Normally a subscription charges the customer each time it delivers — bill monthly, deliver monthly. The Bill on a different schedule setting lets you break that link, so you can charge at one cadence and deliver at another. It’s an advanced option most plans don’t need, but it’s what makes prepaid and “pay quarterly, ship monthly” style subscriptions possible.
What the setting does
Each delivery frequency has a Bill on a different schedule toggle. Leave it off and billing follows delivery exactly — the simplest and most common setup. Turn it on and you can set the billing cadence separately from the delivery cadence.
The key rule: you bill less often than you deliver, collecting one payment that covers several deliveries.
A typical example
Deliver monthly, bill every 3 months - The customer receives a box each month but is charged once per quarter for three boxes at a time.
This is exactly how the Prepaid template works under the hood. If prepaid is all you need, start from that template — this setting is for when you want to build a custom billing-vs-delivery cadence yourself.
When to use it
Prepaid or “pay ahead” plans - Collect several deliveries’ worth of revenue in one charge.
Reducing transaction frequency - Fewer charges can mean fewer failed-payment moments.
Gift-style runs - One payment up front for a set period of deliveries.
Leave it off for everyday Subscribe & Save plans, where customers expect to pay for each delivery as it ships.
How it looks to the customer
At checkout and in their account, the customer sees how often they’ll be charged and how often they’ll receive the product. Being clear that one payment covers multiple deliveries avoids confusion when their next charge is further out than their next box.