Trialing Subscriptions

Offering an option to trial your product or service can be a powerful tool to help grow your business. Trials give your potential subscriber the option to demo your product at little to no charge. To complement this approach, Advanced Billing offers many different ways for your subscribers to experience your product or service.

Here’s a few examples of the types of trials you can offer your subscriber:

Free trial with no obligation to enter a credit card
Free trial with setup fee charged at the end of the trial
Paid trial with setup fee charged at the beginning of the trial
Paid trial with setup fee charged at the end of the trial

Advanced Billing has provided the scenarios below to explain in detail what charges you can expect your subscribers to face throughout the trial period. A subscriber’s experience during the trial period depends on how a product is configured in Advanced Billing, as well as the validity of the subscriber’s credit card.

Trial Examples in Detail

The below examples assume a few attributes:

Trial Period: The examples below are broken into 2 sections, paid and free trials. Within Advanced Billing, you can easily define the length and cost of a trial.
Recurring period: When the trial period ends, the first recurring period begins. The Product on the subscription defines the length of the recurring period, and the subscription renews every time another recurring period passes.
Product price > $0.00. A $0.00 trial period, with a $0.00 product will not transition to the trial_ended state. A product must contain an amount due at the beginning of the non-trial recurring period in order to create a situation where a subscription transitions to trial_ended.
Require Payment Method is unchecked under the Product Settings. The following bullet points cover a brief explanation of the column headers describing the various subscription states in trials, charges applied, customer experiences, etc., during a trial period.

Trial examples explained

Initial Setup Fee: This fee allows you to specify an up-front or startup fee that is charged once. The Setup fee is normally charged at signup, but if your product has a trial period, the Setup fee may be charged at the end of the trial. An initial/setup fee can be charged before the trial period, or after the trial period. If you are electing to charge your Subscribers a setup fee, you must require a payment method upon signup.
Trial Type:
- No Obligation Trials: If no card is on file at the end of the trial, the state the subscription transitions to depends upon the subscription type:
  - Automatic subscriptions transition to trial_ended.
  - Remittance subscriptions transition to active.
- Payment Expected Trials: If no card is on file at the end of the trial, the subscription will transition to past_due.
Card required on signup: This informational column indicates whether or not a valid credit card is required at the time of signup. This is purely indicative of the charges assessed. If you have Require Payment Method selected for the product, a payment method will always be required upon signup. For more information on product options, please view our documentation here.
Charges applied at signup: This informational column defines the types of charges that will be applied at signup for the given scenario.
Status at end of the trial with failed charge: This informational column defines the status of the subscription at the end of a trial if a failed transaction is encountered.
Status at end of the trial with no card on file: This information column defines the status of the subscription at the end of a trial if there is no card on file at the end of the trial.

Free Trials

The following trialing examples contain two types of trials.

Free trials that do not include a setup fee
Free trials that do include a setup fee

While free trials with setup fees are not “free” in the true sense of the word, we wanted to ensure to illustrate all types of trials for clarity purposes.

Initial/setup fee	Trial type	Card required on signup?	Subscription Type	Charges applied at signup	Status at end of trial successful charge	Charges applied at end of trial	Status at end of trial with failed charge	Status at end of trial with no card on file
Before Trial Period	No Obligation	Yes	N/A	Startup fee	Active	Recurring product fee	Past Due	N/A
After Trial Period	No Obligation	No	Automatic	$0	Active	Recurring product fee + Initial/ Setup Fee	Past Due	Trial Ended
After Trial Period	No Obligation	No	Remittance	$0	Active	Recurring product fee + Initial/ Setup Fee	Past Due	Active
Before Trial Period	Payment Expected at End of Trial	Yes	N/A	Startup fee	Active	Recurring product fee	Past Due	N/A
After Trial Period	Payment Expected at End of Trial	No	N/A	$0	Active	Recurring product fee + Initial/ Setup Fee	Past Due	Past Due
N/A	No Obligation	No	Active	$0	Active	Recurring product fee	Past Due	Trial Ended
N/A	No Obligation	No	Remittance	$0	Active	Recurring product fee	Past Due	Active
N/A	Payment Expected at End of Trial	No	N/A	$0	Active	Recurring product fee	Past Due	Past Due

Free Trial with Metered & On/Off Components

The following trialing examples contain two types of trials.

Free trials that do not include a setup fee
Free trials that do include a setup fee

While free trials with setup fees are not “free” in the true sense of the word, we wanted to ensure to illustrate all types of trials for clarity purposes.

Initial/setup fee	Trial type	Card required on signup?	Subscription Type	Charges applied at signup	Status at end of trial successful charge	Charges applied at end of trial	Status at end of trial with failed charge	Status at end of trial with no card on file
Before Trial Period	No Obligation	Yes	N/A	Initial/Setup fee	Active	Recurring product fee + Component Charges	Past Due	N/A
After Trial Period	No Obligation	No	Automatic	$0	Active	Recurring product fee + Initial/Setup Fee + Component Charges	Past Due	Trial Ended
After Trial Period	No Obligation	No	Remittance	$0	Active	Recurring product fee + Initial/Setup Fee + Component Charges	Past Due	Active
Before Trial Period	Payment Expected at End of Trial	No	N/A	Initial/Setup fee	Active	Recurring product fee + Component Charges	Past Due	N/A
After Trial Period	Payment Expected at End of Trial	No	N/A	$0	Active	Recurring product fee + Initial/Setup Fee + Component Charges	Past Due	N/A
N/A	No Obligation	No	Active	$0	Active	Recurring product fee + Component Charges	Past Due	Trial Ended
N/A	No Obligation	No	Remittance	$0	Active	Recurring product fee + Component Charges	Past Due	Active
N/A	Payment Expected at End of Trial	No	N/A	$0	Active	Recurring product fee + Component Charges	Past Due	Past Due

Free Trial with Quantity Based Components

The following example contains signups for free trials without a setup fee. Additonally, all of the trials utilize the “no obligation” trial type.

Proration Method	Trial Type	Subscription Type	Total charges applied if component added at signup	Total increase in "Current Balance" if component is added during trial	Total charges applied at first renewal	Status after trial ends with no card on file
Prorate + Accrue	No Obligation	Automatic	$0	Prorated cost of component	Current balance + cost of product	Trial Ended
Prorate + Process	No Obligation	Automatic	$0	Prorated cost of component	Current balance + cost of product	Trial Ended
Full Cost + Accrue	No Obligation	Automatic	$0	Full cost of component	Current balance + cost of product	Trial Ended
Full Cost + Process	No Obligation	Automatic	$0	Full cost of component	Current balance + cost of product	Trial Ended
No Cost Change	No Obligation	Automatic	$0	No change in balance	Cost of product	Trial Ended
Prorate + Accrue	No Obligation	Remittance	$0	Prorated cost of component	Current balance + cost of product	Active
Prorate + Process	No Obligation	Remittance	$0	Prorated cost of component	Current balance + cost of product	Active
Full Cost + Accrue	No Obligation	Remittance	$0	Full cost of component	Current balance + cost of product	Active
Full Cost + Process	No Obligation	Remittance	$0	Full cost of component	Current balance + cost of product	Active
No Cost Change	No Obligation	Remittance	$0	No change in balance	Cost of product	Active

Paid Trial Period

Initial/setup fee	Trial type	Card required on signup?	Charges applied at signup	Status at end of trial successful charge	Charges applied at end of trial	Status at end of trial with failed charge	Status at end of trial with no card on file
Before Trial Period	No Obligation	Yes	Startup fee + Trial cost	Active	Recurring product fee	Past Due	N/A
After Trial Period	No Obligation	Yes	Trial period cost	Active	Recurring product fee + Initial/ Setup Fee	Past Due	N/A
Before Trial Period	Payment Expected at End of Trial	Yes	Trial period cost	Active	Recurring product fee	Past Due	N/A
After Trial Period	Payment Expected at End of Trial	Yes	Trial period cost	Active	Recurring product fee + Initial/ Setup Fee	Past Due	N/A
N/A	No Obligation	Yes	Trial period cost	Active	Recurring product fee	Past Due	N/A
N/A	Payment Expected at End of Trial	Yes	Trial period cost	Active	Recurring product fee	Past Due	N/A

Paid Trial Period with Metered & On/Off Components

Initial/setup fee	Trial type	Card required on signup?	Charges applied at signup	Status at end of trial successful charge	Charges applied at end of trial	Status at end of trial with failed charge	Status at end of trial with no card on file
Before Trial Period	No Obligation	Yes	Initial/Setup fee + Trial cost	Active	Recurring product fee + Component Charges	Past Due	N/A
After Trial Period	No Obligation	Yes	Trial period cost	Active	Recurring product fee + Initial/Setup fee + Component Charges	Past Due	N/A
Before Trial Period	Payment Expected at End of Trial	Yes	Trial period cost	Active	Recurring product fee + Component Charges	Past Due	N/A
After Trial Period	Payment Expected at End of Trial	Yes	Trial period cost	Active	Recurring product fee + Initial/Setup fee + Component Charges	Past Due	N/A
N/A	No Obligation	Yes	Trial period cost	Active	Recurring product fee + Component Charges	Past Due	N/A
N/A	Payment Expected at End of Trial	Yes	Trial period cost	Active	Recurring product fee	Past Due	N/A

Paid Trial with Quantity Based Components

The following example contains signups for paid trials without a setup fee. Additonally, all of the trials utilize the “no obligation” trial type, but are required to enter a credit card upon signup.

Proration Method	Card Required on Signup	Total charges applied to credit card when component added at signup	Current balance due after signup	Total increase in "Current Balance" if component is added during trial	Total charges applied at first renewal	Status after trial ends with no card on file
Prorate + Accrue	Yes	Cost of Trial Period	Cost of components added on signup	Prorated cost of component	Current balance + cost of product	Past Due
Prorate + Process	Yes	Cost of Trial Period	Cost of components added on signup	Prorated cost of component	Current balance + cost of product	Past Due
Full Cost + Accrue	Yes	Cost of Trial Period	Cost of components added on signup	Full cost of component	Current balance + cost of product	Past Due
Full Cost + Process	Yes	Cost of Trial Period	Cost of components added on signup	Full cost of component	Current balance + cost of product	Past Due
No Cost Change	Yes	Cost of Trial Period	Cost of components added on signup	No change in balance	Cost of product	Past Due

Trial with Introductory Offer

Advanced Billing offers a range of tools to make sure your subscribers have all the necessary information regarding their trial Subscriptions. To enable additional introductory offer settings, check the This trial period represents an introductory offer checkbox on the Product Price point.

Emails

You can use our default templates to add additional information to emails after signing up for an Introductory Offer Product:

Transaction Receipts

Additional information has been enabled on transaction receipts from signup or migration to a Product that has an Introductory Offer (transaction receipt: Invoice, Statement, or Relationship Invoicing Invoice). The basic description that includes the trial length, trial end date, the date of the first subsequent transaction, and its estimated amount will appear on these documents. Additionally, we encourage you to enable the Billing Portal along with Cancellations to enable the customers an easier way of canceling their subscriptions if they like to. Once enabled, we will include a link to customers’ Billing Portal on their signup transaction receipts.

Past Due and Trial Ended Subscriptions

As your Subscriber nears the end of the trial period, it’s important to understand how/if they will enter the dunning process.

If at any point, your Subscriber’s status is Past Due, they have already entered the Dunning Process. The timeline set by your Dunning Settings takes over from here in an effort to collect any existing failed transactions on the Subscription.

However, if your subscriber’s status is Trial Ended, this is considered a dead state. The Dunning Settings do not apply at this point. The subscription will need to Reactivated in order to proceed. It is especially important to review the reactivation documentation as there are multiple options for reactivation.

Ending a Trial Early

Occasionally you may need to end a trial before the scheduled time arrives. Here are some options.

Cancel the subscription. The subscription can be canceled immediately using the Admin UI or by allowing customers to cancel using the billing portal.

Move the billing date. The next billing date can be changed to a few minutes in the future, and the subscription will be picked up on the next processing run, usually within half an hour. You can listen to webhooks to determine the result of the renewal.

If you need to convert the subscription to active immediately, you can do an upgrade/downgrade migration. First, do a simple product change to move the subscription to a different product or price point, and then do an upgrade/downgrade migration back to the original product. If the payment is successful, this will start a new billing period and transition the subscription to active. If this is something you need to do often, you might consider using different products or price points for the trial and the ongoing charges, so that only one migration is needed to convert a subscription.

Information on Product Pricing

For full information on configuring Product Pricing, please see the following help sections

Information on the Subscription States

For a full overview of all of Advanced Billing’s subscription states, we recommend viewing our documentation here. This section of our documentation covers live, problem and end of life states of a subscription.