Understand how subscription records work in Sanka, including contract terms, recurring billing, renewals, cancellations, usage, invoices, and AI checkpoints.
Last updated: May 29, 2026
The Subscription object stores ongoing customer contracts, recurring orders, or service plans. Use it to manage the customer, plan, term, billing cycle, recurring amount, usage rules, renewal status, cancellation state, and downstream invoice/payment flow in one place.This reference explains what a subscription should contain, how it connects to meters and invoices, and what to check before creating, updating, renewing, cancelling, or generating invoices with AI, actions, workflows, CSV, integrations, or manual entry.
Claude/Codex
Review this subscription before creating the next invoice. Show the customer, plan, active term, billing cycle, next billing date, fixed fees, usage meters, prior invoices, payment status, and anything that blocks invoice generation. Do not create the invoice yet.
Reviewing subscription billing readinessI reviewed the subscription. Please check the billing period, active status, line items, meter usage, previous invoices, and payment status before generating the invoice.
Ask for another subscription check...
What a subscription record represents
A subscription record represents an ongoing agreement with a customer. It should answer these questions:
Who is the customer?
Which plan, product, service, or recurring item is covered?
When does the term start and end?
How often should the customer be billed?
Is the subscription active, paused, cancelled, expired, or still a draft?
Should invoices be fixed, usage-based, or a mix of both?
Which invoices, payments, meters, and related orders prove the lifecycle?
Common fields include:
Subscription ID or record ID
Customer company or contact
Record owner
Status
Start date, end date, renewal date, and next billing date
Billing cycle and billing timing
Line items, quantity, unit price, discount, tax, shipping, currency, and total amount
Related order, invoice, payment, meter, message, task, or file
Source details from UI, CSV, integrations, actions, workflows, or AI-assisted creation
Workspace admins can customize subscription fields and statuses, but lifecycle-critical fields should remain clear enough for billing, renewals, reporting, and AI-assisted checks.
How subscriptions connect to other records
Subscriptions connect contract terms to recurring billing and collection.
Companies and contacts: the customer, billing contact, or renewal owner
Orders: the accepted commercial agreement that started or changed the subscription
Meters: usage records for metered or consumption-based billing
Invoices: recurring billing requests generated from the subscription
Payments: incoming payments matched to subscription invoices
Tasks and tickets: renewal follow-up, cancellation requests, failed billing, or customer questions
Journal entries: accounting records created from invoice and payment activity when your workspace uses accounting flows
If a subscription is missing an invoice, payment, meter, or order, check the association and action history before treating it as a missing record bug.
Create or update a subscription safely
Create a subscription as a draft or reviewed record first, then confirm billing behavior before generating customer-facing invoices.
Sample prompt
/sanka Prepare a subscription draft for this customer. Include plan, items, quantity, unit price, tax, currency, start date, renewal or end date, billing cycle, billing timing, usage meters if needed, and missing fields. Do not generate invoices yet.
For subscriptions created from CRM or order data, use this shape:
Sample prompt
/sanka Review this deal or order before creating a subscription in Sanka. Confirm customer, plan, line items, term, billing cycle, usage-based charges, existing subscriptions, duplicate risk, and whether an order already exists. Keep the subscription as a draft until I confirm.
Before updating an existing subscription, check whether the change is a renewal, upgrade, downgrade, pause, cancellation, or correction. These changes can affect future invoices and reports, but they should not silently rewrite already-issued invoices.
Manage fixed and metered billing
Subscriptions can be billed from fixed recurring items, metered usage, or a combination of both.Use fixed billing when the amount is known from the plan or line items. Use metered billing when the invoice amount depends on recorded usage, such as seats, hours, calls, units, messages, storage, or other consumption.For metered billing, check:
The meter is linked to the correct subscription, customer, and item
Usage dates fall inside the billing period
Usage quantities and units are consistent
The invoice rule or action includes the expected meter records
Minimum charges, free allowances, fixed fees, discounts, and tax are applied as intended
Prior invoices did not already include the same usage
Use the invoice preview or rule preview before generating customer-facing invoices from complex subscription rules.
Renew, pause, cancel, or expire a subscription
Subscription status should describe the business lifecycle, not only the next action.Common lifecycle states include:
Draft: setup is not ready for billing
Active: billing and renewal handling may proceed according to the configured rules
Paused or stopped: service or billing is temporarily stopped
Cancelled: the customer or team ended the subscription
Expired: the term ended without renewal
When changing status, confirm the effective date, final billing period, remaining usage, unpaid invoices, renewal tasks, and whether a cancellation or correction document is needed.
Expected behavior
When a subscription is created successfully:
It appears in the Subscription object list unless it is archived or filtered out by the current view
Customer, owner, source, term, status, billing cycle, billing timing, line items, tax, currency, and total amount are saved
Related orders, invoices, payments, meters, tasks, messages, files, and journal entries can be associated with it
Fixed and metered billing can be reviewed before invoice generation
Renewals, pauses, cancellations, and expirations can be tracked without deleting history
CSV imports, integrations, actions, workflows, and AI-assisted creation still follow required fields, permissions, and validation rules
An active subscription does not always mean an invoice is automatically generated immediately. Invoice generation depends on the configured action, workflow, rule, billing date, usage data, required fields, permissions, and whether a prior invoice already covers the billing period.
Troubleshooting
An invoice was not generated from a subscription
Check subscription status, start/end dates, next billing date, billing cycle, invoice generation rule, required invoice fields, permissions, action or workflow history, and whether the billing period was already invoiced.
The invoice amount is wrong
Compare subscription line items, quantity, unit price, discount, tax, shipping, currency, billing period, proration, fixed fees, minimum charge, and meter usage. For usage-based billing, also check whether the meter records are linked to the correct subscription and period.
Usage was not included in the invoice
Check whether meter records exist, whether their usage dates fall inside the billing period, whether they are linked to the subscription, and whether the rule preview includes them.
A cancelled or paused subscription was billed
Check the effective cancellation or pause date, final billing period, scheduled invoice jobs or actions, existing invoice drafts, and whether the cancellation happened after the billing period was generated.
Duplicate invoices were created
Check whether the action, workflow, CSV import, integration sync, or AI-assisted operation ran more than once. Before archiving duplicates, confirm which invoice has the correct customer, billing period, payments, and audit trail.
AI cannot decide whether this is a bug
Ask AI to compare the subscription source, status, billing cycle, invoice rule, meter usage, prior invoices, payments, action history, permissions, and audit trail. Treat it as a possible bug only after confirming the subscription setup and billing inputs are correct.
Checkpoints
Before generating invoices, changing status, importing subscription updates, or replying to a billing support ticket, check the customer, plan, term, status, billing cycle, billing period, line items, tax, currency, meter usage, prior invoices, payments, permissions, and audit trail.
Search Sanka...
Review subscription billing
Logs
Search logsAll actionsAll dates
ID / ActionDateTarget / ItemChangeActor
3Subscription draft reviewed2026/05/20 10:00Acme annual planChecked customer, term, line items, billing cycle, and meter needsClaude / Codex
2Subscription activated2026/05/20 10:30Acme annual planActivated after billing settings were confirmedRevenue operations
1Invoice preview checked2026/06/01 09:00June subscription invoiceConfirmed fixed fee, usage, tax, and prior invoice coverageFinance user
Subscription review should include the source contract or order, billing readiness, meter usage, prior invoices, and payment state before generating or correcting invoices.
