Upodi provides support for three distinct charge alignment options and four quantity options in combination with these. The following outlines the different use-cases.

Alignment Options

Alignment is regarding when the billing should occur when the customer subscribes. Typically the choice is between advance (forwards) or arrears (backwards) and whether the quantity is to be billed at the beginning or at the end of the period. On top of these two there is the third option for when the billing does not have a period but just a billing date for example if the purchase is a one-time purchase like Onboarding, a Physical product etc.

Advance

The charge is applied in a recurring billing schedule and the customer is paying in advance. The recurrence is chosen, and then the product has a continuous cycle often monthly, quarterly or annually.

The advance charge will automatically assume a billing date which is the same as the start of the period. Let's provide an example:

The period the customer is paying for is the 1st of January to the 31st of December on a yearly recurrence. If the customer has to pay up front on the 1st of January then this is the choice for you. If you want to have the customer pay even further in advance this can be configured later on the subscription see Subscription charges.

Arrears

In the same way as the advance option this charge is applied in a recurring billing schedule but where the customer is paying in arrears (backwards).

The arrears charge will automatically assume a billing date which is the same as the end of the period. Let's provide an example:

The period the customer is paying for is the 1st of January to the 31st of December on a yearly recurrence. If the customer has to pay on conclusion of the period whether that is the 31st of December or the 1st of January then this is the choice for you. The choice for arrears can be chosen in your settings section.

Trigger

The charge is only applied once per subscription life-cycle. Once the charge is calculated and claimed, the charge will never be claimed again.

This enables the use of sign-up charges, by aligning the charge with the start date or activation date.
By aligning the charge with the end-date, or cancellation date of a subscription - one-time charges can be used as a cancellation and "end-of-life" fees.

Interval options

When you've chosen the billing alignment option and the choice was either advance or arrears there is an additional step of choosing the intervals for the recurrence of the billing. This is where you choose monthly, yearly, quarterly etc. The options are:

• Day
• Week
• Month
• Quarter
• Year

And then you can define the interval for example every 1 Month.

Quantity Options

When you've chosen the billing alignment option and the choice was either advance or arrears there are some additional choices regarding the calculation and retention of the quantity. These options do not apply to the trigger type.

Recurring

The quantity is retained for future billings meaning that if the quantity is not updated it simply keeps being billed at the chosen internal and at the current quantity. This is the standard option for the classic subscription purchase.

Usage

Usage is applied at the end of a charge period like a recurring charge. Upon charge, the quantity of the charge is reset to the default quantity of the product plan.

This model is known in the example of a celluar subscription service, where you are charged by the usage of minutes, and/or short text messages.

Metered

Metered is, like usage, applied at the end of a charge period like a recurring charge. Upon charge the entire set of quantities within a defined period is taken into consideration, and calculated based on a chosen model: Average, highest, last, lowest, range or sum. This is explained in detail in our Metered Usage section.