Tip #2 - Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date

Tip #2 - Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date

Hello everyone,

As you all know, we are coming up with a custom function workflow every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation of this previous blog, this week we will be seeing about Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date.

Business Scenario:


In general, for any business, the customers make payments via online as well as offline. In case of subscription where the automatic collection of charge is enabled (aka online subscription), the customer's card on file will be automatically charged on the renewal date on a regular basis. If for some reason the collection of charge fails on renewal, the Retry Settings (Dunning Settings) will handle the payment collection and sending notification reminders on specified intervals. Upon failure of all the retry attempts, the system will automatically cancel that subscription.

Whereas in the subscription for which the payment is made via cash (or) check, the business (sales) person collects the payment and record it manually into the billing system. There can be situations where even after multiple reminders and personal follow-ups by the salesperson, the customer might not have still paid for the invoice. In such cases, to avoid churn and to keep the cash flow coming, there can be a negotiation between the salesperson and the customer to collect the payment before a final date. This final date can be marked as the Expected Payment Date in that particular invoice.

In most of these scenarios, the customers will usually pay within the expected payment date which was previously agreed upon. However, if the customer fails to do so, the salesperson might have to cancel their subscription manually as there is no business value associated with it. 

Now, let's see how we can automate this process without any manual work. By doing this, you could save a significant amount of time which can be put into developing your business.

Logic Explanation:

As you would have guessed by now, we would be using our Custom Function Workflow to achieve this. Since this scenario involves date based actions, we will be using Date based Workflow. The Date based workflow is something that can be configured to run after a particular date and at a particular time depending on our requirement.

Now, if you were wondering how to configure the custom function to automate our process, please find the answers to your questions below.

What type of Workflow is to be followed?
Date Based Workflow

When is the date of execution?
1 day(s) after the Expected Payment Date.


Are there any additional filters required?

Yes. Execute this workflow only for unpaid invoices.

So to summarize, this custom function should be set to run exactly one day after the expected payment date for the unpaid invoices. After configuring this custom function, you would have to code (the functionality) in such a way that the subscription associated with the invoice is cancelled immediately.

Please be informed that this custom function workflow will work only on the invoices which are created after configuring this custom function.


Code Explanation:

You can refer the code through this GitHub link. The code is written in Deluge script, which is easily understandable to non-programmers. 

1) This snippet of code will be executed only for invoices which are unpaid even after the expected payment date. Kindly replace the "authtoken variable" with your generated authtoken.

2) Initially, we will retrieve the Subscription that is associated with that particular invoice.

3) After retrieving the associated subscription, we will be cancelling it by using the Cancel Subscription API.


Getting started with the Custom Functions: 

1. Go to Settings -> Automation -> Custom Functions.


2. Create a new Custom function. Provide a name for the function. 


3. Choose the module as 'Invoice' and click on 'Create Custom Events'. 


4. Choose Date Based workflow type and Date of Execution as 1 day(s) after Expected Payment Date. You can also set a different Execution Time based on your requirement.

5. In order to run the function for unpaid invoices, Apply Advanced Filter as When Status isn't Paid. 

6. Copy the code which was given above.

7. Save the Custom function and you are good to go.


Further Enhancements:

1)  While using this custom function, there might be a scenario where you would like to exclude a few of your prime customers' subscription from being cancelled automatically without your consent. In order to do this, you can add a Custom Field of type CheckBox to the Subscription. 

While creating a subscription, you can leave this CheckBox marked (or) unmarked in order to differentiate your prime customers from others. Later, you can add this custom field in the Addition Criteria of your workflow, such that the workflow is executed only for your non-prime customers.

Please refer the below image for your reference, where the CheckBox custom field is named as "Cancel subscription automatically?".

2) When the subscription is cancelled, the last renewed invoice will still be in open status. If you would like to void that invoice before cancelling the subscription, you can modify the workflow to address that need. 

Found this useful? Try it out and let us know how it works! If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask!

Cheers,
Sasidaran K,
Zoho Subscriptions.

    • Sticky Posts

    • Tip #4 : Refer and Earn Workflow system for your Subscription Business

      Hello everyone, We've been coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which can be implemented for your business. In continuation to the previous post, this week we will be seeing about how you can implement the Refer and Earn Workflow system to acquire more customers. Why are Referrals important? Customer Acquisition is crucial for any business to sustain itself in a constantly evolving market. It involves persuading new consumers to purchase your products. Customers

    • Tip #2 - Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date

      Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a custom function workflow every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation of this previous blog, this week we will be seeing about Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date. Business Scenario: In general, for any business, the customers make payments via online as well as offline. In case of subscription where the automatic collection of charge is enabled (aka online subscription), the customer's

    • Tip #3 : Send SMS Reminders for your Subscription Business

      Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation to the previous blog, this week we will be seeing how you can use SMS reminders for your Subscription Business. Using SMS messages for your Subscription Business: While managing your subscription business, more often than not, you need to keep your customers informed about upcoming renewals, payment reminders and cancellations. By keeping them informed in advance, you can

    • Tips And Tricks - Announcement

      Hello everyone, Every business is unique and each of them follows a specific workflow. While managing your customers' subscriptions with Zoho, you might have some needs unique to your business. Custom Functions helps you address such needs. This is a start to a series of posts, where we will be coming up with a custom function workflow every week that addresses specific business scenarios. Watch this space for further updates! Also, if you have any specific business scenario which needs to be addressed,

    • Tip #6 : Accessing external URLs from Zoho Subscriptions

      Hello everyone, We have been sharing a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which you can implement for your subscription business. Last week, we shared a tip about implementing the Approval Workflow system. This week, let's look at how you can access external URLs with the help of Custom Link. Business Scenario: Every business functions differently and has its unique requirements. At times, businesses might want to access other websites or applications by appending specific information

    • Recent Topics

    • Search mails in shared mailbox

      Hi everyone, is there a way to search mails in shared mailbox's? Search in streams or mail doesn't return anything from mails in shared mailboxes. Thanks! Rafal

    • User Emails Blocked

      Community: I keep running into issues where our users stop receiving notifications from CRM because their email addresses get blocked in on the backend some how. I reach out to support, they confirm, they fix, and we carry on, but then it happens again.

    • Why wont Zoho Support Grammarly!! --- PLEASE VOTE FOR THIS to show Zoho we need this

      The spell check and grammar in ZOHO are so buggy and a waste of time. Please support Grammarly! I'm sure I'm not the only one — there are other CRMs that support this. If you're not planning to add this feature, Please let others know before accepting

    • Is it possible to hide Developer Space for all user in Zoho Projects

      Hello! I am Zoho admin in a company and we want to use Zoho Project to manage projects, but after a few days of testing we are not able to "hide" the Developer Space from all kind of users except the admin. To sum up, I want to hide this for all users.

    • API (v2) Search Criteria using CONCAT

      With API I can search for a contact using First_Name and Last_Name. However, when I need to search the Contact Module using a full name — and because CRM does not provide an API for full name — I am not finding a way to do this in the traditional way

    • Weekly Tips: Stay Focused with Email Snooze!

      New Year, New Resolutions Being back at work also means being back to the constant barrage of messages from work and clients. The constant flood of incoming emails can lead to the missing of important messages, especially when you can't respond right

    • Schedule Zoho CRM reports only on Business Days

      Hello, Is it possible to schedule reports only on business days ? We currently get daily sales reports on weekend which has no value since the sales team doesn't work on weekends. Thanks

    • Zoho Payroll's Year in Review 2024

      As we roll into 2025, we'd like to pay tribute to all the milestones we hit in 2024! From releasing out new features that streamlined your workflows to updates that made payroll management smoother, we’ve had a prolific year—all while keeping you, our

    • Recurring Events Not Appearing in "My Events" and therefore not syncing with Google Apps

      We use the Google Sync functionality for our events, and it appears to have been working fine except: I've created a set of recurring events that I noticed were missing from my Google Apps calendar. Upon further research, it appears this is occurring

    • How can the direct link to a ticket be created from ticket #?

      Our agents will be using ZDesk but we will have to create direct link to tickets in another ERP by providing the Desk Ticket # Is there a way to create the direkt links from the ticket # alone? Do we have to use the API to get the direct links?

    • Multiplying Weight of product by Quantity

      I am facing an issue with creating a report that consolidates the total sales volume in kilograms. I have already specified the weight for each product. I have also aggregated the total sales quantity. The key question is: how can I create a report that

    • Confirmation prompt before a custom button action is triggered

      Have you ever created a custom button and just hoped that you/your users are prompted first to confirm the action? Well, Zoho knows this concept. For example, in blueprint, whenever we want to advance to the next state by clicking the transition, it is

    • Frontal interview scheduling - room availability in office using Google Workspace?

      Hi, We're using Zoho Recruit as our ATS and Google Workspace as our email, calendar and resources management. We want to use the interview feature to schedule an in-person (frontal) interview with the applicants. How can we sync the room resources availability

    • Add and Remove Agents from Departments and Groups in Zoho One

      Hi Zoho Flow Team, We hope you're doing well. Currently, Zoho Flow provides an action to add an agent to a group in zoho one, but there is no action to remove an agent from a group or a department. Another action that we find missing is the option to

    • Explication sur comment mettre en place des règles d'affichage ou "layout Rules"

      J'ai passé plus d'une heure hier avec le support et je n'ai rien compris !! Je suis lecteur assidu des guides (je "RTFM") qui ne sont absolument pas orienté "client" chez Zoho, et je tiens à le rappeler ici . Dans la documentation on m'indique un cas

    • Introducing Hiring Pipeline for Vendor Portal

      Keeping vendors informed about candidate progress is often challenging, leading to communication gaps and repeated follow-ups. To address this issue, we've released an update to the Vendor Portal feature that lets you choose to display candidates' hiring

    • Unlocking New Horizons: A Year in Review

      As we bid farewell to 2024, let's celebrate and revisit the key highlights of the year. From adding a new edition to cross-platform enhancements, here’s a roundup of all the feature updates designed to simplify accounting, optimize financial management,

    • Address Grabber function for Zoho

      I converted from ACT to Zoho. With ACT, I used an add-on called AddressGrabber to scrape the contact information from leads that I buy and contact information contained on emails and websites and directly add it as a new lead or contact. Does anyone know

    • Integrate zoom with zoho bookings please; or add optional times in zoho meetings

      Just like events - these online meetings like zoom need to be integrated with zoho bookings, and there needs to be option for customer to book a time slot. It should not be dictated by CRM user.

    • Add Owner to deluge-created module record note

      Is it possible to include the "owner" aka "creator", of a Note when creating it via delulge? This sets "superadmin" as the Note creator. I need to override it. notemap = Map(); notemap.put("Parent_Id",program_contact_id); notemap.put("Note_Content",program_contact_data.get('Note'));

    • Directly Edit, Filter, and Sort Subforms on the Details Page

      Hello everyone, As you know, subforms allow you to associate multiple line items with a single record, greatly enhancing your data organization. For example, a sales order subform neatly lists all products, their quantities, amounts, and other relevant

    • Unique and Random IDs in Zoho Forms: Organize and Secure Your Data Efficiently

      When it comes to form submissions, organizing and identifying entries effectively is crucial. Zoho Forms offers two versatile ID generation options for submissions: Unique ID and Random ID. Each serves distinct purposes, providing flexibility to meet

    • Sort By Date - Deluge

      I have the following code, which normally works to sort calls by created time. Every once in a while, it doesn't work and something sneaks through in the wrong order and I can't figure out why. calls = zoho.crm.searchRecords("Calls","(Owner:equals:" +

    • Iteration through a list - Coming up against a "Failure to update function" error

      Hi there! I've been attempting to get a deluge script working and am running into an error that I have been unable to resolve. The error I am getting is Failed to update function Error at line :18. Improper Statement. Error might be due to missing ';'

    • Can you modify "Last Activity Time" in deluge? If so what's the field name?

      I need to perform some bulk modifications on records in the Leads module, but I need to avoid changing the "last activity time" or "date modified" because I am using those fields to filter and sort leads for follow-up action. I cannot find an answer anywhere

    • How do I define a weekend

      I noticed the default for weekends does not seem to include Saturdays. How can i define weekends to include both Saturdays and Sundays? Thank you.

    • 【Zoho CRM】ポータル機能のアップデート

      ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 今回は「Zoho CRM アップデート情報」の中からポータル機能のアップデートをご紹介します。 今回の機能アップデートにより、CRMのポータルへのログインがより簡単にできるようになりました。 【目次】 SAMLベースのシングルサインオンについて ポータルへのアクセスリンク送付について 今回のアップデートにより、アイデンティティプロバイダー（IdP）を利用している組織において、SAMLベースのSSO（シングルサインオン）を有効化できるようになりました！

    • Getting error during inserting a record in form of zoho people using zoho api

      import requests import json # Set your access token and Zoho People API base URL access_token = '1000.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX' api_base_url = 'https://people.zoho.in/people/api/' # Set the form name and data to be inserted form_link_name

    • UI Arabic

      can i change the member portal UI to arabic in zoho community?

    • Resume template to include profile photo

      Hi, We would love the Resume Template to be able to include their profile photo. How can this be done? Miriam

    • Marking a form as 'done'?

      Hi! I've got a form that staff fill in when moving stock from location to location. I see the entries they've sent across and I input them into my stock control system. Is there a way to mark a form as 'done'? So that I know which entries I've input,

    • Zoho CRM - best way to search an account and assign to a deal

      Hi Everyone I am looking for some advice. I want to find the best way to complete the below steps. We have a deal and once it reaches a certain stage we need to allocate a supplier / vendor to this deal along with the salesperson. I want to add (ideally

    • How to easy change layout in existing records in Deals?

      Hello, So far i have used only 1 layout in Deals. I have about 1000 records. Now i want to make new layout. So i have 2 layouts: Layout Old (1000 records) Layout New (0 records) How to easy change layout from Layout Old into Layout New for existing records?

    • Zoho Rating

      When I close a ticket, the zoho system automatically sends an email to the customer for them to leave a rating. When they leave a rating, the ticket re-opens and I have to close it again. When I close it again, the zoho system sends the customer an email

    • Zoho GC Flow is not showing in IM Channels

      I have added my social IM channels in zoho desk. Created a GC Flow to automate conversations. But Guided conversations are not showing in any platforms I have chosen; WhatsApp Instagram Messenger Web (Business Messaging) In the flow I mentioned these

    • Sharing Knowledge Base articles across multiple departments

      It would be useful to share some Knowledge Base articles across multiple departments where they are applicable, rather than having to go into other departments to find the article you're looking for. For example. Our reception uses the 'Admin' desk whereas our IT guys use the 'Support' desk, however both divisions would find KB articles about our company intranet useful. Reception does not have access to the support desk, so cannot see articles created in the Support KB. Perhaps you could install

    • Contacts marked as Spam are shown as Contacts in tickets.

      Hi Zoho, If a ticket is marked manually as Spam you get an option to set the contact as Spam as well. It would be great if there was another option to delete this Contact. This would be based on the understanding that it wouldn't be marked automatically

    • Is possible to use ${webhookTrigger.payload.street==null?"No street":${webhookTrigger.payload.street}} for to detect inline a null parameter

      Hi Team I need to know if it's possible to evaluate inline the following parameter, with the objetive to detect a null value ? I would like to use ${webhookTrigger.payload.street==null?"No street":${webhookTrigger.payload.street}} Regards, Pablo

    • Real Estate CRM

      How can I tailor my CRM for real estate? I had seen an image where the CRM included property tabs.

    • Issue with Bulk Edit Triggering Function Multiple Times in Zoho Report

      In our Zoho report, we have observed an issue where executing a function during a bulk edit operation runs the function multiple times—once for each selected report entry. This behavior is causing errors due to overlapping or redundant executions. Our

    • Next Page