The Billing Type allows employees to specify whether a customer should be billed for membership upon purchasing it, or when the membership becomes active. This membership contract feature is only available for memberships that start on first use or a specific date because these options allow for the membership sale date and start date to differ. The two Billing Type options provided are:
Bill on Purchase: Charges the membership contract at the time of purchase.
Bill on Start: Charges the membership when it becomes active on a set date or when the customer checks in for the first time using it.
First Use Memberships with Bill on Start
When a membership is set to 'Bill on Start' and 'Start on First Use,' it will appear in the customer’s account immediately after purchase with a status of 'Pending Customer Activation. The customer will not be charged until they check in for their first reservation.
Specific Start Date Memberships with Bill on Start
If a membership is configured to Bill on Start and start on a Specific date, the membership will appear in the customer account immediately when purchased with a status of Pending Start Date. If the membership is sold and the membership start date is already past, the customer will be charged immediately and the membership will be “Active” in their account. If a membership start date is in the future, the customer will be billed for that membership on the configured start date.
A customer can make a reservation with this type of membership on or after the scheduled start date, even before that membership is active and billed. They can only make reservations for classes on/after the scheduled start date of the membership.
For example, a membership set to Bill on Start is scheduled to activate on March 3, 2023.
A customer purchased the membership today, February 27, 2023.
The membership hasn't been activated yet, but she can make a reservation for a class on March 4, 2023, with said membership. She tries, but cannot make a reservation for a class on March 1, 2023 (as the membership is not set to activate until March 3).
On March 3, she was billed and the membership is active.
However, it is important to keep in mind the booking window associated with a membership to ensure that any reservations a customer makes with the membership will not fall outside of the actual expiration date of the membership.
For example, a 1-week non-recurring membership with a booking window of 14 days will allow customers to make reservations for that timeframe, however, once the membership is active, and there is now a 1-week expiration date in place, the user will only be able to take classes within the allowance of the membership. Any reservations made outside of the 1-week timeframe that the membership is active will be grace canceled.
Pay Now Start Later Membership
Point-of-Sale and Cart
When a customer purchases a Bill on Start membership, they will be charged $0.00 at the initial purchase if the start date is in the future, or it bills on first use. The charge button will reflect $0.00 because they are not being charged anything at that moment. The cart will also have a highlighted copy stating ‘This order includes an item that will be billed at a later date.’ If a customer is purchasing additional items that are charged immediately, those prices will be reflected in the cart and the total charged to the customer.
Purchases
When a Bill on Start membership is sold, two purchases will be created in the customer account.
The first purchase will be for the initial $0.00 charge.
The second purchase will be a Pending order billed on either the membership start date or when the customer first uses it.
Receipts
Receipts for Bill on Start Memberships will not show the taxes or total for the transaction. It will show the Future Charge for the membership upon the first check-in.
Refunding, Canceling, or Terminating Bill on Start Memberships
The original $0.00 purchase for a Bill on Start membership cannot be refunded. An employee can access the refund page, but they can't select the $0.00 purchase associated with the Bill on Start membership. The Pending Bill on Start membership can be refunded once it has been processed.
There are two methods for stopping a Bill on Start Pending order from processing if it is still Pending:
A Pending purchase for a Bill on Start membership can be Canceled. Canceling this order will change the purchase to ‘Canceled’ and terminate the membership in the customer account.
A membership that is Bill on Start can be terminated before (from the Payment Options tab in Customer Account) the payment being processed, the Pending order will also be canceled.
Bill on Start Memberships and Discounts
Automatic discounts can be applied to a Bill on Start membership. The discount will apply to the Pending purchase price, not the initial $0.00 transaction fee. (see images above)
The Pending order in the customer account will reflect a total that includes automatic discounts applied. Additional discounts will not be applied when that order is processed.
Discount codes cannot be applied to Bill on Start memberships because the initial charge is $0.00. If a discount code is entered while purchasing a Bill on Start membership, it will trigger the following error, “Discount code is not valid for products in cart.”
Memberships that are set to bill when the membership starts (Bill on Start) cannot be paid with the account balance and can only be paid with the customer’s credit card on file.