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 DateYou 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.

    Zoho Desk Resources

    • Desk Community Learning Series


    • Digest


    • Functions


    • Meetups


    • Kbase


    • Resources


    • Glossary


    • Desk Marketplace


    • MVP Corner


    • Word of the Day


      • 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

      Zoho CRM Plus Resources

        Zoho Books Resources


          Zoho Subscriptions Resources

            Zoho Projects Resources


              Zoho Sprints Resources


                Zoho Orchestly Resources


                  Zoho Creator Resources


                    Zoho WorkDrive Resources



                      Zoho Campaigns Resources

                        Zoho CRM Resources

                        • CRM Community Learning Series

                          CRM Community Learning Series


                        • Tips

                          Tips

                        • Functions

                          Functions

                        • Meetups

                          Meetups

                        • Kbase

                          Kbase

                        • Resources

                          Resources

                        • Digest

                          Digest

                        • CRM Marketplace

                          CRM Marketplace

                        • MVP Corner

                          MVP Corner




                          Zoho Writer Writer

                          Get Started. Write Away!

                          Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                            Zoho CRM コンテンツ






                              ご検討中の方

                                • Recent Topics

                                • Add multiple users to a task

                                  When I´m assigning a task it is almost always related to more than one person. Practical situation: When a client request some improvement the related department opens the task with the situation and people related to it as the client itself, the salesman
                                • What is Attendee Status 0 and 1?

                                  Hi there, I recently stumbled upon the API to get the attendee list and in the return value, there is a parameter called "status", and 0 supposed to mean not_attending, and 1 means attending. I cannot find this representation anywhere in the attendee
                                • ZOHO BackStage

                                  How to get list of events, using ZOHO BackStage APIs. Is it possible OR not?
                                • How to Customize Task Creation to Send a Custom Alert Using JavaScript in Zoho CRM?

                                  Hello Zoho CRM Community, I’m looking to customize Zoho CRM to send a custom alert whenever a task is created. I understand that Zoho CRM supports client scripts using JavaScript, and I would like to leverage this feature to implement the alert functionality.
                                • Zoho Meeting iOS app update - Join breakout rooms, access polls, paste links and join sessions, in session host controls

                                  Hello, everyone! In the latest iOS version(v1.7) of the Zoho Meeting app, we have brought in support for the following features: Polls in meeting session Join Breakout rooms Paste link in join meeting screen Foreign time zone in the meeting details screen.
                                • Calculate hours between 2 date/time fields

                                  Hi, Does anyone know if it is possible to get the number of hours between 2 date/time fields in a zoho crm custom function? Thanks, Michael
                                • External ID validation.

                                  I added an external ID field as below in one of my custom modules: When creating records via the API using some value (eg: 762115b2-097e-43b2-bdba-f3924a5371a6) for this field, it works without any problem. I can create and even see the records on the
                                • CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive

                                  Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage files
                                • Create a button that executes a customized function

                                  Hello, I have created a summary view in which I combine the data from my items table and suppliers table. I would like to know if there is the possibility of adding a button somewhere in the view to be able to execute a function when clicked on it. I
                                • Custom field doesn't fill when converting sales order to invoice

                                  Hi, When I convert a Sales Order to an Invoice one of the custom fields on a product line names "Subsidie" does not seem to fill in automatically. I manually have to select the product again by clicking on the product name in the order line en re-select
                                • Can I use ZOHO calendar to schedule a Youtube video that is already in my youtube account, but listed as private or unlisted?

                                  I am creating Youtube videos and shorts and then uploading them to our Channel so others can view and approve. Once approved I would like to just schedule them over the next few days within Zoho. So far it looks like I have to re-upload the video to Zoho
                                • How to Display a Logo Image on a Public Form?

                                  I would like to display a logo image in the header of a form. To achieve this, I added an Add Notes field to the form. The code below works perfectly for Zoho users accessing the form. However, when the form is made public, the image does not load properly:
                                • Advice for my first project in Zoho

                                  Hello, how can I design and implement a customized ERP and CRM system using Zoho to automate and manage core business functions, including customer relationship management, property inventory, sales tracking, and financial processes. This is one of my
                                • Associate Email API Internal Error

                                  I am trying to associate an already existing email within a function using the Related Emails API. To provide more context, I also have admin permissions and have ensured that the fields are correct and that I have admin permissions when associating the
                                • Profit on Sales order

                                  Hi, would it be possible to implement a column at the Sales order overview of Purchase amount? So a field with the amount of all purchase related to this Sales order? This is very usefull so you will see the profit you made on this deal. I tried to get
                                • Subform Data in v2 REST API

                                  What is the mechanism for adding subform data in the Creator v2 REST APIs?  There is nothing documented in the Data APIs documentation (https://www.zoho.com/creator/help/api/v2/).   I was able to determine how to GET the subform data by adding it to the
                                • Is the filename of an attachment restricted to only certain languages?

                                  Hi, I tried to create a file card in a notebook, but I encountered an issue: when the filename of an attachment is in languages other than the main ones (such as English, Japanese, or Simplified Chinese......), syncing stops or the filenames become garbled
                                • How to create comparison time periods like these examples

                                  In a Pivot Report I would like to be able to select any date range and show a set of metrics for that date range e.g. revenue, orders, units sold. I would then like to be able to compare to the previous period based on the amount of days on the selected
                                • Overwrite Option for custom modules

                                  Hi Team, I noticed that the overwrite option is unavailable in Zoho Books when importing data for custom modules. This limitation makes it challenging to bulk update old data, as the only option is the 'bulk update' feature, which is restricted to 25
                                • Zoho Creator - Zoho Analytics

                                  I am facing an issue in Zoho Analytics where I am still seeing deleted data from the Zoho Creator form I created. Could you please look into this and let me know what needs to be done?
                                • Unable to send emails

                                  I have this email parth@mrcolumbus.in, but I couldnt send outgoing email. Can you please help?
                                • Notifications push : Encourager le réengagement et renforcer la fidélité des utilisateurs efficacement

                                  Vous avez déjà souhaité engager et communiquer de manière proactive avec les utilisateurs, y compris lorsqu'ils utilisent votre application de manière peu active ? Zoho Apptics vous offre déjà des fonctionnalités qui vous permettent d'évaluer la performance,
                                • Easy way to delete attachments

                                  I've reached my data limit and would like to run a view/report, and mass delete attachments. Is there an easy, fast way to do this? Moderation Update: Post Summary: There are two features the post discusses a) Easy way to remove Email attachments Will
                                • How to add new deal to existing contact

                                  Hi, I want to add new deal to existing contact.
                                • Domain verification is in progress... (How long do I need to wait?)

                                  Trying to setup my first email domain by connecting with GoDaddy. Have been here for quite some time and the screen is not changing. How long should this take?Send DataSend Data
                                • email address autocomplete

                                  Is there a way to eliminate certain addresses from showing up in auto complete when entering an address? Many old and unused addresses currently show up, many of which I would like to get rid of. Thanks
                                • Linking an email to a Contact when the email is sent in deluge via sendmail

                                  The "to:" address in this code is a CRM Contact. Email address is forced unique in CRM This sendmail gets sent via a workflow which is in a custom module. It works, except that the outbound email does not appear (i.e, get linked to) the Contact such that
                                • How to restore deleted Field

                                  I edited a field in zoho form and by accident I deleted a field (email address). The form is ongoing to be filled by respondent. Then, when I checked to the all entries and report, the email address is gone. I checked in audit log, there is a record that
                                • How to select multiple notes at once in the PC client?

                                  In the PC client, you can select notes using ctr+LMB. But why can't you use shift+LMB? PC version 3.2.0
                                • How I can add customized Invoice

                                  Hi, I wanna use a customized Invoice, how i can add that
                                • Zoho Analytics Pivot Table - How to compare month vs last year same month

                                  Hi, I had created a pivot table with setup as below: Column: - Delivery Date Row: - Customer Group Data as column - Total amount (sum > normal) (show data of the month) - Total amount (sum > % difference from previous value) (compare between this month
                                • Recorded imported goods

                                  I have imported some goods from a foreign vendor called ABC. to Bahrain. My Customs duty and VAT are paid by an agency called XYZ to authorities. I have paid the amounts to XYZ and they have paid to authorities in behalf of us using our TRN Number. Now
                                • Notes created in mobile app not syncing with web notebook

                                  I have created certain notes in a new notebook in mobile app. The new notebook is also created using mobile app and when I logged in through web I am unable to see notebook that I have created using mobile app. there is no trace of notes in which i have created in mobile app on the web even after days of creating in mobile app This is not the case vise-a-versa. the notes and note book created on web are accessible on mobile app on real time.  this is very inconvenient and big demotivating factor
                                • Match Transaction > Filter | Allow wildcards in search

                                  The Filter function is useful for narrowing down to a specific set of transactions. It would be useful to have the ability to use wildcards in search. e.g. customer name "starts with" or " * " as a placeholder. e.g. "National * " instead of "National
                                • Marketing Automation Emails Going to Spam

                                  Google is trapping all the marketing automation emails in spam. My domain has a perfect reputation and it looks like Zoho has a low reputation which is sending it to spam. When I pull the email out of spam and click on a link in the email, I get this
                                • Convert Request to Forum Topic

                                  I know you can convert a forum topic to a request and a request to a solution in the knowledge base, but how do you convert a request to a forum topic?  Is this possible?  If not is this a feature coming down the pipe in the near future? Thanks!
                                • Zoho Sign / Prefill By You - Editable by Them!

                                  Zoho Sign seems to have two field options available - an empty field for signer(s) to complete or a field that has been prefilled by you, that becomes read only once sent.  What I would like is an option on the pre-filled by you fields, to leave them
                                • Is the Contacts sync between Campaigns and CRM bi-directional?

                                  Is the Contacts sync between Campaigns and CRM bi-directional?
                                • Task does not syncing to google calendar shedual

                                  Hi why does the tasks activities do not syncing with the google calendar like the event option does?
                                • Bug with Zobot Human transfer

                                  I have configured the brand, the operator, and the Zobot in Spanish. However, no matter what I do, it always says "YES" instead of "Sí" or "Sure, why not " instead of "Claro, ¿por qué no?" when asking if the user wants to contact a human operator. The
                                • Next Page