Shared Subscriptions

Trevor Buckerfield
Trevor Buckerfield
  • Updated

a Shared subscriptions within gaiia allow one or more accounts to share or completely cover the costs of one or more recurring subscriptions on an account. This can apply to both recurring debits or discounts.

In the sections below, the feature will be outlined in detail to provide a complete understanding of when and how to use it.

 

Shared Subscription Examples

There are a number of different scenarios that may warrant the use of shared subscriptions. A few of the most common ones have been listed below.

  1. A group of friends are renting a house and each will be covering/paying for a portion of the services. 
  2. A customer has services at two different addresses and needs a single consolidated bill as they are covering both. For example, they have internet at their home and secondary residence (such as a cottage, summer home, etc.).
  3. A Hybrid MDU where the tenant and landlord each cover a portion of the services. For example, a landlord pays for a certain internet package and the tenant wishes to upgrade to a more expensive one and will cover the cost.
  4. A Bulk MDU where the landlord covers the cost of the services but the tenant information still needs to be tracked.

Two Important Shared Subscription Concepts

It is extremely important to highlight two shared subscription concepts that are highlighted through the examples above:

  1. The concept of a subscription owner and payers.
  2. The concept of a split being defined between the various accounts sharing the subscription(s).

Shared Subscription Owner and Payers

gaiia specifically refers to the accounts part of shared subscriptions in two different ways:

  • Subscription Owner: There is only one subscription owner. Specifically, they are the account who actually "owns" or receiving the service (subscription) being shared. In other words, the account associated to the service address. 
  • Subscription Payers: These are simply the other account(s) who are paying for all or a portion of the shared service (subscription). 

Shared Subscription Split

Sharing a subscription between one or more accounts within gaiia is completely configurable. However, the configuration results in generally two types of configurations:

  1. Payment is not covered by the Owner at all: In this configuration, the owner still has the service (subscription) but is not paying for any of that particular service. In the case of billing, the other account(s) will completely cover payment. This can also be referred to as a 100/0 configuration as the payers are covering 100% of that service.
  2. A portion of the payment is covered by the Owner: The owner shares in the payment of that service whether it be 1% or 99% of the service. Notably, a payment is taken from more than one account for this particular service.

Please Note: There are likely many other valid cases for when to use shared subscriptions and this section was just intended to help provide enough context to help in your decision making of when they could be useful in your context.

Please Note #2: MDUs are a larger topic in themselves and are discussed in detail in other documentation.

 

Assigning a Shared Subscription

Specifying a shared subscription is done when adding the service to an account. To begin the process of configuration, ensure that the "Share payment with other accounts" checkbox is selected. This will introduce another step in the process where the shared subscription allocation is defined.

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On the next step search and find any of the accounts that will be also sharing in the payment of the shared subscriptions. A shared subscription can only be shared amongst 4 accounts in total so 3 other accounts can be added.

Using the "Percentage" field, specify the share amount of each of the accounts that were added to the field. The total of all the percentage fields must total 100%. Once completed, use the "Next" button to save the shared subscription allocations and proceed in the last steps to complete the process of assigning the subscription to the accounts.

Screenshot 2024-04-29 at 10.11.16 AM.png

Please Note: Shared subscriptions are not available on recurring % discounts or when a particular product or discount has an expiry set on it.

Please Note #2: All accounts being added for shared subscriptions must also have an active billing cycle.

 

Identifying Accounts with Shared Subscriptions

Any accounts using shared subscriptions can be identified in a few different ways.

For the subscription owner, an account "tag" called "Uses shared payments" will appear beside the account name and expanding the subscription will also show the shared subscription allocation.

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For any payers, a similar set of identifiers will also appear on the account. The account "tag", however, is called "Uses shared payments - payer" and the "Shared subscriptions" area of the "Billing" tab should be used to view the shared subscription allocation. Screenshot 2024-04-29 at 10.22.25 AM.png

When a transaction on the account is related to a shared subscription, this is clearly called out in the transactions area. With the subscription owner clearly denoted on the transaction.

Screenshot 2024-04-29 at 10.31.32 AM.png

 

How Do Shared Subscriptions Affect Billing?

All billing is processed as expected with auto payments, invoices, etc. all being generated automatically. However, there are slightly differences, depending on how the shared subscription was allocated.

Subscription Owner does NOT pay for Service (100/0)

In the event the owner does not pay for the subscription at all, and one or more payers fully covers the payment, the following will occur:

  • An invoice is not generated for the owner.
  • The owner's invoice and billing period match the payers covering the subscription.
  • Th charges are added to the recurring invoice of the payer.
  • Any relevant subscription charges of the owner are added to the payers list of transactions and reference the owner.

Subscription Owner Pays for a Portion of the Service

In the event the owner pays for a portion of the subscription, the following will occur:

  • An invoice is generated for every account part of the shared subscription.
  • Each account keeps a distinct invoice and billing period.
  • The relevant charge is added to each account's recurring invoice.
  • Any relevant subscription charges of the owner are added to the payers list of transactions and reference the owner.

 

How do I Adjust the Shared Subscription Allocation or Remove it?

Currently, the method to do this would be as follows:

  1. Unassign the subscription from the subscription owner (make sure not to prorate!).
  2. Re-assign the subscription back on the subscription owner with the proper allocation.

 

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