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Collect upcoming fees at contract signing

Updated

In this article you will learn how to set the due date of a contract's first charges to the signing date, so that fees due shortly after signing are collected upfront instead of in a later payment run.

Contents

What this setting does

Activating a direct debit mandate can take several days. A member who signs shortly before the next payment run would only be charged in the following cycle, and could train without having paid yet. With this setting you move the due date of the first charges to the signing date, so they are collected upfront, for example by card. Once the mandate is active, regular direct debit takes over.

The setting lives in the payment frequency of a rate and is configured per rate. It works in any country, not only for direct debit markets.

Prerequisites

You need access to the rate configuration under membership management. The setting is available on all plans.

Configure the due dates

  1. Go to Settings / Membership management / Rates and open the rate.
  2. In the Payment frequency, open the entry to edit it and expand Advanced settings.
  3. Set Due date of starter package and partial charges to Membership signing. The starter package and the partial first charge then become due at signing.
  4. Optional: enable Apply due date also for the first regular fee so the first full fee is also due at signing.
  5. Optional: under Apply due date also for further fees due within, enter a number of days. Every fee whose regular due date falls within that window after signing is pulled forward to the signing date and collected upfront.
  6. Save the payment frequency.

Edit payment frequency dialog with the due date settings under Advanced settings and a window of 10 days

The default for the window is 0 days, which keeps the previous behavior. Members see the higher upfront amount transparently during signing.

Example

Monthly billing, window set to 10 days:

  • A member signs on 25 January. The next charge on 1 February is 7 days away, within the 10-day window. It is pulled forward, so the member pays the partial January fee plus the full February fee at signing.
  • A member signs on 9 January. The next charge on 1 February is 23 days away, outside the window. Nothing is pulled forward, so the member only pays the partial January fee at signing.

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