Billing types and due dates for rate payment frequencies

This article explains the three billing types you can choose when configuring a rate payment frequency: Calendrical, Reference date (absolute), and Fixed schedule. It also covers how the related due-date settings interact.

Contents

• The three billing types at a glance
• Calendrical
• Reference date (absolute)
• Fixed schedule
• Standard due date
• "Apply due date also for first regular fee"
• Due date of starter pack and partial charges
• First booking delay
• Pre-use period
• Compatibility matrix
• FAQ

Fast lane

1. Open the rate: Settings / Membership management / Rates / [Rate] / Add payment frequency.
2. Set Type, Reference, Each and Price.
3. Open Advanced settings and pick the Billing type that fits the rate's billing pattern.
4. Configure the due-date options for regular fees, the starter pack, and any partial charges.

The three billing types at a glance

The billing type controls how the system aligns regular charges to the calendar and how the very first charge is prorated. Each contract on a rate inherits the billing type at sign-up.

If you only need monthly billing aligned to the calendar (the most common case), Calendrical is the default. Pick Reference date (absolute) when each contract should bill on its own anniversary. Pick Fixed schedule when every contract on the rate must bill on the same shared cycle. For a deep dive on Fixed schedule, see Configure a fixed schedule payment frequency for a rate.

Calendrical

Calendrical billing snaps every contract to calendar boundaries. The first charge is prorated to the next boundary, then every subsequent charge runs from one boundary to the next.

Period boundary by interval:

• Weekly: ISO week (Monday).
• Fortnightly: every second ISO week.
• Monthly: first of the month.

Example. Monthly Calendrical, 30.00 / month, contract start 17 March:

• Charge 1 (prorated): 17 March to 31 March, 14.52 (15 days).
• Charge 2: 1 April to 30 April, 30.00.
• Charge 3: 1 May to 31 May, 30.00.

When to pick it: standard month-to-month rates where billing should follow the calendar. Easiest to reconcile because every member is billed on the same date. Not allowed for daily or yearly billing, pick Reference date (absolute) for those.

Constraint: First booking delay is not available. If you need a delay before the first regular charge, switch to Reference date (absolute).

Reference date (absolute)

Reference date (absolute) uses the contract's own start date as the anchor. Each contract has its own billing anniversary, so two members on the same rate can bill on different days.

Example. Monthly Reference date (absolute), 30.00 / month, contract start 17 March:

• Charge 1: 17 March to 16 April, 30.00.
• Charge 2: 17 April to 16 May, 30.00.
• Charge 3: 17 May to 16 June, 30.00.

Note for end-of-month sign-ups. Reference date (absolute) on a monthly interval can produce due dates on the 29th, 30th, or 31st. These days do not exist in every month. The rate has a separate option Allow fixed due date billing at the end of the month that pins these to the end of the month and adjusts freeze handling. See How to adjust the pro-rata calculation for contracts with the billing type "fixed due date" that are signed at the end of the month for details.

When to pick it: contracts where each member should keep their own billing day, daily or yearly billing, or any rate that needs a first booking delay.

Fixed schedule

Fixed schedule aligns every contract on the rate to a single anchor date you pick once. New members get a single prorated first charge and synchronize with everyone else from the next anchor onwards. Use it for shared billing weeks across the entire member base.

For configuration steps, examples, and the full field reference, see the dedicated article Configure a fixed schedule payment frequency for a rate.

Standard due date

The Standard due date setting controls when the regular fee for a service period is due. Three options exist:

• Membership signing. The fee becomes due on the date the contract is signed.
• Standard due date. The fee is due on the day calculated by the rate's payment frequency. For Calendrical and Fixed schedule this is the start of the service period; for Reference date (absolute) this is the start of the billing period (i.e., contract start + N terms).
• Membership start date. The fee is due on the contract's start date, regardless of when the service period begins.

For Fixed schedule the Standard due date for regular fees is locked to the start of the service period and cannot be changed. The three options above always apply to the starter pack and partial charges; whether they also apply to the first regular fee is controlled by the toggle described next.

"Apply due date also for first regular fee"

This checkbox decides whether the first regular fee follows the standard due-date rule (used by all subsequent regular fees) or the same rule as the starter pack and partial charges.

• Off (default). The first regular fee uses the rule chosen for the starter pack and partial charges (Membership signing, Standard due date, or Membership start date). All later regular fees use the rate's standard due-date logic. This is what most rates use.
• On. The first regular fee already uses the rate's standard due-date logic, the same as every later regular fee. Use this when you want the first regular fee billed on the start of its service period and the starter pack billed on a different date.

Optional bundling window. When the toggle is on, you can also set Apply this due date for charges within N days of the first regular charge. Any pre-use or partial charge whose own due date falls within that window is bundled to share the first regular fee's due date. This collapses several small invoices into one.

Due date of starter pack and partial charges

The Due date of starter pack and partial charges setting controls when one-off charges (starter pack, prorated first period, pre-use period) are due. It uses the same three options as Standard due date, Membership signing, Standard due date, Membership start date, applied to the date the one-off charge belongs to.

Typical configurations:

• Membership signing. Collect everything up front on the day the member signs. Most common for clubs that take payment immediately.
• Standard due date. Bundle starter pack and first regular fee onto the same day. Useful when you want a single first invoice.
• Membership start date. Collect on the contract start date when sign-up and start are different.

First booking delay

First booking delay postpones the first regular charge by a fixed number of days, weeks, or months. It is available only with Reference date (absolute). It is not available for Calendrical or Fixed schedule because both of those align contracts to a shared cycle.

Example use: a 14-day grace period before the first monthly fee on a Reference-date-absolute rate.

Pre-use period

The pre-use period lets a member start using the studio before the contract's official start date. It is independent of the billing type, it works the same way under Calendrical, Reference date (absolute), and Fixed schedule.

Two flavours:

• Chargeable pre-use. The days between Start of use and contract start are billed as a separate one-off charge. The due date follows the Due date of starter pack and partial charges rule.
• Free pre-use. The same period of access is granted but not billed.

The pre-use charge does not shift the regular billing dates. The first regular service period still starts on the contract start date.

Compatibility matrix

FAQ

• Is Calendrical only for monthly billing? No. Calendrical is also the default for weekly and fortnightly billing. It is not allowed for daily or yearly billing, pick Reference date (absolute) for those.

• What is the difference between Calendrical and Reference date (absolute) for a monthly rate? Calendrical bills everyone on the 1st of each month and prorates the first charge. Reference date (absolute) bills each contract on its own start day each month, so members signed up on different days bill on different days.

• If I want a recurring fortnightly rate, do I use Reference date (absolute) or Calendrical? Either works. Calendrical aligns everyone to ISO-week boundaries, which is simpler for reconciliation. Reference date (absolute) lets each contract keep its own fortnightly anniversary. Pick based on whether you want shared billing weeks or per-contract billing weeks.

• Why can I see "Align sub contract" only when Calendrical is selected? Calendrical is the only billing type where sub-contracts can share a service-period boundary with the main contract. For Reference date (absolute) and Fixed schedule, the alignment is implicit (contract start or shared anchor). The toggle is hidden where it has no effect.

• Does the pre-use period push my billing dates back? No. The pre-use period generates an extra one-off charge but does not change the contract start date or the billing dates that follow it.