries a charge that fails.

This article is being updated.

A payment schedule collects a customer's payments cycle by cycle, for example a member's dues. You'll find them in Payments, on the Schedules tab. Most start from a membership plan, for a member. You can also set up a custom arrangement for any customer, such as a deposit and instalments, with New payment schedule at the top of Payments.

A schedule follows its plan. If the plan has a front end, such as an upfront offer or joining fee, that's charged once at signup. Its continuity price is then billed every cycle. Plans are set up in Members - see Members and plans.

Start a schedule from a plan

You can start one here, or from the member's record with Add membership plan (see Members' dues: setting up, pausing and credit). Here you need a role that can manage payment schedules and see members.

1. Open Payments, go to Schedules and select Start from a membership plan.
2. Under Start from, pick the plan. Only active plans with a price are listed. If the plan has more than one billing option, choose one under Billing.
3. Under Member, pick the member. If they belong to an organisation, choose under Bill to whether to bill the person or the organisation.
4. Set the date it Starts. It can't be before today.
5. To charge a different price, enter a Price override and a Reason for the override. The override replaces the plan's price on every phase, the joining and front-end phases included.
6. Under Collection, choose how the money comes in:
   • Charge a method automatically - each cycle charges the method on file and issues a paid tax invoice.
   • Invoice each cycle - each cycle issues a tax invoice on the customer's payment terms for them to pay. Leave Terms on Party default to use the customer's own terms, or pick terms and a Basis.
7. For automatic charging, pick the method under How to collect. Start without a method on file is ticked for you when there's none on file, and you can tick it yourself otherwise: the schedule is created, the customer is emailed a secure link to add a method, and nothing is charged until one is on file.
8. Check the figures in the Per-cycle preview, then select the button at the bottom. It reads Create payment schedule, Create - invoices each cycle or Create & send setup link, to match your choices.

With Charge a method automatically, if the plan needs a payment method before its free trial starts and the member has none on file, the form shows A card comes first and the button reads Send a card link. The member is emailed a link to add a card, and the membership starts once it's on file.

The schedules list

Each row shows the Customer, the schedule's name and where it came from, the amount Per cycle, the Method or invoice terms, the Status and the Next charge. Filter by status, search, or sort with the controls above the list.

A schedule's status is one of Scheduled, Trial, Active, Past due, Paused, Completed or Cancelled. A trial that ended without a card shows Trial ended.

Instead of a date, Next charge can read Paused, Resumes with a date, Paused from with a date, or Awaiting method when the schedule is waiting for a payment method.

Select a row to open the schedule. It shows its Phases, with the CURRENT one marked, its Details, its Payment history and a Timeline of what's happened to it. Source links to the member's record if your role can see members.

Pause, resume and cancel

You can take these actions from a schedule's menu in the list, or from the buttons at the bottom of an open schedule, if your role can manage payment schedules.

• Pause stops charges until you resume. Depending on the schedule, it pauses now or at its next charge, and the message tells you which. Until a pause starts, Withdraw pause keeps the schedule collecting as normal.
• Resume opens Resume this payment schedule?. Leave Resume from on today and select Resume, or pick a later date and select Set resume date. The dialog says when collection restarts. A resume date you've set can be removed with Withdraw resume date.
• Cancel payment schedule stops further charges. Past payments and their tax invoices aren't changed. For a membership, the cancel takes effect now and the membership stays open in Members, so end it there if the member is leaving. For a custom arrangement, choose Now, At the end of the current period or On a date.
• Write off shows on an open schedule if your role can write off debts. Tick the unpaid invoices to write off and select Write off. This stops collection and cancels the schedule. For a membership, the membership ends in Members as written off.

Change the payment method

Select Change… under Method on an open schedule, or Change method… from its menu in the list. In Change payment method, pick another method the customer has on file and select Save. To have the customer add a new one, select Send update link. Prevarro sends them a secure link by email and text, to whichever of those their record has.

A schedule that sends invoices has no method to change.

When a charge fails

When a charge on a schedule fails, the schedule shows Past due, which Retry it's on and when the next one is. An open schedule shows Payment failed - outstanding since with the date.

Prevarro retries the charge on its own, following your retry settings below. To try again straight away, select Retry now. When all the retries are used, an open schedule shows Retries finished.

To find out why a charge failed and what to do, select Why? beside it. See Why did a payment fail?.

Set how failed charges are retried

You need a role that manages Payments settings.

1. Open Payments, choose Settings, then the Receipts & retries tab.
2. On the Failed payments & retries card, choose:
   • Retry attempts - how many times to retry. Each option shows roughly how many days the retries run over.
   • Spacing - Smart - clustered around paydays, or Fixed - every 3 days.
   • Email the customer each attempt - a notice with a secure link to fix their payment method. Turn on SMS as well to text them too.
   • Remind customers before their card expires - an email and a text 30 and 7 days before the card a schedule charges expires, with a link to update it.
   • After the final attempt - Flag for review, Hold the membership or End the membership.

Each change saves straight away. These settings apply to schedules that charge a method automatically. A schedule that sends invoices isn't retried this way.