Plan & Frequency Changes
BillHive supports mid-term amendments to subscriptions — changing the rate plan (upgrade/downgrade) or changing the billing frequency. Both operations create an order and can include prorated pricing adjustments.
Change Plan
Moves the subscription to a different rate plan within the same product. This is how upgrades and downgrades are handled.
Available when: Status = Active, Paused, or Trial
Form Fields
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| New Plan | Yes | Select from available rate plan prices. Shows plan name, price, and billing details. |
| Change Option | Yes | When the change takes effect: Immediately, End of Term, or Specific Date |
| Change Date | Conditional | Only required when Change Option = “Specific Date” |
Additional Options
- Addon selection — After selecting a new plan, available addons for that plan are shown. Toggle addons on/off.
- Coupon / Offer — Apply a coupon or offer code to the plan change.
- Order Estimate — A real-time pricing summary showing prorated credits, new charges, and the net amount.
What Happens
- An order is created with event type CHANGE PLAN.
- The current plan’s remaining period is prorated and credited (based on your proration settings).
- The new plan’s charges are applied from the effective date.
- Addons may be adjusted based on the new plan’s addon configuration.
- An invoice is generated for any net charges.
Change Billing Frequency
Changes how often the customer is billed without changing the plan itself. For example, switching from Monthly to Annually.
Available when: Status = Active, Paused, or Trial
Form Fields
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| New Billing Frequency | Yes | Select from available billing periods for the current plan. |
| Change Option | Yes | When the change takes effect: Immediately, End of Term, or Specific Date |
| Change Date | Conditional | Only required when Change Option = “Specific Date” |
| Include Recommended Addons | No | When billing frequency is plan-based, option to include recommended addons at the new frequency. |
What Happens
- An order is created with event type FREQUENCY CHANGE.
- The current frequency’s remaining charges are prorated and credited.
- New billing charges at the updated frequency begin from the effective date.
- If “Include Recommended Addons” is checked, addon prices at the new frequency are applied.
Changing to a different billing period
When the new plan bills on a different period than the current one (for example Monthly to Annual), the new price is not prorated.
- The customer is charged the new price in full (price × the number of billing cycles on the new plan).
- The unused part of the current term is credited, using your proration settings.
- A new term starts on the change date and runs for the new billing period × cycles. For example, an immediate change from Monthly to Annual on 11 October ends on 10 October the following year.
When the billing period stays the same, the new price is prorated over the days left in the current term, as described above.
Prorated billing setting
The Plan changes setting (Prorate now or Start a new term) decides how an Immediately or Specific Date plan change is priced. A tenant that never saved it is on Prorate now.
| Setting | Charge | Credit for the old plan | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| On (default) | The new plan, prorated over the days left (full price when the billing period changes) | The unused part of the old plan, plus the add-ons billed with it | Unchanged, or a new term when the billing period changes |
| Off | The new plan in full (price × cycles) | None, for the plan or its add-ons | A new term starts on the change date, for the new billing period × cycles |
A billing frequency change with the setting off gives no credit either. End of Term changes are the same either way: the new plan is charged in full for the next term, with no credit.
The estimate shown before you confirm and the order placed use the same setting, so the preview matches the invoice. For example, moving from 1,000 to 3,000 on day 10 of a 30-day term charges 3,000 with no credit when the setting is off.
Multi-cycle terms
A term bought for several billing cycles (for example 3 months on a monthly plan) is priced per cycle. On a plan change in the same billing period, both the charge for the new plan and the credit for the old plan are calculated on price × cycles, then prorated over the days left in the term. A mid-term upgrade on a 3-cycle monthly term from 1,000 to 3,000 with 2 of the 3 months left charges 6,000 and credits 2,000.
An End of Term change charges the new price in full for the next term and gives no credit.
What happens to the next renewal
A change of plan or billing frequency also moves the subscription’s next renewal, so the customer is renewed on what they have now and not on what they had before.
When the change is done and the new term has started, and the subscription has a renewal for the next cycle that has not been processed yet (a renewal order that is Created, Payment Pending, or Payment Received, scheduled on or after the new term’s start date):
- A new renewal order is created from the current term. It renews the new plan or frequency, at the term’s price, for the day after the new term ends.
- The old renewal order is cancelled, and the workflows it had waiting are removed. If an auto-debit was already scheduled for the old renewal (a subscription that pays by mandate), it is cancelled at the payment gateway first, so the customer is not charged for the old renewal. If the gateway does not confirm the cancellation, the step stops and is retried; the new renewal is not collected while the old auto-debit may still go through.
- The old renewal invoice is dealt with by what was paid on it:
| Old renewal invoice | What happens |
|---|---|
| Nothing paid | The invoice is cancelled. |
| Paid in full | A credit memo for the paid amount is posted to the subscription. The invoice is kept. |
| Partly paid | A credit memo for the paid part is posted, and the invoice is cancelled. |
- The invoice and payment request for the new renewal are created 5 days before the renewal date, as in the automatic renewal schedule. Any credit memo from step 3 is applied to the new invoice then, so the customer only pays the difference.
The credit memo is account credit for the subscription, not a payment tied to the new invoice. It is applied when the new renewal invoice is created, to the subscription’s oldest open invoice first. Normally that is the new renewal invoice. If the subscription has another invoice still open (for example an unpaid invoice from the change itself), the credit pays that invoice first, and only what is left goes to the renewal invoice.
After a billing frequency change the renewal covers one billing period of the new frequency (for example one year after a change from Monthly to Annually). After a plan change the renewal keeps the number of billing cycles the subscription renewed for before (for example 3 months stays 3 months on the new plan).
If the subscription has no pending renewal order (auto-renew is off, or the status is Non Renewing), nothing is created and the subscription keeps not renewing.
A renewal that has already been processed is not touched. This is a renewal order in Processed Payment Pending (the term has already rolled over and the auto-debit for it is on its way) or Completed. It belongs to the current term, so its invoice and payment stay as they are. A renewal scheduled before the new term’s start date is not touched either.
Effective Date Options
All amendments support three effective date modes:
| Option | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Immediately | Change takes effect now. Current period is prorated. |
| End of Term | Change takes effect when the current term expires. No proration needed. |
| Specific Date | Change takes effect on a chosen future date. Proration is calculated accordingly. |
Order Estimates
Before confirming any change, BillHive displays an order estimate showing:
- Credits for the unused portion of the current plan/frequency
- New charges for the updated plan/frequency
- Addon adjustments
- Net amount (charge or credit)
- Applied coupons or discounts
This estimate is calculated in real-time and reflects the exact amount that will be invoiced.