Subscriptions & client billing

When you activate a product for a client, Vendasta automatically creates a subscription to track that recurring service. Subscriptions are the engine behind client billing: they determine when invoices are generated, how much clients are charged, and how you collect payment. This guide walks you through how subscriptions work, how to configure billing for your clients, and how to manage invoices over time.

Getting Started Checklist

1. Understand how subscriptions work: learn the difference between wholesale and retail subscriptions
2. Configure your billing settings: set default billing rules and customize them per client
3. Send and manage invoices: create, send, and track invoices for your clients
4. Apply discounts and tax rates (optional): add discounts and configure tax for professional invoicing

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Step 1: Understand how subscriptions work

Every time you activate a product for a client account, Vendasta creates two subscriptions automatically:

• Wholesale subscription: what you pay Vendasta for the product
• Retail subscription: what you charge your client for the product

As a partner, you primarily work with retail subscriptions. These control what your client is billed and when. You can view, edit, and cancel retail subscriptions from the client's account page.

Where to find subscriptions

Navigate to Partner Center → Accounts → Manage Accounts, open a client account, and click the Subscriptions tab. You'll see all active retail subscriptions for that account, along with their prices, renewal dates, and billing status.

note

Activating a product creates a subscription to track the service, but it does not automatically charge your client. Billing only occurs when you have subscription billing configured and turned on. See Step 2 below to set this up.

Subscription renewal and invoicing

Subscriptions renew on a set date (monthly, yearly, or one time, depending on the product). When a renewal occurs, the platform generates an invoice for your client based on the billing settings you've configured. Subscriptions that share the same renewal date are consolidated into a single invoice.

Learn more about subscriptions

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Step 2: Configure your billing settings

You can configure billing at two levels: default settings that apply to all new accounts, and account-level settings that override the defaults for individual clients.

Set your default billing settings

Default billing settings are applied automatically to every new account you create, saving you from configuring each one manually.

Navigate to Partner Center → Administration → Default Billing Settings.

1. Turn the Subscriptions toggle On.
2. Under Subscription scheduling, choose when subscriptions renew:
   • Use subscription start date: each subscription renews based on when it was originally created.
   • Use a specific renewal date: all new subscriptions renew on the same day of each month.
3. Set the Payment collection method to Automatic or Manual.
4. Under Subscription renewal, choose how invoices are handled:
   • Email payable invoice to billing recipient: automatically emails the invoice to your client on renewal. Set the Invoice due date (e.g., within 7 days).
   • Automatically charge payment method on file: charges your client's saved card automatically. If no payment method is on file, the invoice is emailed instead.
5. Optionally, add a Memo to appear at the bottom of every subscription invoice.
6. Click Save.

info

Default settings apply only to accounts created after you save. Existing accounts keep their current billing configuration. To update an existing account, use the account-level settings below.

Configure billing for an individual client

To override the defaults for a specific client:

1. Open the client account in Manage Accounts.
2. Click the Billing settings tab.
3. Turn the Subscriptions toggle On.
4. Configure Subscription scheduling, Payment collection, and Subscription renewal options, just as you would in default settings.
5. On the right side, set the Billing recipient and configure Payment methods for the account.
6. Optionally add a Memo that will appear on every invoice sent to this client.
7. Click Save.

tip

Use Use a specific renewal date under Subscription scheduling to consolidate all of a client's renewals into one invoice per month, regardless of when individual products were activated.

Learn more about default billing settings

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Step 3: Send and manage invoices

Invoices are how you formally request and collect payment from your clients. They can be generated automatically from subscription renewals, or created manually for one-off charges.

Navigate to Partner Center → Commerce → Invoices.

Create an invoice manually

1. Click New → Invoice and select the client account.
2. Set a Due date and choose a User (the recipient at the client's account).
3. Click Add Item to add products from your Marketplace, or Add Custom Item to enter a custom line item.
4. Optionally, add a Memo to include additional context such as terms, conditions, or a thank-you note.
5. Choose a Collection method: select Email the invoice to the customer to pay or Charge a payment method on file.
6. Review the subtotal and total, then click Send Invoice or Charge Invoice (the button changes based on your collection method).

tip

Draft invoices can be edited as many times as needed before sending. Once sent, an invoice cannot be edited. If you need to correct a sent invoice, void it and create a new one.

Invoice statuses

Status	Meaning
Draft	Created but not yet sent; can still be edited
Due	Sent to the client; no longer editable
Paid	Payment has been collected
Void	Cancelled; no longer actionable

To mark an invoice as paid manually: go to Commerce → Invoices, click the options menu (⋮) on the invoice, select Change invoice status, and choose Paid.

Learn more about invoices

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Step 4: (Optional) Apply discounts and tax rates

Apply a discount

You can apply a discount to a one-off invoice or to a recurring subscription:

• Invoice discount: open the invoice, click Discount, choose a percentage or fixed amount, and click Apply. This applies to that invoice only.

• Subscription discount: open the subscription, click Discount, set the type and value, and choose how long it applies (ongoing, a limited time, or once). This carries forward to future invoices generated from that subscription.

note

Only one discount can be applied per invoice line item.

Set up tax rates

If you need to charge tax on your invoices, create tax rates first in Partner Center → Administration → Tax Rates.

1. Click Create Tax Rate.
2. Select a Country and optionally a State/Prov.
3. Enter a Tax name and the Rate (%).
4. Optionally add a Description/Tax number and an Accounting code.
5. Click Save.

Once created, tax rates can be applied to individual line items on any invoice. Open the invoice, click the options menu (⋮) on a line item, and select Set Item Tax.

Learn more about discounts and tax rates

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