Auto-Pay lets you collect a fixed monthly payment from a family account through Stripe. It is designed for accounts that should be billed automatically instead of requiring a manual payment each month.
This article is for teachers and organization admins who want a recurring monthly payment plan for a specific account.
Auto-Pay requires Stripe to be connected.
Open the account page and go to the Auto-Pay section.
From there, you can:
enter the monthly amount
add an optional description
choose the start date
optionally add an end date
create a Stripe-backed auto-pay link
You can then open, copy, or email the link to the family.
The family opens the link and finishes checkout in Stripe.
After checkout succeeds:
the auto-pay subscription becomes active
Stripe schedules the monthly charge
Cadence Calendar tracks the subscription on the account page
Auto-Pay is a monthly subscription.
That means:
the amount is collected on a recurring monthly basis
the billing cycle starts from the start date you choose
if you set an end date, the subscription stops there
if you do not set an end date, it continues until you cancel or delete it
From the account page, you can work with auto-pay subscriptions in a few ways:
Pending subscriptions can be deleted if you do not need the link anymore
Active subscriptions can be canceled
Canceled or pending records can be removed from the account page
the timeline shows what Stripe has created, paid, or left open for the subscription
Auto-Pay relies on Stripe. If Stripe is not connected, you cannot create the link.
The first billing date is anchored to the start date you choose.
If the start date is in the future, the timeline may be empty until Stripe creates the first invoice.
Auto-Pay is different from recurring charges. Auto-Pay collects recurring payments. Recurring charges create billing entries on the account.
Auto-Pay is also different from auto-charging invoices with a saved card. Auto-Pay collects a fixed amount on its own monthly schedule, while auto-charge on an invoice charges a saved card for the actual amount of an invoice you create.
Overview
Account balance
Recurring Charges
How families pay online
Auto-charge invoices with a saved card
