What's the difference between initial start date & start date current period? – Upsales Help Centre

Find out the differences and view some use cases.

Initial start date

This field doesn't affect the orders. It's used for displaying when the agreement was signed by the customer.

If you're using the Recurring Revenue sales model this field also determines the date the ARR/MRR should start counting.

Start date current period

This field determines when the period starts and when the first order will be created by the subscription.

Use cases

In most cases, these two dates should be the same, but here are some cases when they might differ:

My customer signed in August, but the first order should be sent in September

Initial start date: August
Start date current period: September

I want to give my customer 3 free months on top of 12 months paid

Quick answer:
Extend the period length to 15 months (move renewal date).
Send the invoice on start date for the current period (this is the same as the initial start date)

Order interval: Yearly (optional)
Period length: 12 months (optional)
Initial start date: January 2022
Start date current period: January 2022
Renewal date: April 2023 (15 months from start date current period)

By pushing the renewal date to April 2023 the period length becomes 15 months, giving the customer 3 free months.

I want to give my customer 3 free months – and then send the invoice afterwards for the following 12 months

Quick answer:
Extend the period length to 15 months (move renewal date).
Send the invoice on the start date for the current period (not the same date as the initial start date)

Order interval: Yearly (optional)
Period length: 12 months (optional)
Initial start date: January 2022
Start date current period: April 2022 (3 months after initial start date)
Renewal date: April 2023 (12 months after start date of current period)

Upsales sends the first invoice based on the "start date current period" field, which makes it 3 months after the initial start date.

I want to give my customer 3 free months: With monthly order intervals

This is only possible if you create two different subscriptions.

In this case, I want the first period to be 15 months and thereafter the agreement should be renewed with a 12-month period length.

Settings for Subscription 1 (3 first months)

Order interval: Monthly (optional)
Period length: 3 months (optional)
Initial start date: January 2022
Start date current period: January 2022
Termination date: April 2022 (3 months after start date of current period)
Renewal date: April 2023 (12 months after start date of current period)

How to give a discount? Add a 100 % discount on all order rows.

Settings for Subscription 2 (next 12 months)

This subscription will be automatically renewed.

Order interval: Monthly (optional)
Period length: 12 months (optional)
Initial start date: April 2022 (Same date as the termination date of Subscription 1)
Start date current period: April 2022 (Same date as the termination date of Subscription 1)
Termination date: Never (automatically renewed)
Renewal date: April 2023 (12 months after the start date of current period)