> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.slm.m1amdocs.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Working with Billing Plans
From this page, you can define your Billing Plan, its billing periods and pricing structure, and add seasonal constraints,entitlements, and custom data.
To work with a Billing Plan:
1. Select your starting point from the following options:
* To create a new Billing Plan, click the **+ New** button and select **Billing Plan**.
* To duplicate an existing Billing Plan, select the relevant existing Billing Plan from **Catalog** > **Billing Plans** and click **Duplicate**.
* To edit an existing Billing Plan, select the relevant existing Billing Plan from **Catalog** > **Billing Plans** and click **Edit**.
The Billing Plan page appears.
2. Define the Billing Plan fields as needed. Refer to the tables below for guidance regarding the fields.
3. When you're done, click **Save** or **Update**.
You can return and continue editing the saved Billing Plan at any time before it is activated.
**Note:** You can edit the Billing Plan at any time prior to its use by subscriptions. It is important to understand that any changes will impact all subscriptions (existing and new) using the Billing plan. Please consider this before making a change. The user interface will show an orange caution at the top of the page stating that the **Billing Plan is in use on Subscriptions** 
4. When the Billing Plan has been saved and completed, activate it by clicking **Activate** in the **Actions** panel on the right.
5. Disable the Billing Plan at any time, by clicking **Disable** in the **Actions** panel on the right. Note that the Billing Plan will no longer be offered to new customers (or appear in the catalog). However, existing subscriptions of the Billing Plan will continue uninterrupted.
* **[Billing Plan Details Pane](../topics/billingPlanWorking1#)**
* **[Billing Plan Periods Pane](../topics/billingPlanWorking1#)**\
In the Billing Periods pane you can define multiple Billing Periods. For each, set a cycle length, which defines the length of the billing period; and the number of times to repeat the cycle, which defines the length of the subscription. Cycle length can be days, weeks, months, or years. Customers are billed on the first day of the billing cycle. Billing Periods are active sequentially, according to their order in the Billing Plan. The first Billing Period in the list will be in effect when the subscription is first purchased, and it will remain in effect until it completes its defined number of cycles.
* **[Billing Plan Advanced Behavior Pane](../topics/billingPlanWorking1#)**\
The Advanced Behavior pane enables you to configure more complex billing scenarios. You can either use seasonal billing (bill and entitle during a specific season and not at other times of the year), or configure Subscribe to repeat billing periods in specific ways.
* **[Billing Plan Entitlements Pane](../topics/billingPlanWorking1#)**\
Entitlements are IDs identifying the purchased billing plan or product and providing access to it. Use IDs from your system that provide subscribers access to the relevant products or services.Entitlements for a Billing Plan are controlled by the Advanced behavior of the Billing Plan. Advanced behavior can allow entitlements to be granted outside of the payment schedule of the billing plan. Season sets also can control when Entitlements are granted, allowing for entitlements to be granted uncoupled from the payment schedule
* **[Custom Data](../topics/billingPlanWorking1#)**\
Custom data lets you store merchant-specific data to Products, Rate Plans, Billing Plans, Season Sets, Subscriptions, Accounts, and Payment Methods as a pair of matched text strings, called name-value pairs. These name-value pairs can help you categorize and sort aspects of your objects. Use **Name** to define a category, and **Value** to define a specific item in that category. For example, you could use name-value pairs to track your sales teams. Define a name-value pair with Office as the **Name** and the city in which the office is located as the **Value**.
**Parent topic:**[Billing Plans](../topics/billingPlanAbout)
## Billing Plan Details Pane
| Field | Guidance | Relevancy |
| - | - | - |
| **ID** | Your unique ID for the Billing Plan. The ID can't be changed or reused. **Note:** use of the forward slash character (/) in merchant identifiers is not allowed. | Required |
| **Statement ID** | A merchant-specified, payment processor-specific identifier that is sent with Transactions generated using this Billing Plan. The payment processor uses this value to determine the text displayed on the customer's credit card statement associated with the transaction. Enter a value for the **Statement ID** *only* if you and your payment processor have agreed upon one. If you and your payment processor do not establish an ID, **leave this field blank**. Do not change this value after you first assign it unless you do so at the request of your payment processor. **Note:** Merchants who use the following payment processors may use this field for specific information: - Amazon - Compass - GlobalCollect - MeS - Orbital - PayU - WorldPay - Chase Paymentech - FDMS Payeezy - Stripe For more information, see [Custom Billing Statement Identifier Requirements](https://docs.vindicia.com/bundle/SOAP-Programming-guide/page/topics/ProgGuide_AppDataReq.html) in the Subscribe Programming Guide. | Optional, leave blank if not required by your payment processor |
| **Description** | An informative description of the Billing Plan. | Optional |
| **Email** | Enter the number of days prior to the end of a billing cycle that you want a pre-billing notification sent to a customer. If **Days Before Billing** is empty or set to 0 (zero), no pre-billing notification is sent for this Billing Plan. **Note:** To send an email, an email template must be previously defined. | Optional |
| **Skip the initial Billing Notification** | Indicates whether a notification is sent to the customer for the first billing period. Use the toggle switch to select either **Yes** or**No**. Default value is No. | Optional |
| **Grace Period Override** | Grace period is a merchant level setting, which defines the period that a subscription can stay active even if the recurring transaction billing failed. You can decide to override the global Grace Period setting and designate a grace period specifically for this Billing Plan. Define the number of days that the subscription using this billing plan stays active even if the billing attempt failed. | Optional |
| **Status** | Use the toggle switch to set the status of the billing plan to **Active**/**Inactive**. This field lets you manage when a billing plan is available to associate with a product or subscription. Default value is Inactive. | Optional |
| **Bills In** | Billing Plans can be priced in multiple currencies or Tokens or not at all. Use the toggle switch to select whether the billing plan is billed in **Currency** or **Tokens**. The default value is Currency. If you don't want to associate a price for this billing plan, do nothing. **Tip:** If you'd like the billing plan priced, in the Actionspanel, select **Manage Currency** or **Manage Tokens** to add or remove currencies or tokens for pricing. The Currency and Token pricing are added in the Billing Periods pane. **Note:** When creating a subscription, the Billing Plan Bills In choice must be aligned to the subscription's payment method. | Required |
| **End Date** | Click the calendar icon to specify when the billing plan ceases to be available. Leave this field blank if you want no end date for the billing plan. | Optional |
| **Created On** | A field created automatically once the billing plan is saved. This is the initial date on which the billing plan was created. | N/A |
| **Tax Classification** | Subscribe leverages its supported tax vendors (currently Avalara AvaTax and Vertex O Series) to calculate applicable taxes according to the tax classification value entered, your merchant nexus (may refer to your location, the type of business and product you sell, the regions in which you sell), and any unique tax rules configured by Vindicia for your business. In this field, enter the text string provided by your tax vendor for this billing plan (based on the type of related product such as physical goods, software, or electronic data). Your Vindicia implementation resource can assist you with identifying the proper value. **Note:** To access tax codes used by the Avalara AvaTax system, see [https://taxcode.avatax.avalara.com.](https://taxcode.avatax.avalara.com/). For more details, refer to [Avalara Avatax System Tax Codes](https://docs.vindicia.com/bundle/howTo/page/topics/r_avalaraAvataxTaxCodes.html). | Required for regions where tax is not inclusive and only if the billing plan is billed. |
| **Parent topic:**[Working with Billing Plans](../topics/billingPlanWorking1#) | | |
## Billing Plan Periods Pane
In the Billing Periods pane you can define multiple Billing Periods. For each, set a cycle length, which defines the length of the billing period; and the number of times to repeat the cycle, which defines the length of the subscription. Cycle length can be days, weeks, months, or years. Customers are billed on the first day of the billing cycle. Billing Periods are active sequentially, according to their order in the Billing Plan. The first Billing Period in the list will be in effect when the subscription is first purchased, and it will remain in effect until it completes its defined number of cycles.
| Field | Guidance | Relevancy |
| - | - | - |
| **Cycle Length** | Cycle length defines the duration until the next billing date. Enter a number and select a time frequency (Days, weeks, Months or Years) from the dropdown menu. | Required |
| **Repeat Cycle** | Enter the number of times to repeat the cycle. Select **Unlimited** to have the billing cycle repeat indefinitely, or select **Times** and enter a value. For example, a **Repeat Cycle** value of **4** with a **Cycle Length** of **3 Months** defines a one year subscription that bills four times. | Required |
| **Trial Period** | Trial periods are free and override the price of the billing plan and/or product. If you wish to set a free trial period, use the toggle to select **Yes**. Then add a second billing period. | Optional |
| **Email On First Bill** | Select **Yes** to generate a customer notification on the first billing date of the period. If the Billing Period is free, select **No** to prevent your customer receiving contradictory billing notices. Default value is No. | Optional |
| **Email Before Expiration** | To send a warning notice indicating that the subscription is set to expire to your customers, enter a value for the number of days before this billing period ends. If you leave this field empty, no expiration notice is sent. | Optional |
| **Manage Currencies**or **Manage Tokens** | If you would like to set a price for billing the billing plan by **Currencies** or by **Tokens**:1. Click **Manage Currencies** or **Manage Tokens**in the **Actions** panel. 2. Place your cursor in the box and select the relevant pricing options. 3. Enter the price of the Billing Plan in the currency box with the national flag icon representing each country. 4. If no price was entered, the Billing Period displays as **Free**. | Optional |
| **Add Billing Period** | Available when creating or editing the billing plan, click to add another billing period. | Optional |
| **Parent topic:**[Working with Billing Plans](../topics/billingPlanWorking1#) | | |
## Billing Plan Advanced Behavior Pane
The Advanced Behavior pane enables you to configure more complex billing scenarios. You can either use seasonal billing (bill and entitle during a specific season and not at other times of the year), or configure Subscribe to repeat billing periods in specific ways.
| Field | Guidance | Relevancy |
| - | - | - |
| **Season Sets** | | |
| **Use a Season Set** | Seasonal billing enables you to bill and entitle during a specific season and not at other times of the year. If you wish to use a predefined season set, use the toggle to select **Yes**. The default value is No. | Optional |
| **Season Sets** | Select (or remove) a predefined season set from the **Season Sets** dropdown menu. | Optional |
| **Active** | Specify the number of days before and/or after the season for which you want the entitlement active. | Optional |
| **Grant Entitlements Through Offseason** | Grants entitlements continuously. | Optional |
| **Repeat Season Every \_\_ Days before Season Begins** | Define how many days prior to the season start date to repeat season set | Optional |
| **Repeat Billing Plan** | | |
| **Repeat Billing Plan** | Specify how many times the billing plan can repeat. Select from **Forever** — repeat the billing plan in a continuous loop or enter the number of **Times** to repeat the set of billing periods. This field is available only if billing periods were not set to Unlimited. | Required |
| **Entitlement** | | |
| **Type of Entitlement** | You can uncouple the entitlement from the billing period using custom entitlements. **Standard**entitlement is active for the duration of the billing period. **Custom** entitlement lets you grant entitlements **Forever** to allow entitlements to always be granted, or specify the duration of the entitlement by entering a number in the available field and selecting a period (days, weeks, months, years) For example 13 Months. This grants entitlements based on the custom schedule and ignores the billing periods. | Optional |
**Parent topic:**[Working with Billing Plans](../topics/billingPlanWorking1#)
## Billing Plan Entitlements Pane
Entitlements are IDs identifying the purchased billing plan or product and providing access to it. Use IDs from your system that provide subscribers access to the relevant products or services.Entitlements for a Billing Plan are controlled by the Advanced behavior of the Billing Plan. Advanced behavior can allow entitlements to be granted outside of the payment schedule of the billing plan. Season sets also can control when Entitlements are granted, allowing for entitlements to be granted uncoupled from the payment schedule
| Field | Guidance | Relevancy |
| - | - | - |
| **Select** | 1. Place your cursor in the selection box and select from pre-defined Entitlements. 2. You can select multiple Entitlements per billing plan. 3. Click **X** to remove. | Optional |
| **Create New** | 1. Create a new Entitlement by entering an ID and a description in the corresponding fields. 2. Click **Create**. The newly defined Entitlement is added to the **Select** Entitlement list. | Optional |
| **Parent topic:**[Working with Billing Plans](../topics/billingPlanWorking1#) | | |
## Custom Data
Custom data lets you store merchant-specific data to Products, Rate Plans, Billing Plans, Season Sets, Subscriptions, Accounts, and Payment Methods as a pair of matched text strings, called name-value pairs. These name-value pairs can help you categorize and sort aspects of your objects. Use **Name** to define a category, and **Value** to define a specific item in that category. For example, you could use name-value pairs to track your sales teams. Define a name-value pair with Office as the **Name** and the city in which the office is located as the **Value**.
| Field | Guidance | Relevancy |
| - | - | - |
| **Name** | Name is the field for defining metadata. It is unique and once submitted can't be changed. 1. Place your cursor in the selection box and either select from existing Names or enter a new Name. 2. For a new entry , click **Create New:** 3. Enter a Value for the Name. 4. Click **Add** to save this pair. **Note:** - Name field is limited to 255 characters. - System generated parameters use the prefix **vin** in the name field. | Required if adding custom data |
| **Value** | 1. Once you've selected/created a Name 2. Enter the category's Value in the corresponding field. 3. Click **Add** to save this pair. **Note:** Value field is limited to 255 characters. | Required if adding custom data |
| **Parent topic:**[Working with Billing Plans](../topics/billingPlanWorking1#) | | |
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