Automatic renewal and upcoming invoicing

Historical retrospective: August–September 2024; changed since December 2025–September 2026

This article was written afterwards and describes the feature as it worked during the stated period. Later milestones added trials, pauses, and a renewal overview; trials and pauses appear as zero-priced periods and are not extra statuses. See the subscription lifecycle guide (Markdown file, AI agent-friendly) for current behavior.

A plan determined whether a subscription continued into a new period when the current period ended. That choice was separate from the payment method: automatic renewal created the next period, but it was not itself proof that a card or invoice had been paid.

How renewal worked

When a plan was created, the team selected a renewal interval and whether the plan renewed. Once a subscription was active, the interval produced the next periods. A renewal date was therefore the date on which a new period could begin; an end date marked that no more periods should be built after it.

Future periods could be viewed before invoicing. They showed the period, currency, and amount and later became the basis for a transaction and, where applicable, an invoice. A future transaction was a planned charge, not a completed payment. The payment method, invoicing mode, and team’s local time determined when the document was created and sent.

An example from the historical model

A plan with a monthly interval and automatic renewal could create the 1–31 October period when September ended. Before October was invoiced, the team could see the date, currency, and amount on the upcoming item. With manual invoicing, the next step required a user action. If a card charge was declined, the period still existed, but the payment outcome was not approved.

Cancellation in the historical version

A customer could stop the next renewal by cancelling the subscription. This did not automatically remove periods already invoiced and was not the same as refunding a payment. The sources checked for this article do not cover the later pause and trial flows, so they are not presented as 2024 features here.

If a period was already locked by invoicing or payment, a later change could not freely rewrite it. Always check upcoming periods and the latest invoice before concluding that a renewal is missing.

Common questions

When is the next renewal? Use the renewal date and upcoming periods shown on the subscription. The local timezone can move the exact time.

Why was there no payment? A new period can exist while payment is pending, declined, or waiting for manual invoicing.

Can the customer stop renewal? Yes, through the team’s cancellation flow. This changes the end date and any future periods.

See the current subscription lifecycle guide (Markdown file, AI agent-friendly) for current statuses, periods, and changes.