Subscriptions — creating & configuring

A subscription is a contact-level recurring payment plan. When you confirm a subscription, SwiftFox creates the first period and generates an invoice for it (or for the whole year on common-period plans).

Create a subscription

1. Open the contact's profile and go to the Financial tab.
2. In the Subscriptions section, click Create Subscription. The Add new subscription panel opens.
3. Under Select Plan, choose the plan (plans are configured for your account), then click Proceed. If the contact already has a subscription in a single-subscription category, the plan is greyed out and can't be selected.
4. Set the Starting from date. To backdate, type the date into the field — the calendar will not let you pick a date before today.
5. Tick Auto Renew if the subscription should renew automatically at the end of its term.
6. Choose the fee level — the fee options double as the interval (for example Weekly $60 or Monthly $200). If the plan allows custom amounts, enter an Amount instead.
7. Choose any Extras (for example a join fee or insurance) or Discounts available for the plan. The renewal type (on anniversary plans Default, Fixed Rounded or Rolling Rounded; on common plans Default or Renewal – Allows early renewal) comes from the plan and isn't chosen here — see Subscription period settings (Document ID: 366) for the anniversary options and Subscription plans — categories & fees (Document ID: 392) for the common ones.
8. Under Select Payment, choose the payment method: add or select a gateway source (for example Add Credit Card - Stripe - Credit Card), or a placeholder method such as Cash or Cheque.
9. Set the Email invoices behaviour for this subscription — Inherit, Yes or No.
10. Click Proceed. For scheduled (gateway) methods you can set the next charge date and optionally tick Take initial payment, then Confirm. The subscription appears in the Subscriptions table.

Payment method options

• Gateway method — credit card or bank account. Enter a new source or select a saved one. SwiftFox will trigger the gateway for scheduled charges.
• Invoicing — generates a SwiftFox invoice (or a Xero invoice via the Xero Integration). No money is taken until the member pays.
• Placeholder — Cash or Cheque. Placeholders track only; no payment is triggered.

Anniversary date and Paid To Date

• The Anniversary date is the next scheduled charge date. It keeps recurring payments on the correct cadence (annual, fortnightly, common period, etc.).
• The Paid To Date is the date through which the member is considered paid. On the invoice-first model it is derived from invoices — specifically the first unpaid invoice — rather than edited by hand. To correct it, reallocate payments so the earliest invoice is paid first.

What gets generated on confirm

• The subscription is created with its first period.
• An invoice is generated for the first period (anniversary plans) or for the whole year (common period / common renewal plans).
• If you took payment immediately, a receipt is generated and allocated against the invoice.
• Future periods are created automatically as time progresses.

Pro rata

Pro rata is set on the plan's fee with the Pro-rate interval, which is only offered on Common plans whose Renewal type is Default — see Subscription plans — categories & fees (Document ID: 392). Anniversary plan fees, including Fixed Rounded and Rolling Rounded, have no pro-rate setting.

• When a Common plan's fee has a Pro-rate interval and the member joins partway through the common period, the partial first period is pro rated and each remaining full period is charged at the standard rate (for example 22 remaining fortnights at $10 plus a partial first fortnight).
• If the fee has no Pro-rate interval, SwiftFox still calculates how many full periods remain in the year and charges accordingly.

After creating a subscription, open the new invoice from the Subscription view to verify the line items and pro rata amount before confirming any manual payments.