Subscription billing, status, and activating, pausing, or canceling
A subscription moves through statuses: Draft, Scheduled (saved with a future start date - stored as not_started), Active (billing on schedule), Paused, Canceled, and Complete. A draft subscription is started with Activate Subscription.
Activation requires an email address for the recipient under Contact > To. If the selected contact has no email, the error message names the contact and explains how to continue: add an email to that contact, or choose another recipient with an email address, then Save and try Activate Subscription again. Creating a subscription from a contact's page can prefill that contact, so a name in To does not necessarily mean an email is on file.
If a Draft sits past its start date, reopening or refreshing it moves the schedule shown in Duration forward: the start date moves to today, and a fixed end date moves with it so the subscription keeps the same length (for example, a draft that ran one month still runs one month). You can choose today or a future start date, but not a past date. Review and Save the updated schedule before activating. Essential only does this while the subscription is a Draft; it does not move a live subscription's dates.
Once active, the action menu offers Pause Subscription (stops generating invoices until resumed), Resume Subscription, and Cancel Subscription (stops future billing for good; existing invoices remain due).
Each cycle it bills the recurring total either by automatically charging a saved payment method or by emailing the invoice to the customer to pay, depending on its type. The next invoice date - shown as Next invoice on in the header and Next invoice send date in the settings - is only meaningful while the subscription is active or scheduled; a paused, canceled, or completed subscription has no upcoming invoice.
Use the subscription's own controls for status changes. The Essential Assistant can read and explain a subscription, but it does not activate, pause, resume, or cancel it for you.
Where to find it: On the open subscription, the Activate / Pause / Resume / Cancel controls in the action bar at the top
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