OFFICE: Subscription Plans
Set up recurring billing in Unificus using subscription plans with automated charges on your schedule.
What is a Subscription Plan?
A Subscription Plan enables recurring payments that charge customers automatically on a predetermined schedule. Once set up, no further action is needed from your client except their initial payment.
When you attach a Subscription Plan to an Invoice, it triggers automatic billing after the first charge. Your customer’s credit card or bank account gets charged according to the amount and frequency you specify—similar to services like Netflix or Hulu.
You can combine both One-Time Items and Subscription Plan Items on the same Invoice. For example, a web design agency might invoice a client with a one-time design fee plus an annual hosting subscription. The customer pays the complete Invoice through the Client Portal, but only the hosting fee repeats annually.
Subscription Plans can also be added to Estimates.
IMPORTANT: Subscription Plans require one of these payment gateways: Stripe, Stripe ACH, Authorize.net, or Braintree.
Learn more about setting up Payment Gateways
How do I set up a Subscription Plan?
Stripe, Stripe ACH, Braintree, and Authorize.net all support Subscription Plans.
Go to Office > Settings
You can build a Subscription Plan through the ‘Plan’ menu or create one while setting up an Item, Package, or Add-on. Each of these can be configured as either a one-time charge or a recurring subscription charge.
Learn about Items, Packages and Add-ons
Creating a Plan
Reference Title: A descriptive name visible only to your staff.
Rate: The amount charged per billing cycle.
Category: Assign a pre-created category from the dropdown if you use categories.
Include Trial Period: Enter the number of days before subscription charges begin.
Billing Cycle: Set the frequency by entering a number and selecting Days, Weeks, Months, or Years. For monthly cycles, an additional toggle lets you lock renewal to a specific date and time.
Note: The initial invoice sent with a Subscription Plan doesn’t count toward the billing cycle. For example, if you set a monthly plan for 4 months, the customer receives an initial invoice plus 4 automatic charges—5 total payments. To get 4 total payments instead, configure the plan for 3 months.
By default, Subscription Plans never expire. To limit the number of cycles, toggle Never Expires to OFF and enter your desired cycle count.
Learn more about creating Invoices
Automation Options
Created/Paid Subscriptions: Fires when a contact successfully pays for and starts a Subscription.
Expired Subscriptions: Fires when the Subscription reaches its expiration date.
Canceled Subscriptions: Fires when a staff member or contact cancels the Subscription.
Unpaid Subscriptions: Fires when a subscription payment attempt fails.
How do I add a Subscription Plan to an Invoice or Estimate?
For Invoices, go to Office > Invoices and click +Create Invoice.
For Estimates, go to Office > Estimates and click +Create Estimate.
Select your Subscription Item, Package, or Add-on from the dropdown. You can also click +Add New Plan to create one immediately.
Your Subscription Plan appears in the Summary section where you can adjust its Name, Description, Quantity, and Rate.
You can apply a Discount and/or Tax using the corresponding columns.
Learn about Discounts and Taxes
The bottom of the Summary screen breaks down the subscription charges on the Invoice. The Subtotal reflects any applied taxes and discounts.
If your Subscription Plan includes a trial period, the first invoice amount is reduced to reflect only what’s owed at creation time.
The Total represents the amount charged per billing cycle as specified when you created the plan.
The Grand Total combines all one-time and subscription charges for the final Invoice amount.
IMPORTANT: If you selected Stripe ACH as your Payment Gateway, subscription billing cycles must be monthly or longer.
How do I keep track of Subscription Payments?
Once your client pays the Invoice, their Subscription Plan activates.
To view subscription payments, navigate to Office > Payments. This navigation works the same for both admin and client views.
Click Receipt to download a PDF receipt of any payment as an Invoice.
To view active Subscriptions, go to Office > Subscriptions.
Admins can click the Options menu to Modify the Subscription, review Transaction History, or Cancel the Subscription. Clients see Manage Account, Transaction History, and a Cancel option.
Clients can update their payment method anytime by selecting Manage Account. A modal appears where they can enter new credit card or bank details.
TIP: Once a Subscription is active, you don’t need to send additional Invoices. The customer’s payment method charges automatically at the interval you specified.
How do I configure additional Subscription Settings?
You can adjust Subscription settings for failed payment emails and free trial reminders in the Subscriptions tab of your Office Settings.
Learn about Subscription Settings
How do I manage the Subscription?
Modifying the Subscription
To update a Subscription, go to Office > Subscriptions > Subscriptions, click the options menu, and select Modify Subscription.
You can change any field, but the Next Billing Date must be at least 3 days away.
Canceling a Subscription
To cancel, go to Office > Subscriptions > Subscriptions, click the options menu, and select Cancel.
How do I allow Clients to Upgrade or Downgrade their Subscription?
Use the Manage Subscriptions Automation action to let clients upgrade or downgrade plans instantly without manual intervention.
The Manage Subscriptions action offers two choices:
- Cancel: Ends the selected Subscription Plans for the contact when the Automation runs.
- Activate: Starts the selected Subscription Plans for the contact when the Automation runs.
IMPORTANT: New Subscriptions automatically use the contact’s most recent successful Payment Method. Since Automations run in the background without user interaction, the system can’t prompt contacts to select a payment method, so it assigns their latest working payment option instead.
Setting Up Self-Service Plan Changes
Follow these steps to create a self-service upgrade/downgrade experience:
Step 1: Create Automations for Each Plan Change
For each plan transition (like “Upgrade from Silver to Gold” or “Downgrade from Gold to Silver”), build an Automation that:
- Cancels the current Subscription Plan
- Activates the new Subscription Plan
Step 2: Create Button Blocks to Trigger the Automations
Add Button Blocks to a Dashboard or Portal Page for each plan option. Configure each button to fire the corresponding Automation from Step 1.
Learn about Button Blocks
Step 3: Use Circle Visibility to Show/Hide Buttons
Apply Circle-based visibility to each Button Block so clients only see relevant options based on their current plan. For example:
- Clients in the Silver Plan Circle see only the “Upgrade to Gold” button
- Clients in the Gold Plan Circle see only the “Downgrade to Silver” button
TIP: You can trigger the Manage Subscriptions Automation through Auto Templates, hyperlinks, or any other Automation method. This flexibility lets you present plan changes however you prefer.
TIP: Update clients’ Circle assignments when they change plans so the correct buttons display afterward.