In this article you will learn how fee adjustments work, which four types are available, how several fee adjustments on one membership are combined and how to pick the right type for your use case.
Contents
- Quick guide
- Effective period: what it does and what it does not
- The four types compared
- Rate level vs. member level
- Adjustment amount: Absolute, Percentage, New basic amount
- Several fee adjustments on one membership
- Ending a fee adjustment
- Bulk processing
- Example: 50% discount until end of year
- Visibility in the sales tool
Quick guide
You can set up a fee adjustment in two places:
- For all future members on a rate: Settings / Membership management / Rates / Select the rate / 3-dot menu of the price line / Edit Membership fee adjustment rules
- For an individual member: Member file / Active memberships / 3-dot menu of the membership / Fee adjustments / Add fee adjustments
Before you save, the dialog shows a Preview with the due date, service period and fee of the upcoming payments. Use it to check the result, especially when the membership already has other fee adjustments.
Effective period: what it does and what it does not
Every fee adjustment has an effective period, which you set with the fields Start of term and Valid until (or Unlimited). The important thing to understand:
The effective period controls which fees the adjustment is applied to. It does not mean the adjustment is automatically reverted afterwards.
Whether the adjustment is reverted at the end of the period is decided by the type you choose (see the next section).
The four types compared
| Type | When the adjustment is applied | Behaviour after the period ends | Typical use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reference date | On a fixed day of the year, for the first time on the next occurrence of that day from the start of term. Recurring adjustments repeat every year on that day. | Adjustment remains in place until you end it manually. | Annual price increase on January 1st. |
| Membership extension | When the contract is extended inside the effective period. One-time: at the first extension only. Recurring: at every extension. | Adjustment stays in place for the extended contract. | New price from the first renewal after the minimum term. |
| Period | Counted from the start of term, not from the contract start. One-time: once X days, weeks, months or years after the start of term. Recurring: repeated every X days, weeks, months or years. | Adjustment remains in place. The fee is not reset to the base price when the effective period ends. | Permanent price change with a delayed start. |
| Temporary | Immediately, for every fee whose service period falls inside the effective period. | Adjustment is automatically reverted. Fees with a service period starting after the effective period return to the previous fee. | Fixed term discount, for example "50% off until December 31st". |
Rule of thumb: If the fee should return to the previous fee at the end, use Temporary. With Period, the adjustment stays in place permanently.
Rate level vs. member level
Not every type is available everywhere:
| Type | On the rate | On an individual member |
|---|---|---|
| Reference date | Yes | Yes |
| Membership extension | Yes | Yes |
| Period | Yes | Yes |
| Temporary | No | Yes |
Temporary discounts or surcharges are therefore only possible per member, not as a rate level rule for all future members.
Adjustment amount: Absolute, Percentage, New basic amount
In addition to the type, you choose how the fee is adjusted:
- Absolute adjustment: A fixed amount is added to or subtracted from the current fee, for example +5.00.
- Percentage adjustment: A percentage of the current fee, for example -50%.
- New basic amount: The fee is set directly to the amount you enter. Only available for one-time adjustments.
For each adjustment you also choose between One-time adjustment and Recurring adjustments. For example, +3% every 12 months (recurring), or +10.00 once after 6 months (one-time). With a recurring percentage adjustment, each repetition is calculated on the fee at that point, so the increases build on each other.
Several fee adjustments on one membership
A membership can have several fee adjustments at the same time. Adding a new fee adjustment does not end or replace the existing ones. All of them stay on the membership and are calculated together:
- The software determines the date on which each adjustment takes effect. This is the date that results from the type, for example the next reference date or the next extension, and not necessarily the start of term you entered.
- The adjustments are applied one after another in the order of these dates, each one on the fee that results from the previous step.
- If two adjustments take effect on the same day, the one created earlier is applied first. The one created later is applied last and determines the result.
What this means for the adjustment amount:
- Absolute adjustment and Percentage adjustment are added to whatever fee applies at that point. They never replace an earlier adjustment, they stack on top of it.
- New basic amount sets the fee to a fixed value and so overrides everything applied before it. Adjustments that take effect after it are still applied on top.
As a result, the adjustment you added last does not automatically win. An older adjustment that takes effect later, or a recurring one that repeats after your new one, is applied after it.
Example: The fee is 30.00. In January, an adjustment of type Reference date (one-time, 1 July, Absolute adjustment +5.00) was added. In February, you add an adjustment of type Reference date (one-time, 1 March, New basic amount 25.00).
| From | Fee | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Until 28 February | 30.00 | No adjustment has taken effect yet. |
| 1 March | 25.00 | The new basic amount sets the fee. |
| 1 July | 30.00 | The older +5.00 takes effect later and is added to 25.00. |
If the fee should stay at 25.00, end the older adjustment before 1 July (see the next section). Check the Preview in the dialog before saving to see the combined result.
Ending a fee adjustment
To stop an adjustment, open Member file / Active memberships / 3-dot menu of the membership / Fee adjustments / End fee adjustments, select the adjustment and enter an end date. The end date cannot be in the past.
- Ending only affects dates after the end date. A step that has already been applied to the fee stays in place, it is not reverted.
- For Temporary, the fee returns to the previous fee after the new end date.
- If the adjustment would only start after the end date you enter, it is removed completely.
To get to a specific new fee regardless of earlier adjustments, use a New basic amount and end any adjustment that would otherwise take effect after it.
Bulk processing
To adjust the fees of several members at once, use the bulk operation Membership fee adjustments. A step by step guide is available in the article Contribution adjustment via bulk editing.
The summary at the end of the operation lists:
- selected members
- description of the adjustment
- affected rates
- adjustment amount
- adjustment interval (if not one-time)
Example: 50% discount until end of year
You want to give a member a 50% discount until December 31st, 2026. Base price: 30.00 per month.
With type Temporary (Percentage adjustment -50%, start of term 01/12/2026, valid until 31/12/2026):
| Due date | Service period | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| 01/12/2026 | 01/12/2026 to 31/12/2026 | 15.00 (discount active) |
| 01/01/2027 | 01/01/2027 to 31/01/2027 | 30.00 (discount reverted) |
With type Period (Percentage adjustment -50%, One-time adjustment after 1 month, start of term 01/11/2026, valid until 31/12/2026). The interval is counted from the start of term, so the discount takes effect on 01/12/2026:
| Due date | Service period | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| 01/12/2026 | 01/12/2026 to 31/12/2026 | 15.00 |
| 01/01/2027 | 01/01/2027 to 31/01/2027 | 15.00 (adjustment continues after the end of the effective period) |
Bottom line: For a discount with a clear end date, Temporary is the correct type. Period only defines when a permanent adjustment starts to apply.
Visibility in the sales tool
When a contract with a fee adjustment is signed, the price change is shown in the summary view and on the final preview before signature. The adjustment is also included in the contract preview document and in the fee overview.
Note: This article was created with the help of artificial intelligence and editorially reviewed.