The subscription Grace Period specifies the number of days a member can renew without the loss of benefits after the Subscription Term End Date. For example, if a Subscription Plan has the Grace Period enabled and an expired subscription falls within the Grace Period while the Days to Lapse turns negative, the assignments, badges, and subscription remain active.

The Grace Period is configured on the Subscription Plan. After purchase, the Grace Period End Date displays on the subscription record and the term object via the Term related list on the subscription record. The Sales Order Line does not display any Grace Period dates. When a customer renews a subscription that is in the Grace Period, the Current Term Start Date is one day after the Current Term End Date. Renewing a subscription that is in the Grace Period does not alter the term Start and End Dates.

Best Practice: It is recommended that if a subscription is renewed before the grace period ends, that it should be treated as a renewal. Subscriptions purchased after the grace period should be treated as a new subscription.

Table 1. Subscription Grace Period Fields:

Field

Record Location

Description

Grace Period

Subscription Plan (Calendar or Termed)

  • A numeric field on the Subscription Plan in which the admin or staff user defines the number of days after the subscription by which a member can renew a subscription without losing benefits.

Grace Period End Date

Subscription record and Terms related list (Term Object)

  • A calculated date field on the subscription that is the Paid Through Date plus the number of days defined on the Subscription Plan's Grace Period field.

  • Not a formula field.

  • Staff users can edit this field and enter custom business logic.

In Grace Period

Subscription record

  • A formula field (checkbox) on the subscription that compares the Current Term End Date and Grace Period End Date.

  • If checked, then the subscription is within the Grace Period.

Grace Period End Date

Terms related list (Term object)

  • A date field on the Term object that is calculated from the date, Subscription End Date, and Subscription Plan Grace Period.

  • Not a formula field.

  • Staff users can edit this field and enter custom business logic.

A Schedule Job (TermBatchableScheduler) will need to be scheduled that will activate and deactivate Terms based on Term Start Date and Term End Date (and Grace Period whenever applicable) respectively. This will only need to be done once in your system, until the end date of the scheduled job has past. Once the End Date of the Schedule Item has passed, then a new Schedule Job will need to be created. See our Scheduled Jobs page for more information.

Configure Grace Periods for Subscriptions:

The system allows Grace Periods on a Calendar and Termed Subscription. The Grace Period is reflected on the Subscription record, the Term, and the Subscription Plan.  Using Grace Period does not alter Current Term Start Date or Current Term End Date on the Subscription record.

  1. Navigate to the Subscription Plans tab and select an existing Calendar or Termed Subscription Plan.

  2. Click Edit on the Subscription Plan's record page. The Edit Subscription Plan modal will open.

  3. Enter the number of days in the Grace Period field that the subscription and assignments are able to renew without losing benefits once the Subscription End Date or Term has ended.

  4. Click Save.

Edit a Subscription Item Record to Populate the Grace Period End Date:

Grace Period functionality only affects future subscriptions created after the Grace Period field on the Subscription Plan has been populated. It is possible to edit the subscription record in order to populate the Grace Period End Date fields on the subscription, but this will need to be done for all past subscriptions under that Subscription Plan. The below steps would need to be completed in order to rectify older subscription data that does not have the Grace Period End Date populated.

  1. Navigate to the Memberships tab and select a Subscription ID. The Membership record will open.

  2. From the Membership record, click the Edit button. The Edit Membership modal will open.

  3. In the Current Term section, enter a date in the Grace Period End Date field.

  4. Click Save.

  5. Click Related to access the related lists.

  6. Scroll down to the Terms related list and click Edit for the current term record. The Edit Term modal will open.

  7. In the Grace Period End Date field, enter same Grace Period End Date added to the Membership record.

    1. Without entering the Term Grace Period End Date, any associated Badges with the Subscription will still expire on the Subscription Term End Date, not on the Grace Period End Date. This means that the Subscription will still remain active during the Grace Period if you simply edit and save the Subscription record. But, without editing the Grace Period End Date on the Term, any benefits through Badging will not function.

  8. Click Save.