How do I track subscriptions and charges that failed?
In a recurring business, what decides the outcome is not the new sale — it is the charge that repeats. A predictable share of charges fails every month for mundane reasons, and recovering them is the cheapest way to grow.
Before you start
- Role: Owner, Admin or Finance.
- Have at least one active channel for warning customers.
1. Read the status
In Sales, My Subscriptions shows the state of each recurring charge: active, overdue, cancelled. The status is the health dashboard of the business — more informative than the month's revenue, which is a consequence.
2. Separate cancellation from failure
These are different problems:
Treating the two the same wastes the easy case: someone whose card was declined usually wants to carry on.
3. Warn people quickly when a charge fails
Build an automation triggered by When renewal fails. The message has to be practical: what happened, what to do, where to update. The sooner it goes out, the higher the recovery.
4. Follow the retries
Check whether the charge was retried and how it ended, so you do not chase someone who has already sorted it out.
5. Reduce cancellation at the source
Most cancellation comes from not using the product. Watch who has stopped opening the members area and re-engage them before renewal — after the cancellation the conversation is much harder.
6. Cancellation
When a subscription is cancelled, the customer keeps access until the end of the period already paid for and loses it afterwards. The action is irreversible — confirm with the customer first.
Related
If it didn't work
- The charge did not repeat: check the subscription status and the offer's payment method.
- The customer updated their card and is still blocked: confirm whether a new charge went through successfully.
- The customer cancelled and still has access: they keep access until the end of the period already paid for.