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Setting Up and Managing Subscriptions
Setting Up and Managing Subscriptions

How to set up subscriptions for the first time and manage them going forward

Danielle avatar
Written by Danielle
Updated over 6 months ago

Would Subscriptions Work for Me?

You can take monthly payments by using our subscription feature. Parents and carers will enter their card details once and their payment will be taken on the 1st of every month, which will split their term fees into affordable payments across 12 months.

Subscriptions use a recurring card payment rather than a direct debit. Recurring card payments use the parent/carer's bank card rather than the sort code and account number to take this payment.

We have made this choice to put parents and carers at ease that even if their payment fails, it will be retried another two times. This will also not affect their credit score.

We found through our research that charging subscription payments on the 1st of the month has the highest success rate of payments being taken on the first try than any other date. Even when a parent/carer's payment fails on the first payment attempt, we have them covered with an easy way to update their card details to make the payment successfully 💳

When setting up subscriptions we would recommend giving yourself enough time to get this set up. As payment is taken on the 1st of the month, we advise getting the parents and carers to sign up anytime after the 1st of the previous month.

For example: If your first subscription is going to be taken on the 1st of May, you can get the parents and carers to sign up anytime after the 1st of April.

Even if parents/carers don’t enter their card details in time you can add a covering payment on top of their monthly payment to charge them for the payment they have missed.


How to Get Started with Subscriptions

To access your subscription tab, click 'Subscriptions' from the list of system areas:

If you are setting this up for the first time, you will be able to create your first subscription plan from here:

Step 1: Create a Subscription Plan

To create your default subscription plan for your class:

Take your price per week (session price) for the class and multiply it by the number of weeks you run throughout the year, then divide this by 12 = your default plan!

For example:
£5 (Session price) x 38 (weeks) = £190
£190 ÷ 12 = £15.83 per month (This would be your plan price)

When using subscriptions, you also need to absorb the platform fee. This means you may want to add the fee on top of the monthly price. In this case, you could increase the plan price to £16.74.

Step 2: Create a Subscription Term

Now that you have created your first subscription plan, you will be able to choose the 'Subscriptions' payment method for your new term:

To set up your Subscription term, you can either create a new term or re-run your current term:

Creating a New Term

Re-Running your Current Term

You can create a new term using the 'Add a New Term' button on the schedule page

You can re-run your current term using the 'Rerun Term' button

Choose the 'Subscriptions' payment method

Choose the 'Subscriptions' payment method

Add in your term dates and holidays

Add in your term dates and holidays

Add a class to your term by clicking the 'Schedule a Class' button

Next, you will be able to assign the default plan for each of the classes in the term

Here you can add the details for your class and assign the default plan for your class

You can then click the 'Re-Run' button and can choose to auto-enrol the children from your current term.

Then your term and classes will be set up!

Then your term and classes will be set up!

Navigating your Subscriptions section

The Successful tab will show a list of all the parents and carers whose subscription payments have been successfully taken:

The Waiting tab will show a list of all the parents and carers who are waiting for their first payment to be taken:

The Problem tab will show a list of any parents and carers whose subscription has failed and the reason why payment couldn't be taken. The payment will be retried on the 4th and the 9th of the month. They can also make the failed payment through their account.

The Not Set Up tab will show any parents and carers who haven't set up their card details. You can send them an 'Invoice' from here to prompt them to set this up.

The Summary tab will give an overview of any parents and carers who have signed up to a subscription during the month and any failed payments.

The Plans tab will allow you to add new plans and edit your subscription plans. Please note, that if you currently have parents and carers subscribed to a payment plan you will not be able to edit this.

'Subscription Notes' which you can use to explain how subscription payments work to your customers.

Anything you add in the 'Subscriptions Notes' section will show when parents and carers book onto your classes from the Public Booking Page and subscription emails.

The Cancelled tab will show any parents and carers who you have cancelled.

You can search for parents and carers on a subscription plan using the 'Search for a Contact' box

The 'Search for a Contact' box will allow you to search for parents and carers on a subscription plan within the Successful, Waiting and Problem tabs.

The 'Payment Collection' dropdown will show the number of parents and carers who have an active and paused payment collection. You can filter the parents and carers by clicking on either of the options.

The 'Plans' dropdown will show all the subscription plans you have created along with the temporary plan. By clicking on the plan, you can filter the parents and carers by the plan they are assigned to.

The 'Classes' dropdown will show your current subscription classes. From here, you can see which parents and carers have a child attending the class.


How to Manage Failed Payments in the Problem Tab

We automatically take payment from parents and carers on the 1st of every month.

If a parent/carer's payment fails, we automatically chase them to update their card for payment.

A parent/carer's card may fail for the following reasons:

  • The card has been cancelled

  • There are insufficient funds in the customer's bank

  • The bank declines the payment

Stripe will feedback into the system the reason for the failed payment. You can see this in the 'Problem' tab.

Automated payment chase

We will automatically chase the parent/carer for payment 3 times before the next month.

1st of the month (1st failed payment attempt)

  • The parent/carer moves to the problem tab

  • They are emailed and asked to update their card

4th of the month (2nd failed payment attempt)

  • We notify the parent/carer again.

  • You are also emailed, no action is needed at this point from you

  • You can send the parent/carer a link to update their details if they wish -https://account.class4kids.co.uk/login - or, if the parent/carer asks.

9th of the month (3rd failed payment attempt)

  • No further payments will be automatically attempted for this parent/carer.

  • Both you and the parent/carer are notified.

  • The parent/carer can update their card from any email, or you can send them this link to update their details - https://account.class4kids.co.uk/login


Multi-class, Sibling or Discounted Plans

Each parent/carer can only have one subscription plan. You can create any number of plans to cover circumstances, for example, if a child attends multiple classes/hours a week or the parent/carer has multiple children.

When a parent/carer books siblings or multiple subscription classes in one order, you will be notified via email and within their order, and you can move them onto the right plan.

The parent/carer will also be notified that they have booked into multiple classes and have been placed on a temporary subscription plan while the club place them on the correct one.

The system will add all the default subscription plan prices combined that the children have been booked into and let the parent/carer know that they won’t be charged more than this for their monthly subscription.

The parent/carer will be assigned a 'Temporary plan (£0)' until you review the subscription and update it to the correct payment amount.

You can see an overview of everyone on a temporary plan, meaning the subscription needs attention, by using the 'Plans' filter on the subscription page. This payment plan will be shown here:

If the parent already has a subscription plan running, and later books into another subscription class, they will be made aware that they already have a plan running and that you will be in touch if their plan needs to be changed -

You will receive an email to let you know the parent has booked into an additional subscription class, and you may want to update their plan -

You will need to create a subscription plan to charge for siblings or multiple classes. You can add a new plan by clicking on the 'Subscriptions' section > 'Plans' > 'Manage Plans'

Typical plans would be:

2 children x 1 class per week

1 child x 2 classes per week

Offering a Discount with Subscriptions

Parents and carers aren't able to use a discount code with subscriptions. If you are offering a discount, you would need to create a new plan for the discounted price and move them over to this.


How to Change a Subscription Plan

Changing the Default Subscription Plan for a Class

When using the subscription feature, you use subscription ‘Payment plans’ to determine what a parent/carer is going to pay every month.

Each class has a default plan associated to it. This will be shown on the public booking schedule when parents/carers are going to book the class.

You can see which plan is assigned to a class as the default plan and edit this from your schedule, by selecting the edit button next to a register.

Changing a Parent/Carer's Subscription Plan

Please note, you won't be able to edit any parents/carers in the 'Problem' tab as their payment is still in progress. They would need to make this payment before you could change their plan going forward.

This feature can be used to either change an individual parent/carer from one plan to another, or can be used to make larger mass subscription plan changes, at a class, plan or full programme level.

You can change an individual parent/carer's plan from their profile by clicking the 'Manage' button under the subscription information box.

You can also change their plan in the 'Subscriptions' section. You can click the action button next to their name -

In the sidebar, you can click the edit icon to choose a new subscription plan for the parent/carer

Parents and carers will automatically receive an update email to let them know that you have done this, so that you can be sure they know what they expect to be charged on the 1st.

Changing Parent/Carers' Subscription Plan at Mass

Please note, you won't be able to edit any parents/carers in the 'Problem' tab as their payment is still in progress. They would need to make this payment before you could change their plan going forward.

If you are moving all customers to the same monthly payment, do not use any filters and instead select all and move to the new plan by clicking 'Change'.

If you are moving customers to different amounts, based on their current plan, work through each plan individually by applying the plan filter. Once the filter is applied, select all and then 'Change'.

If you are moving only some customers, then find them using the search bar.

When you click the 'Change' button, you can use the dropdown to select the new plan and change them over to this.


How to Add a Covering Payment

You can add a one-off covering charge to the parent/carer's subscription up to double the value of their plan to anyone currently in the 'Successful' or 'Waiting' tab in the 'Subscriptions' section.

Clubs normally add them in the following circumstances:

  • The parent/carer joins mid-month

  • The parent/carer sets up their subscription late (resulting in them missing a month's payment)

  • The parent/carer owes money to your club for something else/out with the system

You can add a covering payment from the parent/carer's profile by clicking the 'Manage' button under the subscription information box.

You can also add a covering payment in the 'Subscriptions' section. You can click the action button next to the parent/carer's name -

In the sidebar, use the blue 'Add Covering Payment' button to add this to their subscription payment.

Parents and carers will automatically receive an update email to let them know that a covering payment has been added to their payment for the following month.


How to Pause Subscription Payments

You can use the pause feature to stop multiple or individual parent/carers' subscription payment for any length of time and resume it when you want.

Please note, you won't be able to edit any parents/carers in the 'Problem' tab as their payment is still in progress. They would need to make this payment before you could change their plan going forward.

You can use the 'Payment Collection' dropdown to view anyone who has a paused subscription.

To pause the subscription, select the parent/carers by either ticking the box next to the relevant parent/carer or ticking the box at the top which will select everyone in the list.

Ticking this will only select all parents/carers on that page, so you can do this page by page or select more by moving page and repeating the process.

Then when you are ready to resume their payment, you can select the parent/carer and click 'Resume'

The parents/carers with resumed payments will then go back into the list of active subscriptions and their next payment will be on the 1st of the next month.

FAQ

What happens to parents/carers in the waiting tab?
If you pause them, they will stay in the waiting tab until the subscription is resumed and the first payment is taken.

Can I still add a covering payment, and will it be charged?
If a covering payment is added, it will not be paid by the parent/carer as their full subscription including covering payments will be fully discounted. If you want to charge the parent/carer, you could be best to un-pause any subscriptions and then add a covering payment from there.

Will parents/carers be charged straight away when their subscription is resumed?
No. Parents/carers will be charged on the 1st of the following month as normal.


How to Cancel a Parent/Carer's Subscription

If someone requests to cancel their subscription booking, you will need to cancel both their class booking and their subscription itself so that they are not charged any further monthly payments.

It is important to know that a subscription is separate to a class booking. If you remove a child from a register it will not cancel their subscription, this runs independently.

It is also important to know that only your club can cancel a subscription, the parent/carer is not able to cancel this within their account.

Once you have cancelled their current bookings, you can cancel their subscription from the parent/carer's profile by clicking the 'Manage' button under the subscription information box.

You can also cancel their plan in the 'Subscriptions' section. You can click the action button next to the parent/carer's name -

In the sidebar, scroll down and click the 'Cancel Subscription' button.


How to Refund a Subscription Payment

You can refund subscription payments at any time after they have paid on the 1st.

Please note, when you refund a subscription payment - Stripe keeps their fee. This fee covers Stripe's cost of processing the payment and the refund.

You can refund a subscription payment from the parent/carer's profile by clicking the 'Manage' button under the subscription information box.

You can also refund a payment in the 'Subscriptions' section. You can click the action button next to the parent/carer's name -

In the sidebar, scroll down to the 'History' section which shows all previous subscription payments.

Then, select the 3 dots next to any payments you would like to refund and click 'Refund payment'.

Please note, you can make partial refunds so you don't need to refund the full amount (the same as standard payments). However, you can't refund more than the price of the subscription payment.

You will see a breakdown of any previous full or partial refunds on their subscription history

There will also be a record of any partial refunds issued against a payment.


FAQ

Can I Pass on the Platform Fee to Parents/Carers?

As parents/carers don't have a choice whether to pay online or not, you cannot pass the fees on. This means that the fee is always absorbed for subscription payments.


You should instead increase the price of your default plan to cover the additional fee to ensure you are not at a loss.

Can I Still Offer Trials or Free Trials?

Yes, trials still work the same way, except when the trial is converted to a full booking, the parent/carer will be able to set up their subscription payment rather than making an upfront payment.

Can Parents/Carer Still Pay with Cash/BACS/ An Alternative Method?

All subscription payments are made automatically through Stripe - similar to direct debit. These payments cannot be collected using another method as the system will not record this payment against the parent/carer's subscription.

Can I Still Offer Sibling Discounts?

You can still offer sibling discounts. To do this you should include the sibling discount in your plan prices, the standard sibling discount or normal discounts feature does not apply to subscriptions.

Can I Run My Payments across 11 Months Instead of 12?

Our subscription feature is designed for 12-month subscriptions. However, if you wanted to run across 11 months you could do this by pausing all subscriptions for a month and then unpause them when you are ready for them to be active again.

Do You Have an Email Template I Can Send to Parents and Carers About Moving to Subscriptions?

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