Knowledge BasePeriod-based pauses
A period-based pause skips whole billing periods of a recurring membership, and the skipped periods either count toward the contract or minimum commitment or extend it.
A period-based pause skips one or more whole billing periods of a recurring membership. The member pays nothing and has no benefits during them. Use it when the agreement is "one month free" or "skip the next two months". Schedule it with Pause upcoming periods on the Pauses tab under Manage member. For exact dates or a pause where payments continue, use a date-based pause.
Choosing the periods
Billing periods to skip is how many whole periods are free. Start with period on or after picks the first skipped period, the first one that starts on or after the date. When periods start on 1 August, 31 August and 30 September, choosing 10 August skips the period from 31 August. Leave it empty to skip the next one.
A skipped renewal creates no charge and grants no credits or session cards, and the next renewal moves on by one billing period.
Fixed contracts
On a fixed contract, Contract duration effect decides how the skipped periods count:
| Choice | The member pays | Effect on the contract |
|---|---|---|
| Count paused periods toward the contract | Nothing | Each skipped period counts as served. The contract ends on time |
| Extend the contract | Nothing | Skipped periods are added back. The contract ends later |
With five periods left and two skipped, counting leaves three, and extending leaves five to pay after the pause.
Minimum commitments
On a minimum commitment the choice is Minimum commitment effect, with Count paused periods toward the minimum commitment and Extend the minimum commitment.
| Moment | Commitment left, counting | Commitment left, extending |
|---|---|---|
| Before the pause | 4 | 4 |
| After two skipped periods | 2 | 4 |
| After the next paid renewal | 1 | 3 |
On an open-ended membership, or once the commitment is served, the skipped periods are simply free.
Ending a pause early
A pause that hasn't started can be deleted. An active pause can be ended while it still has periods to skip: benefits return, skipped periods stay free, and the next renewal is charged normally. When the member cancels, the pause ends and the notice period is charged.
Date-based pauses
A date-based pause suspends a member's benefits for exact dates on recurring and one-time memberships, and can also pause payments and extend the membership.
Importing and copying members
A member list comes in from a file, recurring billing moves over from another system, and the holders of one membership can be copied to another.