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Synchronizing Invoice Due Dates

By Sarah / January 12th, 2021


When due dates fall during the month can make a big difference for your business and your customers. It could be due to an external factor, like a third-party vendor needing payment on a certain date. Maybe you're simplifying internal processes by reserving one day a month for handling billing issues. Maybe you're responding to a customer request. Whatever the reason, WHMCS includes two features to help you synchronize your invoices' due dates: prorata billing and prorata invoices.

Prorata billing sends invoices for a specific product on your custom-set day of the month each month. It can help you charge your customers when you want to and how you want to, making it easier to match your vendors' due dates to the corresponding products. You can configure prorata billing for some or all of your products. You'll probably want to do this selectively and keep the original due dates for one-time products like website design or products that cost you the same amount regardless of date ordered. Similarly, Signup Anniversary Prorata also sends invoices on a set date, but in this case it's the customer's original signup date in WHMCS.
You can use Prorata Invoicing when you set the due date for products for an individual client. This will create a prorata invoice for the customer that charges for the time period between the last invoice due date and the new due date.

How do I set the due date for a specific product?
When you create products, you can configure them individually for prorata billing, syncing the due dates on a specific day. This is the best method to sync due dates when you're paying for third-party services on a set day of the month.

You can set this up while creating or editing a product at Configuration > System Settings > Products/Services.


Just click the Pricing tab, select Prorata Billing, and enter a Prorata Date. WHMCS will take care of everything from there.

How do I set the due date as the customer's signup date?
The Prorata Billing and Prorata Date settings in the Pricing tab for a product offer a slightly different option. You can use them to bill for products on the customer's original signup date. All of the products will renew on the same day of the month, regardless of when they were purchased. Remember, though, that domain registrations can't be prorated due to the way expiry dates work. Addons can only be renewed on the day purchased as well, since WHMCS doesn't currently support prorata for addons.

You'll also need to enable Signup Anniversary Prorata at Configuration > System Settings > General Settings in the Ordering tab to make this functionality available.

How do I change the due dates for a customer's products and services?
Prorata invoices can sync multiple items to a single common due date in each billing cycle. You can create them by performing simple actions in the client's profile. Your customers may find this convenient, especially if you work with them to align their monthly due date with their own business needs. The process of changing the due date can create a prorata invoice to cover the period between the current due date(s) and the newly-selected due date(s).

This is in the Summary tab in the Client Profile for an account. At the bottom of the page, you'll see all of that client's products and services. Check the checkboxes for each product or service that will change due dates.


In the bottom-right corner, click Show Advanced Options, select the Next Due Date, and check Create Prorata Invoice.

As an example, if I'm changing the Next Due Date for two products that are currently next due on August 25th and September 26th, respectively, I could set the new Next Due Date as October 1st. That would create an invoice with items for August 25th through September 30th for one product, and September 26th through 30th for the other.


Then, click Apply. The new prorata invoices will appear in the account's Invoices tab.


Keep In Mind
Syncing due dates may not be right for everyone, so, before you implement it, make sure to look at what your customers want and how it will affect your business. For more information about these methods of syncing due dates, see our documentation.

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