Creating a cut-off window

Cut-off windows dictate how much time is in between the day a subscription with a specific charge day is processed and when the next recurring orders are scheduled. Checkout orders submitted before the cut-off day will have the next order process on the upcoming order date as expected. If a customer orders after the set cut-off day, their next order will skip the next upcoming order date.

This same logic is applied to recurring orders that may process off-cycle, due to situations such as the dunning/retry process, editing upcoming charge dates, manually processing a recurring order, or use of the Order Now button. 

This guide explains how cut-off windows work and walk through how to configure a cut-off window once a specific charge day has been set.

Before you start

• To enable a cut-off window, you must have subscription rules configured for your products. Refer to Creating subscription rules.
• The cut-off window settings work exclusively with the specific charge day setting. A specific day of the week or month must be set, and customers must be able to skip their next orders in the customer portal for this feature to work.
• The cut-off window is based on Eastern Time. Any order placed at or after midnight Eastern Time 00:00 ET (UTC -4) of the cut-off day will skip the next upcoming order.

How cut-off windows work

By default, when specifying a charge day in a subscription rule, Recharge will skip the next upcoming order day when setting the date of the second order. To read more about the skip feature, visit Charging on a specific day of the week or month.

There may be circumstances in which an order placed should be considered part of that fulfillment cycle. Cut-off windows are useful to:

• Prevent customers from being charged for an order in the current month or week if it's already been submitted for fulfillment.
• Minimize the time between placing the initial order and the first delivery. For example, if an order is placed in April before the cut-off day, it will be created for April's box rather than pre-paying for May's box.

The following drop-downs highlight examples of different subscriptions frequencies, charge dates, and cut-off days.

Step 1 - Set a specific charge day

You can configure your products so that customers are charged on the same day of the week or the same day of the month. This applies to customers checking out after the change is made and does not affect existing subscriptions. 

1. In the merchant portal, click Products and select Products from the dropdown.
2. Search and Select the product(s) you would like to update. 
3. Click Add subscription plan to create a new plan, or the pencil icon to update an existing plan.
4. Specify your order schedule under Ship this product every.
5. Click Charge and cut-off schedule and select the specific charge day. This is the day of the week or month that your customer is charged.

Step 2 - Set a cut-off day

1. After setting your specific charge day, select the Set a cutoff date checkbox.
2. Select the day of the month you want your cut-off window to be on.
3. Select Save. 

Limitations

• Cut-off windows are affected by Daylight Saving Time. You may need to reach out to the Recharge support team to adjust your store's charge processing time after Daylight Saving Time. 
• Cutoff settings do not apply to migrated subscriptions.