Managing Subscriptions

Cancel a membership in CoachIQ, understand its end date, stop unmatched subscriptions, and distinguish cancellation from removal and refunds.

Where to find this: People → Clients → open the client → Products. Use Payments → Subscriptions to review billing status across clients.

Canceling subscriptions

Two ways to cancel a subscription:

Cancel at period end

Recommended approach

Client keeps access through current billing period. Subscription ends on next billing date.

What happens:

1. Client retains access until period ends
2. Credit access follows the purchase and its configured expiration rules
3. No refund issued
4. No future charges
5. Subscription status changes to “Canceled” on end date

When to use: Default cancellation method. Fair to client who already paid for current period.

Cancel immediately

Instant termination

Client loses access right now. Subscription ends today.

What happens:

1. Client loses access immediately
2. Check the purchase’s credit expiration rules before promising any remaining balance
3. Partial refund may be issued (optional)
4. No future charges
5. Subscription status changes to “Canceled” now

When to use: Client requests immediate cancellation, fraudulent account, terms violation.

Immediate cancellation without refund may frustrate clients who prepaid. Use carefully.

How to cancel a subscription

1. Open the client's purchase

   Open People → Clients, select the client, and choose Products. Find the membership you intend to end.

2. Choose Cancel membership

   Use Cancel membership on that purchase. Staff can use this control even when the product does not allow members to cancel themselves.

3. Choose when it ends

   Select At end of billing period to keep access through the paid period, or Immediately to end billing and access now. Neither option automatically refunds a payment.

4. Confirm and check the result

   Choose Cancel membership to proceed, or Keep membership to leave it unchanged. Reopen the purchase and check its status and end date. Use the client’s Subscriptions tab or Payments → Subscriptions to verify the billing record.

Test-account example showing the two cancellation timings.

If the subscription pays for more than one athlete, canceling it would affect the other memberships. Follow Shared family memberships to remove one athlete instead.

A subscription is not on a purchase

If a client reports charges for a membership missing from Products, check Client profile → Payment Methods → Active Subscriptions.

1. Find the subscription marked Not on a purchase and verify its name and amount.
2. Choose Cancel subscription on that record.
3. Select At end of billing period or Immediately, then confirm.
4. Check the end date or Canceled status in Payments → Subscriptions. The missing purchase does not need to be recreated to stop billing.

Test records illustrate subscriptions that need billing management even though they are not linked to a purchase.

A membership still linked to a purchase is managed from Products → Cancel membership. If checkout has only just completed, the app may temporarily block cancellation while it finishes processing; follow the displayed explanation before trying again.

Canceling versus removing a purchase

Cancel membership controls future billing and when membership access ends. Remove or Archive changes the purchase on the client’s profile. A membership that is still billing cannot be removed first.

Cancel and verify the outcome before removing or archiving. To preserve access through the paid period, leave the purchase in place until its end date. Removing a purchase is not a payment refund. One-time purchases do not require a subscription-cancellation step.

What happens after cancellation

Access:

• Cancel at period end: Access until period expires
• Cancel immediately: Access ends now

Credits:

Credit expiration depends on the product’s configuration. Check Product Builder → Credits and the client’s balance; do not assume cancellation creates a credit or payment refund.

Payments:

• No future charges
• Past payments remain (no automatic refund)

Resubscribing:

• Client must purchase subscription product again
• Creates new subscription (not reactivation of old one)
• New subscription ID and billing schedule

A membership scheduled to end stays Active or Trialing, with Cancels [date], until it ends. It remains in that filter and count; it appears under Canceled after ending. Open its details for Cancels on (the end date) and Cancel requested (when cancellation was requested).

Refunding subscription payments

Issue full or partial refund for subscription charges.

1. Open subscription

   Payments → Subscriptions → Click Open under Source column

2. Find transaction to refund

   Scroll to invoices and click most recent invoice.

   Scroll to Payment History section. Locate the charge to refund.

3. Click Refund

   Click Refund payment button next to the payment.

4. Choose refund amount

   Full refund: Return entire payment amount

   Partial refund: Enter specific dollar amount to refund

   For partial period cancellations, calculate prorated amount. Example: 200/month, cancel on day 15 = refund 100.

5. Decide on subscription status

   Continue subscription: Issue refund but keep subscription active

   Cancel subscription: Issue refund and end subscription

   Most common: Refund + Cancel together

6. Confirm refund

   Review details and click Confirm Refund.

   Refund processing. Money returns to client’s original payment method within 5-10 business days.

Complete refund guide →

Payment methods on recurring memberships

At checkout for a recurring membership, athletes see every payment method that is active for your organization: card, Apple Pay and Google Pay, and US Bank Account (ACH). Bank account is the lower-fee option for higher-priced memberships, and you can set a separate processing fee for ACH. Where methods are enabled: Payment methods at checkout.

Subscriptions bought through the athlete checkout between late April and early September 2026 were created card-only, even where ACH was enabled, so an athlete on one of those memberships could not switch it to a bank account. New memberships bought since then offer every active method. If an athlete on an older membership wants to pay by bank, contact support with the subscription.

Updating client payment methods

A client needs to update their card for future charges, or you want to see what they have on file.

Client updates from their portal

Instruct client:

1. Log into Athlete Portal
2. Click profile picture in top right hand corner
3. Navigate to Billing
4. Add or update card

Check the default label separately from whether the new card was added. Confirm the intended payment method is selected for the membership before relying on it for the next renewal.

You check what’s on file

Open the client’s profile and click the Payment Methods tab. It lists every saved card with the default marked, so you can confirm a new card landed (or that an expiring one is still the default) without opening Stripe. Details: Payment methods on file.

Handling failed subscription payments

When subscription payment fails, status changes to Past Due.

Automatic Stripe retries:

• First retry: 3 days after failure
• Second retry: 5 days after first retry
• Third retry: 7 days after second retry
• Final attempt: 10 days after third retry

Complete failed payment recovery guide →

Common subscription management scenarios

Client wants to downgrade from unlimited to limited sessions

Current approach:

1. Cancel current subscription (at period end)
2. Client purchases new subscription product after period ends
3. New subscription starts with different pricing/credits

Future: Subscription switching without gap coming soon.

Client paid but wants immediate refund and cancellation

Steps:

1. Issue full refund for current period
2. Open the membership in Client profile → Products
3. Choose Cancel membership → Immediately, confirm, and check the result

Client gets money back and loses access now.

Client wants to pause subscription for 2 months (injury, travel)

CoachIQ doesn’t support pause directly.

Options:

1. Cancel now, client resubscribes when ready (loses pricing if changed)
2. Use Stripe Dashboard to pause subscription (requires setup)
3. Let subscription continue, client just doesn’t book sessions

Most coaches use option 3 for short pauses.

When you pause collection on a Stripe subscription, Stripe keeps the subscription status as Active — it just stops collecting payment. Because CoachIQ reads subscription status directly from Stripe, athletes with paused-collection subscriptions will still appear as Active in CoachIQ, including when filtering by Active in Payments > Products. Keep this in mind when reviewing your active subscriber count.

Client's card expires next month

Proactive approach:

1. Check upcoming card expirations (visible in Stripe)
2. Send payment update link before expiration
3. Avoid failed payment entirely

Better than waiting for failure and dealing with Past Due status.

Client disputes subscription charge with bank

Bank chargeback process:

If client disputes with bank (not you), Stripe notifies you of chargeback.

Your response:

1. Check Stripe Dashboard for chargeback details
2. Provide evidence (subscription terms, usage logs, confirmation emails)
3. Stripe submits evidence to bank
4. Bank makes final decision (can take 60-90 days)

If you lose: Money is returned to client + chargeback fee ($15)

If you win: You keep the payment

Preventing cancellations

Best practices to reduce churn:

Before cancellation:

• Understand why client wants to cancel
• Offer solutions (schedule flexibility, product downgrade)
• Provide pause option if temporary issue
• Remind of progress made and value received

At risk indicators:

• Multiple failed payments
• Declining session bookings
• No recent activity
• Support complaints

Retention strategies:

• Proactive check-ins with inactive subscribers
• Usage reports showing progress
• Exclusive member benefits
• Loyalty rewards or discounts

Retaining existing subscribers costs less than acquiring new ones. Invest in retention.

Resubscribing canceled clients

When client wants to restart canceled subscription:

Process:

1. Client purchases subscription product again (like new customer)
2. New subscription created with new ID
3. New billing schedule starts
4. Old subscription remains canceled in history

You cannot:

• Reactivate old canceled subscription
• Restore previous subscription ID
• Resume old billing schedule

Each subscription is independent. Cancellation is permanent. Resubscribing creates entirely new subscription.

Next steps

1. Handle failed payments - Recover Past Due subscriptions
2. Issue refunds - Process subscription refunds
3. View Subscriptions Dashboard - Monitor all subscriptions