Membership Billing and Payments

Recurring charges are handled for you: Stripe takes each payment and retries a failed one, and all payment data flows back into the member's record in Petboost. You never need to invoice a membership by hand.

How recurring billing works

When a member joins a plan, Stripe creates a subscription that charges their card on file at regular intervals:

• First charge: on the start date you pick, today if they start today. Tick Collect first payment today if they pay now and start later; the benefits still wait for the start date
• Later charges: taken automatically each billing cycle
• Invoices: Stripe raises an invoice for each charge, and each payment shows as Membership payment in the membership's Activity

For each billing cycle, Stripe tries the customer's card on file. If the charge succeeds, the payment is recorded and the membership continues. If it fails, Stripe starts its retries, as in Failed payments. Petboost updates the member's status and usage counters to match.

Choose when the first charge happens

The start date you choose when you enrol someone decides when Stripe first charges them.

1. Open Memberships and select Enrol New Member.
2. Search for the customer and choose them.
3. Under Select a plan, choose the plan.
4. Set the Start date. Today charges now and starts the benefits now. A later date, up to 30 days ahead, charges nothing until then.
5. Optional: for a later start date, tick Collect first payment today to take the first payment now.
6. Tick the box confirming you have the customer's permission, then select the enrol button.

The enrol form shows the exact first amount before you confirm.

What you see

The member's details show the Next billing date and the Price, the amount on that member's agreement, which can differ from the plan card after a price edit. The membership's Activity, under View membership, lists every Membership payment and Membership refund with its amount and the period it covers. The card they pay with does not show on the membership: the Members list shows Card On File, Card Expiring Soon or No Card On File beside the owner's name.

Supported billing cycles

Each plan has one of three billing cycles.

Weekly

• Weekly (7 days) charges once every 7 days on the subscription anniversary
• Keeps each charge small, which suits high-frequency, pay-as-you-go regulars
• Suits daily daycare or regular dog walking

Fortnightly

• Fortnightly (14 days) charges once every 14 days
• A middle ground between the weekly and monthly cycles
• Suits customers who visit roughly every week or two

Monthly

• Monthly (28 days) charges once every 28 days on the subscription anniversary
• The fewest charges, which suits less frequent visits
• Suits services used every few weeks, such as grooming on a 4 to 6 week cycle

The monthly cycle is a fixed 28-day period rather than a calendar month, so the charge date shifts slightly across the year.

Failed payments

When a recurring charge fails, because of an expired card, insufficient funds or a bank decline, Stripe retries the payment on its own.

Stripe's retry schedule

Stripe's Smart Retries choose the retry times from historical success patterns. Typically:

• First retry: within 1 to 3 days of the first failure
• Second retry: a few days after the first retry
• Third retry: a few days after the second retry
• Final attempt: about 7 to 10 days after the first failure

Stripe's models set the exact timing to give each retry the best chance of success.

What the customer sees

When a payment fails, Petboost emails the member, with a link to update their payment method on their membership page, if Payment Failed (Member) is on in Settings > Notifications. Later retries may send further notices.

What you see

The status depends on whether the failed charge was the first payment or a later renewal.

• If the first payment fails, the member stays Pending. Petboost does not move them to Past Due, because that would keep benefits usable for 72 hours. If it is still unpaid four days after the start date, Petboost cancels the membership and returns every member-priced booking to the standard price, including visits already taken during those days. Select Reactivate once the card is sorted.
• If a later renewal fails on an Active membership, the status becomes Past Due.
• In both cases the Members list, the member's details and the customer's Wallet tab, including its Membership Plans section, show Membership Payment Failed.

Failed attempts do not appear in the membership's Activity, which lists payments received and refunds. The Membership Payment Failed badge is the sign that money is owing.

A start date that is still in the future is not a failed payment. That member is waiting to start.

Retry a failed payment

You do not have to wait for Stripe's retry schedule.

1. Open Memberships, or the member's details, or the customer's Wallet tab and its Membership Plans section.
2. Select Membership Payment Failed.
3. Select Retry payment to charge the card on file, or Text card update to send them a link to update their card.

On the customer's Wallet tab the same two actions sit in the payment-failed alert.

• If the charge succeeds, a first payment becomes Active and the benefits start. A renewal returns to Active and the benefits continue.
• If the card declines again, you see the decline reason. Retry again after they top up or update the card.
• Updating a card alone does not trigger a charge. Use Retry payment, or wait for Stripe's next scheduled retry, to collect the outstanding amount.

Members can also retry themselves. Their membership page in the pet owner app shows Retry payment next to Update payment method, and outstanding membership payments also appear under Pay your dues.

Grace period after a failed payment

When a renewal payment fails, Stripe retries automatically. Petboost keeps membership benefits available for 72 hours after the first failure so the member, or you, can update the card and retry. This window is fixed; there is no grace period setting on a plan.

• When a payment first fails, the grace window begins
• During that window, the member can still redeem benefits
• If a payment succeeds, everything continues as normal
• If the window ends without a successful payment, benefits are suspended while the membership stays Past Due and Stripe keeps retrying

Past Due and suspended benefits

If the grace window ends and payment still has not succeeded:

• The member's status stays Past Due
• Benefits are suspended: the customer cannot redeem included services or discounts
• Pointing at the crown badge shows Past due; the crown itself stays gold
• Bookings for this customer do not take membership benefits

There are four ways it resolves:

1. The customer updates their card and retries. Their membership page offers Retry payment next to Update payment method, so they can fix the card and pay on the spot.
2. You retry the payment. Open Membership Payment Failed and select Retry payment.
3. Stripe retries automatically. If nobody steps in, Smart Retries keep trying on Stripe's schedule, and benefits come back when a payment succeeds.
4. You cancel the membership. The membership ends and the customer returns to regular pricing.

Plan price edits and existing members

Editing a plan's price, Each extra pet adds or billing cycle updates the catalogue. Existing members keep the amount on their agreement, and people who join after you publish pay the new amount.

There is no mid-cycle plan switch and no proration on a plan change. The membership is the agreement. To put someone on a new price or a different plan, cancel that membership, then Reactivate it (same plan) or enrol them with Enrol New Member (different plan). See Move a member onto a different price or plan.

If a refund for unused days on the cancelled membership is appropriate, issue it through Stripe, as in Refund a membership charge. The new enrolment starts a new agreement at the catalogue price on the plan at enrolment.

Refunds and cancellations

Petboost does not refund a membership when it is cancelled. Whether a refund is fair depends on the circumstances, for example:

• The customer cancels straight after being charged and has not used any benefits
• A service quality issue that is your responsibility
• A billing error or a membership created by mistake
• A goodwill gesture for a loyal customer in hardship

Refund a membership charge

Membership charges are refunded in your Stripe Dashboard, in full or in part.

1. Open Settings and, in the summary panel, open Integrations.
2. Select Open Stripe Dashboard.
3. In Stripe, find the membership charge and refund it, in full or in part.

Petboost sees the refund and releases the included uses that charge paid for, so the member's counters correct themselves, and the refund shows as Membership refund in the membership's Activity. You do not need to tell us or adjust anything by hand. Refunds typically take 5 to 10 business days to reach the customer's statement, depending on their bank.

For a partial refund, work out the value of the benefits used, refund the difference, and note the reason on the customer's record.

Stripe processing fees

Stripe deducts its standard processing fee from each successful membership charge before the funds settle to your bank account, so you receive the charge minus Stripe's fee.

Stripe's rates depend on the card type (domestic or international) and can change over time, so this article does not quote a figure. For the rates that apply to your account, check your Stripe Dashboard or Stripe's published pricing.

When you set membership prices, allow for processing fees so the net amount still meets your margin. Because Stripe adds a small fixed amount per transaction on top of its percentage, higher-value plans keep proportionally more of each charge than low-value ones.

Payment history for a member

The membership's Activity, under View membership in the member's details, lists:

• Each Membership payment, with its amount and the period it covers
• Each Membership refund, full or partial
• An upfront payment where Collect first payment today was used. The money is taken on the day you enrol them and pays the invoice raised on the start date, so the start date shows a paid invoice rather than a second charge

A member who joined mid-week on a fixed-weekday plan shows one first charge for that start. If Pro-rate the first week is on, that charge covers only the days until their first full billing day. If it is off, that charge is the full cycle. There is no proration on plan changes, so no plan-change adjustments appear.

Your Stripe Dashboard holds the full payment method details, decline reasons, dispute information, receipts and refunds. For accounting, use Stripe's reports and CSV exports, and filter by the subscription product to see membership revenue on its own. Stripe keeps every transaction record and receipt.

Billing notifications

Petboost emails members through a membership's life. Under Settings > Notifications, Membership Notifications controls them, including:

• Recurring Payment Receipt: an email receipt after each billing cycle payment succeeds
• Payment Failed (Member): emails the member when a recurring payment fails, and emails you as well
• Text you: payment failed: texts your business number when a member's payment fails

Petboost also emails the pet owner when their saved card is due to expire, 30 days and 7 days before the last day of the printed expiry month. The email is sent only when they have a future active appointment or a membership whose benefits are still usable (Active, Past Due or Migration). It is not sent after the card has already expired, and it is not sent to the business. Settings > Notifications shows Email the customer: card expiry as always on, and you cannot turn it off.

To nudge a customer yourself, open their Wallet tab, or the Key Dates Calendar on Customers & Pets, and select Text card update. That text is the staff path; Petboost does not send a card-expiry text from the automatic job.

From Members you can follow upcoming renewals (who is charged when), failed payments that need attention, and Past Due members who still have, or have just lost, benefits during the grace window.

Common billing questions

Can a customer have multiple active memberships?

No. An owner holds one active membership per business at a time. For multi-dog households that need more inclusions, create a plan tier sized for the household, for example a two-dog plan with doubled inclusions, rather than a second subscription.

How does the additional pet amount appear on the Stripe invoice?

On the Stripe subscription it is its own line: the base plan price, plus the additional pet amount multiplied by each extra pet. That split makes it easy to match Petboost memberships to Stripe invoices.

What happens if the customer's card expires?

Stripe tries to update the card through the card network's Account Updater service. If the update fails, the next charge fails and the retry and grace window process begins.

A customer joins mid-week but the plan bills on a fixed weekday. What happens?

They can start today, or wait for the weekday. The first payment on a same-day start is the full week unless Pro-rate the first week is on. Billing still aligns to the weekday either way.

Take a plan that bills on Mondays at $70 a week, and a customer who signs up on a Wednesday. You have three options:

• Start them today, with Today in the start date quick-picks. If Pro-rate the first week is off, their first payment is $70.00, charged now. If it is on, their first payment is $50.00, covering the five days from Wednesday to Monday. Every payment after that is $70 on a Monday. Their included benefits for that part-week are available in full from the Wednesday
• Start them on the coming Monday and leave Collect first payment today unticked. Nothing is charged until the Monday, and benefits begin then
• Start them on the coming Monday and tick Collect first payment today. The full $70 is charged on the Wednesday and pays the invoice raised on the Monday, so there is no second charge on the start date. Benefits still begin on the Monday

The enrol form shows the exact first amount before you confirm it.

A walk taken before the membership starts is an ordinary booking at the standard price. A walk on or after the start date can be booked before then and takes the member price and an included use from that week. If the membership is cancelled before it starts, or the first payment does not go through within four days of the start date, those bookings return to the standard price, including any walk already taken in those four days.

The fixed weekday keeps everyone paying and refreshing together. The plan's When do they pay and refresh? offers two alternatives: On their start date runs each member on their own signup day, and Fixed benefit week, billed from their start date keeps the shared week for counting included uses while billing follows each member's own start date, so nobody waits to join. Either change applies to members who join after you publish it.

Can I offer a free trial period before the first charge?

There is no separate trial. Pick a later start date instead, as in Choose when the first charge happens: benefits and recurring billing wait for that date. Tick Collect first payment today if they pay now and still start later.

Can I change what an existing member pays?

No. Edit the plan to change the catalogue. Existing members keep the amount on their agreement. To put a member on the new price, cancel that membership, then Reactivate. See Move a member onto a different price or plan.

Can I change the billing date for a member?

You cannot pick a new weekday for one existing member. Changing the plan's weekday only affects people who join after you publish it. Existing members keep their current day.

Can I set a shared weekday for the whole plan?

Yes, in one of two ways on the plan's Details, under When do they pay and refresh?. Fixed day of week puts billing and capped benefit refreshes on that weekday for every new member. Fixed benefit week, billed from their start date shares the weekday for capped benefit refreshes only, while each member bills from their own start date. Changing either later applies to new members only; existing members keep their current days.

What currency are payments in?

All payments are in Australian dollars (AUD) by default, matching your Stripe account's default currency.

Related articles

• Memberships Overview: key concepts and how memberships work
• Creating Membership Plans: setting up plans and benefits
• Managing Members: adding members and moving someone onto a new price
• Usage Tracking and Benefits: how usage counters work
• Memberships FAQ: billing, included uses, refunds and changing a member