Subscription blackouts — skipping payments during set periods

A subscription blackout is a named set of date ranges during which scheduled subscription payments are skipped. The billing cycle does not change: payments that fall inside a blackout are simply marked as skipped with the reason you gave, and the subscription carries on as normal afterwards. Blackouts suit organisations whose members do not get paid, or do not use the service, during set periods, for example workers who are off over the school holidays.

A blackout can apply to every subscription on one or more plans, or be added to an individual subscription.

Access

Blackouts are managed under Settings → Finance & usage → Subscription blackouts. You need the finance management edit permission on your User Group to create, edit or delete them.

Create a blackout schedule

1. Go to Settings → Finance & usage → Subscription blackouts.
2. Select Add blackout, top right. A drawer opens.
3. Under Plans, choose the plans the blackout applies to. Every subscription on these plans is included automatically. Leave this empty if you only want to apply the blackout to individual subscriptions.
4. Enter a Blackout name, for example School holidays 2027.
5. Under Blackout periods, set the From and To dates. Both dates are included, so a payment due on either day is skipped.
6. Optionally enter a Reason. This shows on each skipped payment in the subscription's schedule. If you leave it blank, the blackout name is used.
7. To add another date range to the same schedule, select Add blackout period and repeat. You can add as many periods as you like, so a whole year's breaks can be set up in advance. Use the bin icon beside a period to remove it.
8. Select Save.

The new schedule appears in the Subscription blackouts table with its Name, Plans, Blackout periods, Applied subscriptions and Status. The Status shows Updating... while SwiftFox applies the blackout to the affected schedules, then Ready.

Edit or delete a schedule

• Use the edit icon on a row to change its plans, dates or reasons. Future skipped payments are reconciled to the new dates; payments already in the past, and payments someone skipped by hand, are left alone.
• Use the delete icon to remove a schedule. Future payments that were skipped because of it are restored to the schedule; historical skips remain on the schedule.

Add a blackout to one subscription

Use this for a subscription on a plan that does not have the blackout, or for a one-off arrangement.

1. Open the person's profile and go to Financial → Subscriptions.
2. Click the plan name to open the subscription, then open the Blackouts tab.
3. Blackouts inherited from the plan are listed as From plan and cannot be changed here.
4. Under Add individual blackout, choose a blackout schedule and add it. It is listed as Individual (or Also from plan if the plan already carries it), and shows Pending until the schedule has been updated.
5. To remove an individual blackout, remove it from the same tab. Blackouts that come from the plan can only be changed on the plan's schedule in Settings.

What the member's schedule shows

Open the subscription's Schedule tab (see Managing live subscriptions). Payments that fall inside a blackout are marked as skipped, and the new Reason column shows the reason set on the blackout, so you can see in advance which payments will be skipped and why.

When a payment is skipped, SwiftFox automatically processes an adjustment on the subscription so the invoice reflects the reduced amount actually payable for that period. Skipped payments are also excluded from batch payment processing.

Tips

• Set up the whole year's blackout periods in one schedule rather than creating a schedule per break; the table then shows them all against the plan.
• If a member needs a break that nobody else on the plan needs, add an individual blackout to their subscription rather than editing the plan's schedule.
• A blackout is not the same as putting a subscription On hold. A hold pauses the subscription and stops new periods generating; a blackout only skips the payments due inside its dates. See Managing live subscriptions for holds.

Related guides

• Managing live subscriptions
• Subscription plans — categories & fees
• Subscriptions — creating & configuring