Recurring Subscriptions with Authorize.net
NOTE: This functionality is created custom for each client that requires it based on their needs.
NOTE: This functionality is created custom for each client that requires it based on their needs. This article is meant as a summary of how recurring subscriptions generally work.
A recurring subscription is defined as a way to automatically charge a credit card or eCheck to charge a specific dollar amount for a specific interval on a recurring basis. These are typically used for memberships and donations in the AMS, and there is a monthly fee that Authorize.net charges for using their Automated Recurring Billing™ (ARB) feature. The automatic payment options can vary, but must consist of a set frequency and duration.
The payment frequency can be defined as a monthly, quarterly or annual interval when charges occur. The duration will either be a set time (1 year), or finite; else ongoing until stopped, or perpetual.
The recurring subscription is created for a given purchase by the AMS in Authorize.net as a subscription plan. Any updates to that subscription plan would need to be manually done in Authorize.net and then manually updated in the AMS or cancelled in both systems and recreated new. Renewals of recurring finite subscriptions, like memberships, are done in the AMS by creating a new recurring subscription plan in Authorize.net. Perpetual subscriptions are setup with a yearly invoice that is cloned every year.
Authorize.net creates a subscription number which is stored on the line items of the invoice that are part of the subscription plan. Authorize.net has no knowledge of what the charge amount is being used for (i.e. a donation or a membership). Because the subscription is associated with the line item on the invoice, it is possible to have multiple items on one invoice with subscription plans. And not all the items have to be in a subscription plan. For instance, you could have a quarterly recurring membership and conference registration on one invoice but only the membership would be part of the recurring subscription plan. However, you cannot combine discounts with recurring payments.
It is possible to purchase a quarterly membership on one invoice for one subscription plan in the morning and a quarterly donation on a different invoice in the afternoon on a second subscription plan. The only restriction is that the dollar amount cannot be the same on multiple subscription plans in the same day with the same interval; Authorize.net would interpret this as a duplicate subscription plan.
The recurring subscription start date will be the same day it is processed in the AMS. So, if a purchased is made for a 1-year, monthly recurring subscription on November 5th, the initial monthly charge would be on the November 5th, and then each of the 11 monthly subsequent charges would also occur on the 5th of each month.
When using the monthly interval, and the start date is on the 30 or 31 of the month, the card will be charged the last day of the month if the month has less than 30 or 31 days.
Program Codes, or HotKeys, for each subscription amount must be set up with a list price of the amount charged for the interval. So, if you want to allow monthly payments for retired members whose annual fee is $60, you would need a HotKey with a list price of $5. Regular members who pay $120 annual would have a HotKey with a list price of $10. If you are offering quarterly or other intervals as options you would need additional HotKeys for each variation of price and interval.
When creating the HotKey, you will need to check the Is Recurring checkbox to signify that purchases of this HotKey are recurring subscriptions.
An invoice with a balance due will be created in the AMS for all recurring subscriptions so that payments can be applied against them. Thus, if you select monthly with a fee of $10 each month the AMS will automatically charge the first month and set up the recurring subscription plan to process 11 additional payments. The invoice would be created with a total of $120 and a balance due of $110.
Once the subscription plan is created in Authorize.net there is no way to increase fees. Any changes would require the subscription plan to be cancelled in both Authorize.net and the Invoice in the AMS, and then a new Invoice created with any updates reflected in a new recurring subscription.
When a person tries to select a recurring subscription option the shopping cart will not allow it to complete if their credit card number expires within 90 days or less. They will receive a message about this and can select a different credit card.
Authorize.net has to be configured to notify via email all of the charges that have been processed each day. It will identify any cards that were declined. If a card has been declined your association will need to contact the person and obtain a new credit card. The association will log in to Authorize.net and update the subscription plan to use the new card. The association will have to charge the card using the A/R tab in the AMS to process all missed payments. Authorize.net will never retry charging a payment that was missed. Authorize.net has an Account Updater Service that automatically checks credit card information in subscriptions and attempts updates them. This is done outside of the AMS an only in Authorize.net and needs to be purchased from Authorize.net.
After the initial payment on the subscription plan, recurring subscription collected by Authorize.net will need to be manually exported and then imported into the AMS (see Import Authorize.net Recurring Billing Payments). We highly recommend that all recurring payments be processed one day a month. This will reduce the administrative time an association spends on fixing the errors, tracking down invalid cards and actually processing the payments.
For Perpetual subscriptions, an invoice is created every year to apply the imported payments against. See the Clone Perpetual Invoices article to learn more about this process.
You can look at a contact's Recurring payments on their Profile under the Money tab.
========
You cannot combine discounts with recurring payments.
The start and expiration date need to be set on invoice line item for any perpetual recurring subscription. The expiration date is used by the invoice clone routine for determining when to create a new invoice. So if a person has selected to make a perpetual monthly donation the start/expire date will need to be set on the invoice line item for the duration of one year.
If a contact has a perpetual membership recurring subscription they will not be allowed to access the join/renew web page.
Once a subscription plan is created how are recurring charges entered into the AMS
There is an import routine to process the payments.
Should any of the recurring charges be deferred?
If you are not collecting the full amount it is best not to use deferral GL accounts on recurring subscription hotkeys, like monthly or quarterly. You may never be able to collect the balance if the credit card expires and you are unable to reach the contact to get a new credit card.
What if the credit card is declined on a recurring charge?
Authorize.net will never try to charge a card a second time if it has been declined. The subscription is considered to be suspended in Authorize.net once the credit card has been declined. Suspended subscriptions must be reactivated before the next scheduled payment, otherwise the subscription will be terminated. The association needs to contact the person and obtain a new credit card to use. When they obtain the credit card they must click on the A/R tab in Noah and process the delinquent payments. Then they should log in to Authorize.net and update the credit card information on the subscription provided it has not been terminated.
How is a perpetual subscription cancelled?
The staff must log in to Authorize.net and cancel the subscription unless the credit card is no longer valid. Authorize.net won’t ever try to charge the card again so it is essentially cancelled in Authorize.net until you update the credit card information.
The invoice must also be canceled in the AMS. If it is a perpetual subscription we should no longer create a new invoice. If you had a monthly invoice where they had paid for 6 months of membership dues and you are unable to collect the balance you would cancel the line item and then add a new line item for the same hotkey showing the total to be 6 months of membership dues (setting the appropriate start/expire dates for the 6 months they received membership benefits).
Should a new A/R account be created for the hotkeys used for recurring subscriptions?
Yes, if you would like to separate the recurring receivables from all other receivables.
Should the printed renewal notice bypass anyone who has a recurring subscription?
Yes, unless you need to send out a notification of some sort.
Do you want the summary box on the website to show an expiration date on the membership box or do you want the text changed to say they are on an autorenew payment plan?
When the person clicks on the pay outstanding invoices on the website, all invoices that are recurring subscriptions will not appear
We do not want to allow anyone to pay on a recurring subscription because the payments will occur automatically so they are blocked from seeing those invoices.
Considerations when setting up perpetual subscriptions for membership?
There is no way for a person to change membership categories.
There is no way to increase fees. There are many decisions that have to be made if this occurs and varies for each association. Will current subscriptions have to be canceled and new ones created. Will new hotkeys/program codes need to be created? Would old invoices have to be canceled/altered? We estimate this to be very complex and expensive and cost thousands of dollars.
Can staff use the AMS shopping cart to create a recurring subscription?
No. The staff cannot use the AMS shopping cart tab to create a recurring subscription. The staff can advise the contact to use the website to create a recurring subscription, or the staff can use the BecomeUser functionality on the website to impersonate the user and create the recurring subscription as that user in the Website Shopping Cart.
Can staff use view and update the Authorize.net Subscription ID on an Invoice?
Yes. Open the Adjustment Wizard for the Invoice. There you will find the Recurring Authorization ID which can be viewed and updated if needed. NOTE: this the key piece of information to match recurring payments from Authorize.net to an Invoice.