Last updated: January 17, 2023
When creating a payment link, you can set a recurring line item's billing start date to the future. This enables your buyers to purchase a one-time line item at checkout while agreeing to auto-start the subscription in the future.
For example, you can use this feature to collect initial payment for building a website while also scheduling monthly billing for SEO services starting 6 months in the future.
Below, learn how to set a recurring line item to start billing on a future date. Then, learn how to manage recurring payments after a buyer checks out.
Limits
When setting a recurring line item’s billing start date to the future, keep the following in mind:
- When you set a future billing start date on a recurring line item, you also need to collect payment on a one-time line item during checkout as a first payment.
- When a payment link includes a future billing start date, you won’t be able to embed the payment link using the embed code.
- All recurring line items need to be configured to start billing on the same future date.
- One-time order discounts will only apply to the items due at checkout. This type of discount cannot be applied to future-dated recurring line-items. To offer a discount on a future-dated recurring line item, you can instead include a unit discount on the line item.
Set a recurring line item's billing start date
To schedule a recurring line item to start billing on a future date:
- In your HubSpot account, navigate to Sales > Payments > Payment Links.
- To update an existing payment link, click the name of the payment link. Or, create a new payment link.
- On the Line items page, you can adjust the billing start date of a recurring line item either from the line item editor or by adjusting the Billing start date column.
- To set a future billing start date from the line item editor, click the name of the line item. Then, in the right sidebar, click the Billing start date dropdown menu and select Custom. In the date picker, select the start date, then click Save.
- To set a future billing start date from the line item table, scroll to the Billing start date column. Then, click the Billing start date dropdown menu and select Custom. In the date picker, select the start date, then click Save.
- To set a future billing start date from the line item editor, click the name of the line item. Then, in the right sidebar, click the Billing start date dropdown menu and select Custom. In the date picker, select the start date, then click Save.
- continue setting up the payment link.
With the future start date selected, buyers who view the payment link before that start date will see a Future charges section with details about the recurring subscription item. This information will also be included in their receipt and your merchant copy. The Total at checkout will only include the initial payment, not any future charges.
After checkout, a payment record will be created for the one-time line item, and a subscription record will be created for the recurring line items with a status of Scheduled.
If a buyer opens the payment link after the future billing start date has passed, payments for all line items will be due at checkout. Any one-time discounts will then be applied to the first installment of the subscription, rather than just to the one-time line item.
After a buyer checks out, you can manage their subscription, including cancelling the subscription, setting up payment reminders, and using subscriptions to power other HubSpot tools.