TalentLMS lets you upgrade or downgrade your current subscription plan at any point during your monthly billing cycle. The only thing that’s affected is the charges for the first full month on the new plan. That’s because TalentLMS applies prorated billing to charge fairly, based on actual usage.
Let’s see how the TalentLMS billing system works:
When you subscribe to a TalentLMS paid plan and choose to pay on a monthly basis, you’re always charged at the beginning of your billing cycle (i.e., the day you purchased your initial plan) for a full month’s use (i.e., until the end of your billing cycle), regardless of the day you upgrade or downgrade.
When you change subscription plans in the middle of your monthly billing cycle, then your usage for the remaining days until you’re charged again is different than what you have paid for at the beginning of the month. So, depending on whether you’re upgrading or downgrading, you would either have to:
- pay an additional amount or
- get a reimbursement
That’s where prorated (i.e., proportionate) billing comes in to save the day. The TalentLMS billing system calculates the difference between what you have already paid (i.e., at the beginning of your billing cycle) and what you should have paid (i.e., based on your usage from the beginning of your billing cycle until the day you’ve changed plans). Then, the difference is added to (or subtracted from) your next bill. That’s why the charges for the first full month on a new plan are:
- Higher than the standard fee when you upgrade
- Lower than the standard fee when you downgrade
Of course, all the adjustments are included in your invoice as separate items so that you know exactly what you’re charged for.
Here’s a quick example:
When you sign up for the Core plan (i.e., $139/m for up to 40 registered users) on the 10th of the month, you’re charged $139 on the 10th of each month. If during the 3rd month, you upgrade to the Grow plan (i.e., $299 for up to 70 registered users) on the 28th, here’s how you’re charged for your first 5 months:
- Month 1 (billed on the 10th): $139
- Month 2 (billed on the 10th): $139
- Month 3 (billed on the 10th - plan changed on the 28th): $139
- Month 4 (billed on the 10th): $299 + $64 (i.e., the calculated difference based on actual usage during the 12 days between the 28th of last month and the 10th of the current month)
- Month 5 (billed on the 10th): $299
| Note: The difference is calculated as follows: (Days left till the end of the billing cycle / Total days in a billing cycle × New plan fee) - (Days left till the end of the billing cycle / Total days in a billing cycle × Previous plan fee). In our upgrade example above that’s: (12/30 × 299) - (12/30 × 139) = 119,6 - 55,6 = $64 |
Other charges in monthly fees
Flex plans apply soft limits (i.e., even when you reach your account limit, the system does not prevent users from logging in). If during a billing cycle, you go over your limit of logged in users, you’re charged for extra usage on your next month’s bill.
A separate item is included in your invoice to inform you of what the extra charge is for.
Cancellation
When you cancel your subscription at any point during your monthly billing cycle, your TalentLMS portal remains active until the end of the billing cycle.