The billing process and Subscription Control: Comprehensive Review of Five Options

A majority of billing and subscription management tools allow:

• Build various trial and subscription models (e.g. either a free or paid trial and use-based or fixed-price subscriptions).
• Manage active subscriptions (e.g. upgrading or downgrades, as well as adding or removing products).
• Send invoices and/or payment notifications.
• Give your customers an online self-service portal through which they are able to manage their accounts.
• View reports on the key performance indicators that determine revenues.

In reality, the majority of businesses realize they need additional software for other aspects of the payment cycle, including:

• Payment processing
• The collection of VAT and sales tax
• Look up Translations
• Currency conversion
• Chargebacks
• And more...

If you're in need of some of these functions, you'll need to make sure they are offered by any billing software you select (or easily connect to other software applications).

In this tutorial, we compare five alternatives by taking a look at the subscription and billing features they provide along with the extra capabilities they have -- starting with a deep dive into our solution that caters to SaaS firms, .

 Table of Contents

1.   Chargebee
2.   Recurly
3.   Chargify
4.   Zoho Subscriptions

1.  The Subscription Management Process, Payment Processing, and Much More for SaaS Companies

offers several options for the management of subscriptions (which we'll discuss in the following), however, it's more than just the platform to manage subscriptionsWe're also our own Merchant of Record (MoR) for software companies.

 As MoR, we assume the responsibility for transactions on behalf of you, meaning we:

• Take and remit the right amount of sales tax, VAT, and GST for you.
• Be sure that the appropriate processes and documents are in place to stay legally compliant for each location where you sell.
• We lead the way on audits.

 Plus, has comprehensive solutions for the entire cycle of payment, including:

• The localized checkout (i.e., currency exchanges, translations of languages, custom designs and much more)
• International payment processing (for dozens of preferred payment methods)
• Fraud detection
• Chargebacks
• Reporting and analytics
• And there's More...

In the sections below, we dig into the various features and services in more in depth.

Custom Subscription and Recurring Billing Models for B2C , B2B or B2C

makes it easy to setup nearly any subscription in just a couple of clicks. The majority of subscription types with no code, but you can also create more complex subscription logic using our API or webhooks library.

Here's an overview of the options available to you:

 Trials

A few subscription management programs require payment information as potential clients sign up for trials, even free trials. It can lead some potential customers to lose interest and fail to complete the sign-up procedure. lets you decide whether or not you want to gather the payment information in each trial.

You can also:

• Trials of any length can be created.
• Create free, paid or usage-based trials.
• Select to invoice the user after the trial is over or allow them to manually start a paid subscription.
• Let subscribers reactivate their account that have been cancelled.
• You can choose when to send reminders of ending trials (e.g. 3 days before trial end).
• Automatically detect when a single user attempts to sign-up to multiple trial accounts and permit one trial account.

 Subscriptions

Each product in a given business could get better results from different subscription plans. For example, low-tier products may perform better if offered with a subscription that is monthly while top-end products could perform better if sold through an annual subscription.

Furthermore, what worked in the past might not be the most effective option in the near future.

We'll let you know:

• Pick the duration of the subscription as well as the dates for billing (or let your clients choose).
• Set subscriptions to auto-renew and need manual renewal (i.e. clients have to enter payment details each when they are billed), or ask your staff to begin the charge through API API (this is an ideal choice for billing on the basis of usage).
• Discounts and coupons are offered.
• Allow prorated billing if the customer wishes to downgrade or upgrade or stop the service halfway through the billing cycle.
• Include one-time purchases on the initial bill but not the recurring bills.
• Manage upsell and cross-sell products during checkout.
• Give customers the option of whether or not to store the information about payment (or decide for all customers).
• Automate the renewal of certain subscriptions and other subscriptions (e.g. after the end of the service or product).

 Recurring Billing and Invoicing

lets you manage B2B orders alongside B2C purchases using Digital Invoicing.

Digital Invoicing allows you to:

• Create and manage custom quotes in real-time (including custom tags, coupons, discounts, and many more).
• Set expiration dates for quotes.
• Add notes for your customer or prospective customer.

Fully Branded Self-serve features for Your Customers

is a self-service platform where your customers can:

• Renew subscriptions
• Manage billing periods
• Make changes to payment details
• View payment history
• And there's more ...

We take care of all backend maintenance on this website so your team doesn't have to.

As your MoR We take care of your customer's billing inquiries, including cancellation requests, billing problems, questions about their subscriptionsand much more. The platform comes with the customer portal which allows your customers to manage their subscriptions.

The picture below illustrates a simple example of the self-service portal. However, to provide a seamless user experience, the whole website can be tailored to match your branding.

It is also possible to enable customer-generated quotes. The feature lets customers create a quote based on the contents in the cart, without having to contact the sales department. This feature is very helpful in securing potential customers who require approval before they make purchases.

Local Transaction as well as Indirect Tax Compliance Made Easy

Two main areas of compliance when it comes to transactions with recurring nature:

1. Transaction compliance (i.e. the technology you use to collect payment).
2. Sales tax, VAT and GST compliance (i.e., how you take and pay indirect taxes).

In order to stay clear of penalties and fines, you have to consider both transaction laws and tax laws for every location you conduct business within. In this section, we will cover:

• Examples of transaction laws which affect subscription-based businesses.
• The question is whether or not software companies must collect sales tax, VAT as well as GST.
• How do you handle this for you.

Transaction Compliance

Each state, nation each province and state has its individual laws and regulations on the ways businesses collect and save customer data. Most companies have a good understanding of privacy rules such as GDPR, however, there are many transaction regulations that aren't as popularly known.

For example, in some nations, including Canada and Korea consumers are entitled under the law to get a prorated refund in the event that they end their subscription before the end of the period for payment. It's just one illustration that illustrates an aspect of the entire subscription cycle- and these laws and regulations are constantly evolving.

For the majority of subscription management tools it's yourself to research rules and laws governing transactions, and follow the appropriate processes. In addition, certain subscription platforms don't provide the required options to comply with law and regulations (e.g., some platforms do not support prorated refunds).

However, our team manages all the above all of this for you. Our legal expert team keeps up-to-date with all relevant transaction laws and regulations and helps you adopt the appropriate procedures to ensure that you are in compliance. also supports all necessary subscription model for conformity.

Sales Tax, VAT and GST Compliance

Software companies weren't required to collect the sales tax or VAT and GST, and in some jurisdictions, this is the situation. However, tax laws for digital services and goods change rapidly in a variety of areas.

Many countries are mandating software companies to pay some kind of indirect tax. Additionally, certain countries require digital businesses to fill out tax forms even if they qualify for tax exemption.

In the end, paying sales tax is often more involved than filing a tax form and then wire the money. In the last few years, more and more countries have imposed more requirements for compliance.

For example:

• Some countries like Colombia, Japan, Mexico, Serbia, and others require local representation, meaning you have an employee with an actual presence in the country in order to pay your tax obligations. This can cost anywhere between $5k and $15k each year.
• Some countries like Serbia, United Kingdom, Taiwan, and others require electronic invoices for any business that sells in their country. The EU will be introducing universal electronic invoicing requirements by 2028.
• Some countries like Taiwan, Indonesia, Nigeria, Vietnam, and others have you pay taxes on income in addition to indirect tax.

takes care of the entire procedure of collecting and paying VAT, sales tax and GST for you .

We make sure that the right amount (and the correct type) of tax indirect is being taken at checkout (including tax-exempt transactions within the US and 0% reverse charge when permitted abroad).

Our team then remits these taxes on your behalf and will ensure that the proper processes are in place to ensure complete conformity.

Finally, if a country or state asks you questions about tax compliance, our team will help you figure out how best you can respond, even as far as providing copy and paste replies.

Worldwide Payment Processing for Dozens of Payment Methods

The majority of payment processors concentrate on a certain location, while all payment processors have a finite list of payment methods that they support. As an example, certain payment processors aim to support transactions that are accepted in the U.S. Therefore, they'll support only the payment methods that are well-known within the U.S. (e.g., Mastercard or Apple Pay) and they aren't going to support something like UnionPay, which is commonly employed in China.

Additionally, many payment processors can only accept payment within certain currencies and countries. For example, they could be able to support Amazon Pay however they will not accept payments made from Turkey.

SaaS businesses who want to accept payment from all over the world must be connected to and manage numerous payment processors, which can be a huge undertaking.

With , SaaS firms automatically have access to a variety of payment processors who specialize in international transactions. maintains relationships with many payment processors, as well as hundreds of card networks , so there is no need to. Turn on our localized payments feature and begin accepting payments from international banks right away.

It also has a variety of features that assist in ensuring successful payment and reduce involuntary churn, which include:

• Payment gateways that are local: Transactions are more likely to be accepted when the gateway used for payment is located in the same area that the purchaser (e.g., a transaction that originates from Germany goes through a payment gateway in Germany). Automatically routes transactions through the payment gateway that has most favorable authorization rates for the location.
• Rerouting of payments by the payment gateway: When a payment is unsuccessful on the first attempt, instantly retries it with a different gateway- all without you or anyone on your support team having to step in. It is often able to fix payment problems caused by connectivity or system issues.
• Reminders for payments that are proactive. If a customer's card is scheduled to expire, you should inform the user beforethe due date so they have a chance to make changes to the card's information. Use our ready-to-use notification template or customize your own notification.
• Multiple follow-up messages. If a recurring payment is declined You can set up multiple failure notices to be sent out two, five, seven, 14, and 21 days from the initial error. Prior to sending each reminder, will retry the payment.

Custom-Made Checkouts to Reflect Your Personal Corporate

The majority of payment platforms provide a checkout feature with a few possibilities for customizing it, like including your logo or choosing a color palette. However, these customization options don't always reflect your visual brand, create a seamless customer experience, and make your checkout more efficient for sales.

 provides custom branding tools as well as CSS overrides so that you can make extensive changes choices for controlling the look and experience of your checkout.

Also, you'll be able to access our Store Builder Library -- a JavaScript library that lets users to personalize the customer journey leading up to checkout.For instance, you could create a cross-sell or upsell funnel. It allows you to optimize your buyer's experience, resulting in higher conversions.

The checkout is offered in three forms that include popups, embedded or as a website storefront. The web storefront redirects your clients to an additional page hosted by .

In any of these choices (including the storefront on the internet), you'll be able modify the checkout experience with branding tools as well as CSS overlays to fit the visual style of your brand.

There are many other options that offers to help you optimize your checkout:

• Localized Checkouts:Let customers choose their preferred language and currency or let choose the appropriate currency and language based on the country of purchase. Supports 19+ languages as well as more than 23 currencies.
  
• Support for developers that is personalized:Our team is always willing to support you to create the best checkout experience for your business. Some companies only provide personal support for their biggest customers, and neglect small businesses. We believe that every business deserves the same level of attention and consideration.

Comprehensive Reporting and Analytics

• The majority of my most profitable clients located?
• What products generate the highest amount of revenue?
• Which discounts are generating revenues vs. draining revenue?
• And many more...

The reports are broken down in two main dashboards: Revenue Overview and Subscription Overview.

If you can't locate the report you need, you can customize any report and add it to your dashboard. Our support team is there to assist you in creating custom reports to find your answers.

Our data API and webhooks allow you to easily bring in subscription and revenue data to whatever CRM or business intelligence tool you use. Each report is able to be downloaded in CSV as a PNG, CSV or XLSX files.

All-in-One Pricing (No Hidden Fees)

A lot of payment processors provide a fixed price for the processing of payments, and also certain core functions, such as embeddable checkout. You'll usually have to pay extra to get additional services like exchange rates or the detection of fraud. There are a few payment systems that offer fully-featured, which means the majority of businesses need to put an additional piece of software. It's difficult to scale globally as your business grows because the price will rise as you require more features and software.

is a full payment solution for SaaS businesses that includes everything as a one-time cost determined by the amount of transactions . Plus, you'll only be paid when transactions occur.

Next, we cover four more payment platforms that cater to subscription-based companies.

2. Chargebee

Here are some highlights of Chargebee features:

• Invoicing based on usage, automatized invoicing, proration and many more
• Automated processes for accounts receivable
• Subscription and revenue recognition models that are compliant with the law. model
• Support for in-app purchases
• Self-service portal available to customers
• Smart dunning

It is possible to use the Chargebee platform for free beginning with the first $100,000 in revenue earned. Then, they'll offer a variety of pricing plans for different ranges of monthly earnings.

3. Recurring

Recurly is a recurring billing platform built for optimizing the growth plan you have in place. Recurly can easily be integrated with multiple merchant accounts and payment gateways, however, you still need to be responsible for these solutions on top of the Recurly subscription.

Below are some more highlights of Recurly's features.

• Customizable subscription models
• Automated, recurring invoices
• Tools for revenue recovery
• Intelligent retention
• Analytics on customer subscriptions

Recurly offers three pricing packages However, you need contact their team for details.

4. Chargify

Chargify is a subscription-based billing program that's currently working on a merger with SaaSOptics which is a revenue management platform. The merger will allow you to automate the management of subscriptions accounting for revenue and expenses as well as SaaS metric tracking from the same revenue management software.

Here are a few of the highlights of the functions Chargify offers:

• Usage-based and global billing
• Billing management and revenue recognition tools
• Billing system analytics and metrics
• Integrates with different software (e.g., accounting software, such as QuickBooks as well as Xero)
• Payment gateways from around the world

Chargify offers a price plan for businesses that earn at least 75k in monthly billings However, if you are earning more or you want access to all features, you'll need to speak with their support team.

5. Zoho Subscriptions

Zoho Subscriptions is a component from Zoho Subscriptions is one of the components that make up Zoho platform (a set of programs that can be used to help you manage every aspect of your company, e.g., CRMs and ERPs). If you already use the Zoho platform, this might be a good choice. But, those who are new to the platform usually find that there is an arduous to learn curve.

Some of the highlights of Zoho Subscriptions include:

• Multiple pricing models
• Tax-compliant, customisable invoices that can be customized
• Conversions to multiple currencies
• More than 30 pre-built reports that keep track of each phase of the lifecycle of subscriptions
• Support for in-person cash or check payment (in addition to credit card transactions)
• Out-of-the-box integrations with other billing solutions (e.g., Stripe, PayPal, etc.)
• Tools to create custom workflow rules

Each component associated with the Zoho service is priced differently which includes Zoho Subscriptions -- which can make it difficult and costly to develop an all-inclusive payment system.