Skip to main content
A subscription bills a client for a plan every period. You create the plan once, with its price and how often it bills, then subscribe clients to it. Each period Hiveku charges the client’s saved card, or emails them an invoice when there is no card. This guide creates Northwind’s Monthly Coffee Club, $38 a month, and subscribes Dana Kowalski to it from November 2. The confirmation email is switched off, and the subscription is deleted at the end, before its first bill, so nothing is billed or sent.

​
Create the plan

1

Open Plans

Click Commerce in the left rail, then Subscriptions. Open the Plans tab and click New plan.
Subscriptions and plans with the Plans tab outlined, the New plan button outlined, and No plans yet

Plans, and New plan

2

Name, price and how often

Give the plan a Name and a Description: your client sees both. Type the Price of one period, and under Interval how often it bills: every 1 month here, or a number of days, weeks or years.Trial (days) gives a free trial before the first bill. A Setup fee is billed once, on the first invoice. Leave Tax rate (%) empty to work the tax out from each client’s state, then your account default.Click Create plan.
The New subscription plan dialog with Name Monthly Coffee Club outlined, a Description, Price 38.00 outlined, Interval 1 month outlined, Trial (days) 0, Setup fee and Tax rate (%) empty, and the Create plan button outlined

The Monthly Coffee Club

3

The plan is ready to sell

The plan is listed with its price, interval and number of subscribers. The pencil button edits it, and the box button archives it so it can’t be sold any more.
The Plans tab with the Monthly Coffee Club row outlined: $38.00, per month, no trial, no setup fee, 0 subscribers, and its edit and archive buttons

$38.00 per month

​
Subscribe a client

1

Open Subscribe a client

Open the Subscriptions tab and click Subscribe a client.
The Subscriptions tab outlined, the Monthly recurring, Active subscriptions and Needs attention tiles at zero, and the Subscribe a client button outlined

Subscribe a client

2

Client, plan and how billing starts

Pick the Client and the Plan. Under Billing, choose how it starts:
  • Charge now bills the first period today, to the client’s saved card.
  • Invoice now, don’t charge emails an invoice for the first period today.
  • Start on a future date does nothing until the start date, then bills on its own.
  • Free trial first bills nothing until the trial ends.
Northwind chooses Start on a future date.
Subscribe a client to a plan with Client Dana Kowalski outlined, Plan Monthly Coffee Club, 38.00 USD / month outlined, and the Start on a future date option outlined below Charge now and Invoice now, don't charge

Dana Kowalski, from a future date

3

The details

Card on file lists your client’s saved cards. Dana has none, so each period is emailed as an invoice instead of charged, due by the Payment terms.Set the Start date: it has to be in the future, and it bills on that day of each month. Quantity, Price override and Tax rate (%) change what this client pays; leave them to use the plan’s price.Leave Bill automatically ticked. Untick Email the customer a confirmation if you don’t want Hiveku to email the client about the plan and its first bill now. Northwind unticks it.Click Subscribe. With Charge now, the button reads Subscribe & charge and charges the card at once.
The lower part of the dialog with Card on file outlined, saying there are no saved cards and an invoice will be emailed each period instead; Start date 11/02/2026 outlined; Quantity 1, Price override 38.00, Tax rate Auto, Payment terms Net 30, Bill automatically ticked; Email the customer a confirmation unticked and outlined; and the Subscribe button outlined

From November 2, no confirmation email

​
Read the subscription

The subscription is listed as Active, with its next billing date and amount, and it counts toward Monthly recurring.
The Monthly recurring tile at $38.00 outlined, and the subscription row outlined: Monthly Coffee Club, Dana Kowalski, Active, next billing 11/2/2026, $38.00 / month, and Open

On the Subscriptions tab

Click Open to see it. Plan & pricing shows the amount, the tax, the Start date and the Current period. Invoices says when the first invoice is created: November 2. The Billing card on the right is where you attach a card or send the client a link to save one.
The Monthly Coffee Club subscription with the Active badge outlined, the buttons Bill this period now, Edit, Pause, Cancel at period end and Delete, Plan and pricing with Start date 11/2/2026 and Current period 11/2/2026 to 12/2/2026 outlined, and No invoices yet. The first one is generated on 11/2/2026, outlined

The first invoice is on November 2

​
Cancel or delete it

At the top of the subscription:
  • Cancel at period end lets the client finish the period they paid for. Once it is set, End now stops the subscription at once.
  • Delete removes a subscription that has never been invoiced, as if it had never been set up.
Cancel at period end works on one click, and Hiveku emails your client that their plan is set to cancel. End now emails them that it has been canceled. Delete sends nothing.
The subscription's buttons with Cancel at period end and Delete outlined

Cancel at period end, and Delete

Northwind’s subscription was never billed, so it is deleted. Click Delete, then Delete subscription. The plan stays, ready for the next client.
The Delete this subscription? dialog for Monthly Coffee Club for Dana Kowalski, saying it has never been invoiced, with the Delete subscription button outlined next to Keep it

Delete subscription

​
Good to know

  • Online payment needs a payment processor. Charging a saved card needs one. Northwind has none connected, so its subscriptions are billed by emailed invoice.
  • Changing a plan’s price changes every subscriber’s price from their next bill, unless a subscriber has a Price override. To change one client’s price, click Edit on their subscription.
  • Bill this period now bills the current period straight away, so don’t click it on a subscription that hasn’t started yet. Pause stops billing until you resume.
  • More: Subscriptions covers renewals, failed payments and MRR. To bill a client your own lines every month instead of a plan, see Bill a Client Every Month.