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The invoice amount associated with an order is called its order amount. Whenever a subscription is paid for, the invoice amount is equally distributed among each of its orders. When there are addons, the price of each addon is distributed equally among all the orders for the addon. Taxes and discounts applied are also linked to the relevant orders.
Example:
| Order Date | Order Amount |
|---|---|
| Order date 1: Jan 1 | $300 (plan) + $100 (addon) = $400 |
| Order date 2: Mar 1 | $100 (addon) |
| Order date 3: Apr 1 | $300 (plan) |
| Order date 4: May 1 | $100 (addon) |
| Order date 5: Jul 1 | $300 (plan) + $100 (addon) = $400 |
| Order date 6: Sep 1 | $100 (addon) |
| Order date 7: Oct 1 | $300 (plan) |
| Order date 8: Nov 1 | $100 (addon) |
In some cases, the invoice may only be partially paid by the customer while the remaining amount is adjusted by you by means of an adjustment credit note. In such a case, the adjustments credits are also distributed equally among the orders connected to the invoice.
Example: Consider a plan of 6 months worth $300 that ships every 2 months. Say the customer pays $200 and the remaining $100 was adjusted by you, then we would have:
| Plan period: 6 months Plan amount: $300 Order period: 2 months Invoice amount: $300 Paid amount: $200 Adjusted amount: $100 |
No. of orders: (plan period ÷ order period) = 6÷2 = 3 Order amount: (invoice amount ÷ no. of orders) = $300 ÷ 3 = $100 Paid order amount: (paid amount ÷ no. of orders) = $200 ÷ 3 = $66.66 for first 2 orders and $66.68 for the last one. (Since an exact division is not possible, the round-off amount has been applied to the last order) Order adjustment amount: (adjustment amount ÷ no. of orders) = $100÷3 = $33.33 for first 2 orders and $33.34 for the last one. |
For a plan with only one shipment, there will be just one order. It follows from the above discussion that the entire invoice amount, the paid amount and the adjustment amount (if any) would be associated with that order only.
We now look at how changes made to a subscription affect the orders associated with it.
| Subscription Change | Impact on Existing Orders |
|---|---|
| Subscription Deletion | All associated orders are deleted. |
| Subscription Pause | All queued orders with shipping date after the pause date — regardless of whether a resume date is set or not — are changed to on hold. |
| Subscription Resume | When a subscription resumes, all on-hold orders with shipping dates on or after the date of resume are changed to queued. |
| * Changing the subscription plan to one with the same billing period * Changing the next billing date * Changing the subscription price * Changing the plan/addon quantity * Adding a recurring addon * Changing shipping address or billing address |
In these cases, the change happens only on the next renewal so the current orders aren't affected. |
| Changing the subscription plan to one with a different billing period | This does not impact the existing orders for the subscription in any way. However, since the subscription plan gets updated, a new invoice is raised for the new plan and new orders are created against it when paid. You may cancel the queued orders of the previous plan if they're not needed. |
| Cancelling a subscription | All of its orders with status queued and shipping date in the future are cancelled. |
| Reactivating a subscription | If reactivation happens such that a new invoice is generated for the subscription (For example, during out-of-term reactivation or if you change subscription and switch to a new plan), new orders are created when the invoice gets paid. |
| Changing subscription details such as shipping address, billing address, billing price, changing or applying coupons. | No impact on the orders. |
| Adding a non-recurring addon | See this section. |
| Adding a charge to a subscription | No impact on the orders since a charge is not considered a shippable item. |
| Bill future renewals | No impact on current orders. New orders are created when the invoice is paid for. |
When an invoice is changed, any orders associated with it are affected as follows:
| Invoice Change | Impact on Existing Orders |
|---|---|
| For a plan/addon that has only one shipment per billing period if you * refund the invoice or * record refund against the invoice. |
A credit note of the entire refund amount is created against the order with the entire refund amount associated with the order. |
| For a plan/addon that has multiple orders per billing period if you * refund the invoice or * record refund against the invoice. |
A refundable credit note is created. The credits are associated with the orders based on the following rules: * If the refund reason code is "product/service unsatisfactory": - From among the orders linked to the invoice, the refund amount is distributed among those with shipping date before the date of credit note creation. * For all other refund reason codes: - From among the orders linked to the invoice, the refund amount is distributed among those with shipping date as the date of credit note creation or later. Note: If the refund amount is greater than the total order amount of the orders it is applicable for (based on the above rules), the refund amount is distributed among all orders of the invoice. |
| Creating an adjustment credit note against an invoice for a plan/addon that has only one shipment per billing period. | The credit note is linked to the order and the entire adjusted amount is associated with the order. |
| Creating an adjustment credit note against an invoice for a plan/addon that has multiple orders per billing period. | The adjusted amount is associated with the orders based on the following rules: * If the adjustment reason code is "product/service unsatisfactory": - From among the orders linked to the invoice, the adjusted amount is distributed among those with shipping date before the date of credit note creation. * For all other adjustment reason codes: - From among the orders linked to the invoice, the adjusted amount is distributed between those with shipping date as the date of credit note creation or later. Note: If the adjusted amount is greater than the total order amount of the orders it is applicable for (based on the above rules), the adjusted amount is distributed among all orders of the invoice. |
| Remove payment from an invoice. | The removed amount is equally distributed among all the linked orders, reducing their paid amounts. |
| Adding payment to invoice | The added amount is equally distributed among all the linked orders, increasing their paid amounts. |
| Void an invoice | All orders linked to the invoice are cancelled. |
| Write-off an invoice before orders have been created | If it's only a partial write-off, the orders are created in queued status; if fully written-off, then orders are created in cancelled status. Adjustment credits are raised against all the orders for their order amounts. If partially written off, credits for the written off amount are equally distributed among all the orders. |
| Write-off an invoice after orders have been created | Order statuses are not affected. Adjustment credits are raised against all the orders for their order amounts. If partially written off, credits for the written off amount are equally distributed among all the orders. |
| Invoice billing address change | All linked orders are updated with the new billing address. |
| Invoice shipping address change | Queued orders with shipping date in the future are updated with the shipping address changes. |
| If consolidated invoicing is enabled | The orders continue to be created and processed separately for each subscription. |
| Other changes | No impact on existing orders. |
| Customer Change | Impact on Existing Orders |
|---|---|
| Customer is deleted | All orders are deleted. |
| Non-recurring addon is added | See this section. |
| Adding a one-time charge | No impact on the orders since a charge is not considered a shippable item. |
| Change customer details | The orders themselves are not affected but when the orders are synced to a third-party integration platform, the latest details are fetched. |
| Other changes | No impact on existing orders. |
1) I'm cancelling a subscription, how can I ensure that the unfulfilled orders alone are refunded?
As described above, when a subscription is canceled, all queued orders that have shipping dates in the future get canceled automatically. Since Chargebee does not readily support delivery-based proration, choose Don't issue credits for the unused period while canceling the subscription. Then, do one of the following:
