Change a membership subscription renewal date

It is possible to change the renewal date of any subscription.

Renewal dates are always in the future

Please note that under normal circumstances, renewal dates are always in the future. Think of the renewal date as equivalent to a 'Next invoice date'. It is the date on which the person will next be billed for their subscription. 

Renewal dates cannot really exist in the past. If you move a renewal date to the past the system will automatically create an invoice to reflect the overdue fees and then advance the renewal date forward into the future again.

Changing the renewal date

You can change the renewal date if the subscription is set to be paid by Direct Debit or Manual invoice. You cannot change the renewal date if the subscription is set to be paid by Credit or Debit card via Stripe. This is due to the nature of how the platform is integrated with Stripe.

We generally DO NOT recommend manually changing renewal dates as it can cause undesired outcomes, unexpected payments and more admin. It generally works best to offer yearly billing frequencies and let members renew on the anniversary of their joining even if they are not synchronised with other members.

If you do move a renewal date it's best to inform the member directly so there are no surprises.

Moving the date further into the future

You may want to move a renewal date further into the future than it currently is. This may be in order to grant a specific member some extra time at no cost. Or it may be to try and synchronise all your member's renewal dates to a specific date in the year.

It is generally fairly safe to move a renewal date further into the future than it already is. The member will simply be billed later than expected.

Moving the date closer but keeping it in the future

You may want to move a renewal date back (closer to the current date) but keep it in the future. This would have the effect of shortening the member's billing cycle so they would be billed sooner than expected. But, nothing would happen immediately.

Moving the date back into the past

This is where things get a bit complex. It is possible to move a renewal date into the past. The main reason for doing this is if you are importing or adding an existing member that has outstanding fees and you want to reflect this on their subscription. Moving a renewal date to the past is essentially the same as saying 'This member was billed on XX date but we haven't received a payment yet'.

When you move a renewal date to the past a new invoice is created to reflect these overdue fees. The invoice is created overnight so if you do mistakenly move a renewal date you can correct it straight away and nothing will happen.

If the member pays by Direct Debit the system will automatically attempt to take payment for this new invoice right away.