Recurly's email timezone feature ensures every subscriber sees timestamps in their local time — not yours. Set a site-wide default timezone for all outgoing emails, override it for individual customer accounts, and use timezone-aware parameters in your email templates to surface accurate subscription and transaction times for every recipient.

Available on all Recurly plans

1Definition 2Key benefits 3Key details 4Configure via Admin Console 5Configure via API

Definition

Recurly's email timezone feature lets you control the timezone used for timestamps displayed in customer emails. Set a default timezone at the site level, or assign a specific timezone to individual accounts so each subscriber's emails reflect their local time accurately.

Key benefits

Personalized timestamps Display email timestamps in each subscriber's local timezone rather than a fixed server time, making communications feel relevant and accurate.

Reduced confusion Eliminate timezone-related misunderstandings by ensuring renewal dates, trial endings, and transaction times always reflect the recipient's local time.

Site and account flexibility Apply a timezone globally across your site or override it for specific accounts — whichever level of granularity fits your business.

API configuration Set account-specific email timezones programmatically through the Recurly API using standard IANA timezone values.

Key details

The email timezone feature adjusts the timezone displayed in email content — it does not change the actual time the email is sent.

Timezone display onlyThis feature controls the timezone shown in email timestamps. It does not affect when Recurly schedules or delivers the email itself.

Example: A merchant based in New York has a subscriber, Alex Smith, located in London. With a London timezone set on Alex's account, all of Alex's subscription emails — renewal reminders, trial endings, transaction confirmations — display timestamps in London local time, eliminating any date or time confusion.

Timezone-aware email parameters

Add the following parameters to your email templates via Email Templates in the Admin Console to surface timezone-adjusted dates and times:

Parameter	What it does
`subscription_current_period_ends_at_with_time`	Shows the adjusted date and time when the current subscription period ends.
`transaction_date_and_time`	Reflects the transaction date and time adjusted for the account's timezone.
`transaction_declined?`	Indicates whether the transaction was declined.
`transaction_success?`	Indicates whether the transaction was successful.
`transaction_voided?`	Indicates whether the transaction was voided.
`subscription_expires_at_with_time`	Shows the adjusted date and time when a canceled subscription will expire.
`subscription_trial_ends_at_with_time`	Shows the adjusted end date and time for the current subscription trial.

Configure via Admin Console

Site-level timezone

Open Site Settings

In the Admin Console, navigate to Site Settings.

Go to Email Settings

Scroll to the Email Settings section.

Set the default timezone

At the bottom of the Email Settings section, use the dropdown to select your preferred timezone. The default is UTC. This setting applies to all emails sent site-wide unless overridden at the account level.

Account-level timezone

Account-level settings override the site-wide timezone for that specific customer's emails.

Open the customer account

Navigate to the desired customer account page in the Admin Console.

Set the account timezone

Use the timezone dropdown to select the appropriate timezone for this customer.

Revert to site default (optional)

To remove the account-level override and use the site-wide setting, select Site Settings (Default) from the dropdown and save.

Configure via API

Set account-specific email timezones programmatically using the preferred_time_zone field on the Account API. Use the IANA timezone values listed below.

Admin Console label	API IANA value
(GMT-12:00) International Date Line West	`Etc/GMT+12`
(GMT-11:00) American Samoa	`Pacific/Pago_Pago`
(GMT-11:00) Midway Island	`Pacific/Midway`
(GMT-10:00) Hawaii	`Pacific/Honolulu`
(GMT-09:00) Alaska	`America/Juneau`
(GMT-08:00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)	`America/Los_Angeles`
(GMT-08:00) Tijuana	`America/Tijuana`
(GMT-07:00) Arizona	`America/Phoenix`
(GMT-07:00) Mazatlan	`America/Mazatlan`
(GMT-07:00) Mountain Time (US & Canada)	`America/Denver`
(GMT-06:00) Central America	`America/Guatemala`
(GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)	`America/Chicago`
(GMT-06:00) Chihuahua	`America/Chihuahua`
(GMT-06:00) Guadalajara	`America/Mexico_City`
(GMT-06:00) Mexico City	`America/Mexico_City`
(GMT-06:00) Monterrey	`America/Monterrey`
(GMT-06:00) Saskatchewan	`America/Regina`
(GMT-05:00) Bogota	`America/Bogota`
(GMT-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)	`America/New_York`
(GMT-05:00) Indiana (East)	`America/Indiana/Indianapolis`
(GMT-05:00) Lima	`America/Lima`
(GMT-05:00) Quito	`America/Lima`
(GMT-04:00) Atlantic Time (Canada)	`America/Halifax`
(GMT-04:00) Caracas	`America/Caracas`
(GMT-04:00) Georgetown	`America/Guyana`
(GMT-04:00) La Paz	`America/La_Paz`
(GMT-04:00) Puerto Rico	`America/Puerto_Rico`
(GMT-04:00) Santiago	`America/Santiago`
(GMT-03:30) Newfoundland	`America/St_Johns`
(GMT-03:00) Brasilia	`America/Sao_Paulo`
(GMT-03:00) Buenos Aires	`America/Argentina/Buenos_Aires`
(GMT-03:00) Greenland	`America/Godthab`
(GMT-03:00) Montevideo	`America/Montevideo`
(GMT-02:00) Mid-Atlantic	`Atlantic/South_Georgia`
(GMT-01:00) Azores	`Atlantic/Azores`
(GMT-01:00) Cape Verde Is.	`Atlantic/Cape_Verde`
(GMT+00:00) Casablanca	`Africa/Casablanca`
(GMT+00:00) Dublin	`Europe/Dublin`
(GMT+00:00) Edinburgh	`Europe/London`
(GMT+00:00) Lisbon	`Europe/Lisbon`
(GMT+00:00) London	`Europe/London`
(GMT+00:00) Monrovia	`Africa/Monrovia`
(GMT+00:00) UTC	`Etc/UTC`
(GMT+01:00) Amsterdam	`Europe/Amsterdam`
(GMT+01:00) Belgrade	`Europe/Belgrade`
(GMT+01:00) Berlin	`Europe/Berlin`
(GMT+01:00) Bern	`Europe/Zurich`
(GMT+01:00) Bratislava	`Europe/Bratislava`
(GMT+01:00) Brussels	`Europe/Brussels`
(GMT+01:00) Budapest	`Europe/Budapest`
(GMT+01:00) Copenhagen	`Europe/Copenhagen`
(GMT+01:00) Ljubljana	`Europe/Ljubljana`
(GMT+01:00) Madrid	`Europe/Madrid`
(GMT+01:00) Paris	`Europe/Paris`
(GMT+01:00) Prague	`Europe/Prague`
(GMT+01:00) Rome	`Europe/Rome`
(GMT+01:00) Sarajevo	`Europe/Sarajevo`
(GMT+01:00) Skopje	`Europe/Skopje`
(GMT+01:00) Stockholm	`Europe/Stockholm`
(GMT+01:00) Vienna	`Europe/Vienna`
(GMT+01:00) Warsaw	`Europe/Warsaw`
(GMT+01:00) West Central Africa	`Africa/Algiers`
(GMT+01:00) Zagreb	`Europe/Zagreb`
(GMT+01:00) Zurich	`Europe/Zurich`
(GMT+02:00) Athens	`Europe/Athens`
(GMT+02:00) Bucharest	`Europe/Bucharest`
(GMT+02:00) Cairo	`Africa/Cairo`
(GMT+02:00) Harare	`Africa/Harare`
(GMT+02:00) Helsinki	`Europe/Helsinki`
(GMT+02:00) Jerusalem	`Asia/Jerusalem`
(GMT+02:00) Kaliningrad	`Europe/Kaliningrad`
(GMT+02:00) Kyiv	`Europe/Kiev`
(GMT+02:00) Pretoria	`Africa/Johannesburg`
(GMT+02:00) Riga	`Europe/Riga`
(GMT+02:00) Sofia	`Europe/Sofia`
(GMT+02:00) Tallinn	`Europe/Tallinn`
(GMT+02:00) Vilnius	`Europe/Vilnius`
(GMT+03:00) Baghdad	`Asia/Baghdad`
(GMT+03:00) Istanbul	`Europe/Istanbul`
(GMT+03:00) Kuwait	`Asia/Kuwait`
(GMT+03:00) Minsk	`Europe/Minsk`
(GMT+03:00) Moscow	`Europe/Moscow`
(GMT+03:00) Nairobi	`Africa/Nairobi`
(GMT+03:00) Riyadh	`Asia/Riyadh`
(GMT+03:00) St. Petersburg	`Europe/Moscow`
(GMT+03:00) Volgograd	`Europe/Volgograd`
(GMT+03:30) Tehran	`Asia/Tehran`
(GMT+04:00) Abu Dhabi	`Asia/Muscat`
(GMT+04:00) Baku	`Asia/Baku`
(GMT+04:00) Muscat	`Asia/Muscat`
(GMT+04:00) Samara	`Europe/Samara`
(GMT+04:00) Tbilisi	`Asia/Tbilisi`
(GMT+04:00) Yerevan	`Asia/Yerevan`
(GMT+04:30) Kabul	`Asia/Kabul`
(GMT+05:00) Ekaterinburg	`Asia/Yekaterinburg`
(GMT+05:00) Islamabad	`Asia/Karachi`
(GMT+05:00) Karachi	`Asia/Karachi`
(GMT+05:00) Tashkent	`Asia/Tashkent`
(GMT+05:30) Chennai	`Asia/Kolkata`
(GMT+05:30) Kolkata	`Asia/Kolkata`
(GMT+05:30) Mumbai	`Asia/Kolkata`
(GMT+05:30) New Delhi	`Asia/Kolkata`
(GMT+05:30) Sri Jayawardenepura	`Asia/Colombo`
(GMT+05:45) Kathmandu	`Asia/Kathmandu`
(GMT+06:00) Almaty	`Asia/Almaty`
(GMT+06:00) Astana	`Asia/Dhaka`
(GMT+06:00) Dhaka	`Asia/Dhaka`
(GMT+06:00) Urumqi	`Asia/Urumqi`
(GMT+06:30) Rangoon	`Asia/Rangoon`
(GMT+07:00) Bangkok	`Asia/Bangkok`
(GMT+07:00) Hanoi	`Asia/Bangkok`
(GMT+07:00) Jakarta	`Asia/Jakarta`
(GMT+07:00) Krasnoyarsk	`Asia/Krasnoyarsk`
(GMT+07:00) Novosibirsk	`Asia/Novosibirsk`
(GMT+08:00) Beijing	`Asia/Shanghai`
(GMT+08:00) Chongqing	`Asia/Chongqing`
(GMT+08:00) Hong Kong	`Asia/Hong_Kong`
(GMT+08:00) Irkutsk	`Asia/Irkutsk`
(GMT+08:00) Kuala Lumpur	`Asia/Kuala_Lumpur`
(GMT+08:00) Perth	`Australia/Perth`
(GMT+08:00) Singapore	`Asia/Singapore`
(GMT+08:00) Taipei	`Asia/Taipei`
(GMT+08:00) Ulaanbaatar	`Asia/Ulaanbaatar`
(GMT+09:00) Osaka	`Asia/Tokyo`
(GMT+09:00) Sapporo	`Asia/Tokyo`
(GMT+09:00) Seoul	`Asia/Seoul`
(GMT+09:00) Tokyo	`Asia/Tokyo`
(GMT+09:00) Yakutsk	`Asia/Yakutsk`
(GMT+09:30) Adelaide	`Australia/Adelaide`
(GMT+09:30) Darwin	`Australia/Darwin`
(GMT+10:00) Brisbane	`Australia/Brisbane`
(GMT+10:00) Canberra	`Australia/Melbourne`
(GMT+10:00) Guam	`Pacific/Guam`
(GMT+10:00) Hobart	`Australia/Hobart`
(GMT+10:00) Melbourne	`Australia/Melbourne`
(GMT+10:00) Port Moresby	`Pacific/Port_Moresby`
(GMT+10:00) Sydney	`Australia/Sydney`
(GMT+10:00) Vladivostok	`Asia/Vladivostok`
(GMT+11:00) Magadan	`Asia/Magadan`
(GMT+11:00) New Caledonia	`Pacific/Noumea`
(GMT+11:00) Solomon Is.	`Pacific/Guadalcanal`
(GMT+11:00) Srednekolymsk	`Asia/Srednekolymsk`
(GMT+12:00) Auckland	`Pacific/Auckland`
(GMT+12:00) Fiji	`Pacific/Fiji`
(GMT+12:00) Kamchatka	`Asia/Kamchatka`
(GMT+12:00) Marshall Is.	`Pacific/Majuro`
(GMT+12:00) Wellington	`Pacific/Auckland`
(GMT+12:45) Chatham Is.	`Pacific/Chatham`
(GMT+13:00) Nuku'alofa	`Pacific/Tongatapu`
(GMT+13:00) Samoa	`Pacific/Apia`
(GMT+13:00) Tokelau Is.	`Pacific/Fakaofo`