Why do the subscriptions in ChartMogul not match my billing system?

Number of Subscriptions Don't Match

If you find that the number of subscriptions in your billing system don't match the number of subscriptions in ChartMogul exactly, here are some reasons why.  Depending upon your billing system, they likely create subscriptions for events where ChartMogul does not.  Below are the most common cases that we see where the billing system does create or have a subscription, and ChartMogul does not.

1. ChartMogul will not create a subscription if the initial invoice is for a $0 amount.  Only when the first non $0 invoice shows up will the subscription get created.
   • This includes the case where an invoice might be for $100 but a discount of $100 is applied to it netting out to $0.
2. SaaSync does not import invoices with status like draft, failed or cancelled, etc.  This is because ChartMogul doesn't allow imported invoices to have a status set on the invoice, they assume all inbound invoices are "active".  It works out fine, but note that some billing systems will create a subscription even when there has been nothing but failed or cancelled invoices.
3. ChartMogul can not create a subscription from a one-time invoice.  Some billing systems might support this.
4. ChartMogul has a setting, as does SaaSync on some integrations, as to how you want to treat open invoices (invoices that haven't been paid yet).  Depending upon your setting, invoices that haven't been paid might not be triggering the creation of a subscription in ChartMogul.

Subscription Statuses Don't Match

When comparing subscription status between the two systems things get more complex.  It's important to note that ChartMogul doesn't use the billing system statuses, they have their own statuses thus they will never match exactly.  Most billing systems have a multitude of statuses.  ChartMogul on the other hand has a limited set of statuses that all invoice behavior get rendered down into.  In fact,  ChartMogul really just has 4 primary statuses. 

• Lead - A customer that has never had a subscription (even though they might have paid one time invoices
• Active - A customer with one or more current subscriptions
• Past-Due - A customer with at least one subscription that is past due
• Cancelled - A customer with all of their subscriptions that are cancelled

The only status that SaaSync sets on a subscription is `Cancelled`, all other statuses are derived by ChartMogul based on invoice activity.

So, while there are a variety of examples that could be shown, let's take the case where a billing system supports the concept of putting a subscription "on hold" or "paused". In this example we'll assume that it's an "active" subscription that is paid for and in the middle of it's service period.  When the subscription is set to "on hold" in the billing system, the subscription in ChartMogul would continue to be `active` until the service period came to and end.  Upon the end of the service period passing, the subscription would then change in ChartMogul to be `past-due` and would stay in that state until the subscription in the billing system is either cancelled or resumed.