Design your Subscription Management Flow

This implementation guide has two parts. Part 1: Selecting your subscription management (sub mgmt) method. Part 2: Designing and diagramming your post mgmt flow. When you’re finished, you will know which mgmt method to use for end-customers, which to use for your staff, and have finished diagrams for your Post-Management Flows.

Part 1: Choose your method Part 2: Post sub-mgmt workflow

Summary

Chargify Feature: All subscription mgmt methods: Billing Portal, API, Chargify Admin UI, Salesforce, Hubspot
You Need: An understanding of how end-customers, and your staff, manage subscriptions; your post-management flows (if any).
Code: No
Difficulty: ◉◎◎◎◎

Self-Assessment 1: Subscription Management Methods

In this Self-Assessment, you will review Chargify's mgmt methods, and select the best method for your business.

1. Choose your mgmt method

There are 6 mgmt methods.
1. Choose one for your end-customers (if applicable)
2. Choose one for your staff (if applicable)
3. Review the implementation overview tab, to determine if the implementation approach matches your preferences.

Mgmt Methods
Review the signup methods below, and select your preferred method for your End-Customers, and/or for your Staff.

Method	For your	Reasons to use
Billing Portal	End-Customer	Most common. No code, quick launch.
API `Developers`	End-Customer	Fully custom, fully in your control. Deployed in a web app.
None	End-Customer	You do not allow your customers to self-manage their subscriptions.
Chargify Admin UI	Staff	Most common for Staff. No code, no implementation.
Salesforce	Staff	Your company uses Salesforce to manage subscriptions, and wants all changes to sync to Chargify.
Hubspot	Staff	Your company uses Hubspot to manage subscriptions, and wants all changes to sync to Chargify.

Implementation Overview
Review what an implementation would look like.

	End-customer		Staff
	Billing Portal	API	Chargify Admin UI	Salesforce	Hubspot
Implementation Path	Link from email invite, website, or in app button	In your app. All actions are API based. Use chargifyjs for any payment info collection.	None needed	Installation Needed	Installation Needed
Code	None to little	Some coding to heavy coding	None	None	None
UI Customization	Logo, some CSS	Full control	n/a	n/a	n/a
Domain	billingportal.com/s/ {companyname}	Yours	n/a	n/a	n/a

2. Review feature availability

Review the information below to ensure compatibility.

	End-Customer		Staff
Structure	Billing Portal	API	Chargify Admin UI	Salesforce	Hubspot
Standard
Grouped
Parent/Child
Standalone Parent
Standalone Child

	End-Customer		Staff
Method	Billing Portal	API	Chargify Admin UI	Salesforce	Hubspot
Credit Card		Use Chargifyjs
Remittance
ACH		Use Chargifyjs
Direct Debit		Use Chargifyjs
SEPA		Use Chargifyjs
PayPal		Use Chargifyjs
ApplePay		Use Chargifyjs
Other

3. Determine authentication method

Question 1
If your method from Part 1 is Billing Portal, how do you want your users to authenticate into it?

Answer	How it Works
Email Invite	When a new subscription is created, a Billing Portal Invite email is automatically sent to the user, and the email contains a one-time access link to user Bililng Portal. Upon clicking the link, the user is logged in for the first time, and they are prompted to set a password. For each subsequent login, the user signs in with their email (the one used when signing up for their subscription) and password.
Login Page	On your website (typically in a menu, header bar, or footer bar), link directly to the main login page for your company's Billing Portal. The user signs in with their email (the one used when signing up for their subscription) and password.
In App Button	Inside your web app, a logged in user clicks a “Manage My Subscription” button. When clicked, a new browser window opens, and the Billing Portal loads.

4. Results

Based on your research in step 1 and 2, and based on your answer to step 3, find your guide. Below this chart, find your diagram.

If you chose...	and authentication is...	Your guide is...
Billing Portal	Email Invite	1. Configure the Billing Portal 2. Configure login with Email Invite
	Login Page	1. Configure the Billing Portal 2. Configure login with Link from your website
	In App Button	1. Configure the Billing Portal 2. Configure login with Get One-click sign on
API	n/a (api is already in your app)	Build your own portal with the API
None	n/a (no users)	n/a
Chargify Admin UI	n/a (Staff)	Guide does not yet exist. These features are prebuilt and straightforward to use. For assistance, please ask your IC.
Salesforce	n/a (Staff)	Guide does not yet exist. These features are prebuilt and straightforward to use. For assistance, please ask your IC.
Hubspot	n/a (Staff)	Guide does not yet exist. These features are prebuilt and straightforward to use. For assistance, please ask your IC.

Design & Diagram: Your Post Sub Mgmt Workflow

Designing your post subscription management (sub mgmt) workflow is an important step, and typically one of the most difficult. You have an idea of what the end result should be, but it's difficult to determine exactly how to do it, and have it be easy to understand. To help, we're sharing a simple framework to think about your workflow, and providing clone-able LucidChart diagram templates that will walk you through the exact questions to ask when building your workflow.

1. Getting started - understand the workflow framework

Workflows can be complex, but this framework will help you simplify. There are 3 parts to the workflow:

Workflow Section	Description
1. Trigger	How the workflow begins. Typically a Chargify webhook (or perhaps real-time if you're using Chargifyjs or API responses as triggers).
2. Data	Determining the data you need, finding where it exists within Chargify data.
3. Action(s)	Now that you have all of the data, you apply optional filters (eg: if subscription is active), and then you perform the action that matters. There are 2 types of actions: 1. Chargify Action - making an API call to Chargify, such as updating a subscription. 2. Database Action - making a database request in your system, such as updating a user's subscription status to active

Begin at the green Start Workflow, and read through the diagram.

2. Get a diagram template Lucidchart

Each template is powered by LucidChart, an industry leader in diagramming software. You may have an account already, but if you don't, just click on a template below and LucidChart will prompt you to create a free trial. From there, clone the template into your account, by clicking File > Duplicate.

Template	Design a workflow that...	Example	Get Template* Free LucidChart account required
Chargify Action	Makes a Chargify API Action in Chargify.	When a subscription is canceled, change the user's plan.	Open in Lucidchart
Database Action	Talks to your database.	When a subscription is canceled, set the user as canceled in your database.	Open in Lucidchart
Chargify Action & Database Action	Makes a Chargify API Action in Chargify and talks to your database.	When a subscription is canceled, change the user's plan, and set the user as canceled in your database.	Open in Lucidchart

3. Create your diagram

Section 1: Trigger
The trigger represents how the workflow begins. With post sub mgmt workflows, you'll need to determine the webhook. See full list of webhooks.

Commonly used:
- subscription_state_change - used to detect status changes (eg: active to canceled)
- invoice_issued - used to detect when a new issued invoice is created
- component_allocation_change - used to detect user seat changes
- subscription_product_change - used to detect plan changes

Using the API to perform subscription updates?
If you are using the API to perform actions such as plan changes, there are times when you want a real-time workflow, such as changing a user's plan in your database which unlocks new features in your app. In your diagram, simply replace the webhook trigger with a "Real-time" trigger.

Section 2: Data
Spend some time determining all of the data you need to make your workflow come to life.

If there are any remaining data points not in the webhook, an API call needs to be added to fetch the data. A common example is getting the number of user seats.

Section 3: Action(s)
There are 2 actions in post sub mgmt workflows: a Chargify Action (an API request to Chargify to create/update a record), a Database Action (to update your web application).

If you are doing a Chargify Action, such as updating the next billing date, your diagram might look like this:

If you are doing a Database Action, such as setting a user's status to active, your diagram might look like this:

4. Determine how you will implement the workflow

There are 3 implementation methods for any type of workflow.

Method	Select if...	Example
No Code	You already know the system that will power the workflow for you, or you hire a developer.	You hire a developer.
Low Code	You already know the system that will power the workflow for you, and some small code is required.	Zapier
Custom Code `Most common` `Developers`	You, or your team, are developers who plan on writing custom code to build the workflow.	You build an endpoint in your app that accepts Chargify webhooks and executes the workflow.

5. Create additional workflows as needed

If you have more than 1 post sub mgmt workflow, repeat steps 1-3 as needed.

6. Start building

You're ready to get started. [Examples of builds coming soon]

Diagram Template Collection

Workflow	Get Template* Free LucidChart account required
On subscription state change, update user status in database	Open in Lucidchart
When a user changes plans, update user's plan in database	Open in Lucidchart
When a user upgrade/downgrades user seats, update user seat count in database	Open in Lucidchart

FAQs

1. Can Chargify help me build my workflow?
No.

2. Can Chargify help me determine which API endpoints and webhooks to use?
Yes, depending on your Chargify Onboarding Plan. Ask your Implementation Consultant.