Postpone subscription

Learn how to extend or shorten a subscription's current billing cycle by changing the next bill date using the Admin Console or API.

Sometimes a billing date just needs to shift — a customer's anniversary has moved, a special arrangement was made, or an onboarding timeline didn't line up. Postponing a subscription lets you adjust the current billing cycle forward or backward without touching the plan, price, or subscription terms. It's a lightweight, targeted change that works through both the Admin Console and the API.

Available on all Recurly plans

1Definition 2Key benefits 3Key details 4FAQs

Definition

The Postpone subscription feature lets you extend or shorten the active billing period for a specific subscription by setting a new next bill date. No invoice is generated for any added time, and all future billing dates permanently shift to align with the new date from that point forward.

Key benefits

Billing flexibility Adjust billing cycles on the fly to meet both business requirements and individual customer needs without disrupting the subscription itself.

Cost-effective adjustments No need to create new plans or restructure subscriptions — a single postpone aligns the billing date to the target date cleanly and quickly.

Better customer experience Offer tailored billing accommodations without interrupting service, helping customers feel in control of their subscription.

Flexible implementation Supported in both the Admin Console and the API, so your team can apply postponements however fits your workflow best.

Retention-friendly Handle short-term billing requests gracefully — meeting customers where they are increases loyalty without requiring a cancellation and re-signup.

Key details

Postponing a subscription changes the subscriber's next bill date. No further subscription invoices are generated until that postponed date is reached. Importantly, the change is permanent going forward — all future billing dates shift to align with the new date.

Example: A yearly subscription running from May 15, 2016, through May 20, 2017, postponed to December 10, 2016, will now cover May 15 – December 10, 2016. The next billing cycle then runs December 10, 2016 – December 10, 2017.

Proration warningIf you make an immediate subscription change after postponing, the system treats the extended period as already paid. This means the proration credit may exceed 100% of the per-unit price, resulting in credits and charges that surpass the original amount. Plan any post-postpone changes carefully.

Calendar billingPostponing one subscription on an account doesn't affect other subscriptions on that account. If all subscriptions bill on the 15th of each month, changing one won't shift the rest.

Postpone via Admin Console

Open the customer account

Navigate to the relevant customer's account in the Admin Console.

Open the subscription

View the subscription you want to postpone. Locate the Current period field in the subscription details.

Select Change

Click the Change link next to Current period.

Set the new bill date

Enter the date you'd like the current period to end. This becomes the new next bill date.

Postpone via API

Use the appropriate call based on your API version:

V2 API — Use the Postpone Subscription call.
V3 API — Use the Modify Subscription call.

Need to skip billing cycles instead?If your goal is to pause billing for several cycles without permanently shifting the billing date, use Pause subscription instead.

FAQs

Does postponing one subscription affect other subscriptions on the same account?

No. Postponing a single subscription only changes the next bill date for that specific subscription. Other subscriptions on the account — even those that share the same billing date — are unaffected.

Is the customer charged for any extra time added by postponing?

No. Recurly doesn't invoice the customer for any additional time added through a postpone. However, if you make an immediate change to the subscription after postponing, the system assumes the customer was already charged for the extended period and will credit them accordingly — which can result in proration exceeding 100%.

Is the billing date change permanent?

Yes. When you postpone a subscription, all future billing dates shift to align with the new date. This isn't a one-time skip — it's a permanent adjustment to the billing cycle going forward.

What's the difference between postponing and pausing a subscription?

Postponing changes the current billing period's end date, permanently shifting all future billing dates to align with the new one. Pausing suspends billing for a set number of cycles without altering the underlying billing date. Use pause when you want to skip cycles and return to the original schedule; use postpone when you want to change the schedule itself.