Series items sell a package of N uses valid for a set number of days, redeemed visit by visit. Recurring items create customer subscriptions billed weekly, monthly or yearly to a card on file or store account.

Gyms, salons, studios and service businesses rarely sell one visit at a time. They sell a ten-class pass, a monthly membership, a yearly plan. PHP Point Of Sale covers both patterns: series items for prepaid packages of visits redeemed one at a time, and recurring items for subscriptions billed automatically on a schedule.

Create a series item

A series is a regular item with the series option turned on — see creating items for item setup in general.

1. Open Inventory → Items, create the item (say, "Massage 10-Pack") or click Edit on an existing one.
2. Check Sold in a series on the item form. Two extra fields appear:
   • Series Quantity — how many uses the package includes. For a pack of 3 massages, enter 3.
   • Number of days series must be used within — the validity window. For a package that expires after a year, enter 365. The expiration prevents someone redeeming years later at old prices.
3. Set the item's selling price to the package price and click Save.

Sell a series

Ring up the series item like any other sale, with the customer attached to the sale — the series balance is stored on their profile, so a sale without a customer can't create one. On the sale screen, the line's details show the item's Series Quantity and Number of days series must be used within, so the cashier can confirm the package's terms with the customer before completing the sale. When the sale completes, the customer gains a series balance: the quantity remaining starts at the item's Series Quantity, and the expiration date is the sale date plus the item's number of days. See ringing up a sale.

Redeem a visit

When the customer comes in to use a visit:

1. Open Customers in the left menu.
2. Find the customer, click the ellipsis (...) in their Actions column, and choose Redeem Series.
3. The customer's series are listed with the item name, sale date, Quantity Remaining, and Expire Date. Click Redeem on the right and confirm — the quantity remaining decreases by one.

A series with nothing left shows Already Used instead of the Redeem link, and one past its expiration date shows Expired and can no longer be redeemed.

Edit or delete a purchased series

From the same Redeem Series screen:

• Edit — change the Quantity Remaining and the Expire Date of this customer's purchased series, then click Save. This adjusts only this purchase; the item sold at the register is unchanged. Use it to grant a goodwill extension or fix a missed redemption.
• Delete — removes the series from the customer's account after a confirmation.

Editing the series item itself (price, quantity, days) in Inventory → Items affects future sales only, never balances already sold.

Report on outstanding series

Reports → Customers → Customers Series Report lists every purchased series across customers — or one customer's — with quantity remaining and expiration date, and the same Edit, Delete, and Redeem actions as the customer screen. Each row expands into a detailed view of redemption dates and quantities used, so you always know how much prepaid service you still owe. The report requires the reports permission View Customers — see running reports.

Set up a recurring charge item

Recurring charges bill a customer for an item on a schedule. They require either an integrated card processor that supports card-on-file billing — PHP POS Payments Premium, Valor, or Dejavoo (see PHP POS Payments) — or store accounts as the payment vehicle.

1. Open Inventory → Items and create or Edit the item.
2. The item's Selling Price is the amount billed each cycle.
3. Open the Pricing tab and check Is Recurring Charge. The recurring options appear:
   • Startup Cost — an optional one-time fee charged at the initial sale instead of the selling price. Leave it blank to charge nothing up front.
   • Prorated — when checked, the initial sale also charges a prorated share of the selling price covering the days from signup until the first scheduled billing date, so a mid-cycle signup pays only for the remainder of the period. Proration assumes 7 days for weekly plans, 30 for monthly, and 365 for yearly.
   • Interval — when the charge repeats: Weekly, Monthly On Day Of Month, Monthly On Day Of Week, Yearly On Date, or Yearly On Month On Day Of Week.
   • Depending on the interval, extra fields set the exact day: Day Number (1–31) for monthly-on-day-of-month and yearly-on-date, Month for the yearly intervals, and a Day (First, Second, Third, Fourth, Last) plus Weekday (Sunday–Saturday) for the day-of-week intervals.
4. Click Save.

Example: Startup Cost 5, Interval Monthly On Day Of Month, Day Number 10 — the customer pays $5 at signup, then the selling price on the 10th of every month.

Sell a subscription

Add the recurring item to a sale like any other item. Two rules apply at the register:

• A customer must be attached to the sale — the subscription is stored on their profile.
• Payment must be by Credit (through your integrated processor, which is selected automatically when a recurring item is in the cart and captures the card token for future billing — even on a $0 first charge) or by Store Account.

Completing the sale creates a subscription on the customer with the item's interval and day rules, the card on file (masked) or store account as the payment method, the recurring amount, and the calculated next payment date. The original sale and every later charge each produce a normal sales receipt, so subscriptions flow into sales reports like any other revenue.

Manage subscriptions

Open Customers → Subscriptions in the left menu. Each subscription shows its status:

• Current — billing is up to date; the customer is charged on schedule.
• Failed — the last charge was declined; it will be retried.
• Cancelled — the charge failed three times, and billing stopped.

Click Edit on a subscription to see and change the Next Payment Date, the Recurring Amount, the interval and day settings, and the payment method — including Update credit card to put a new card on file after a failure. Click Save when done. Subscriptions can also be deleted (and undeleted from the deleted-subscriptions view) to end a membership; access is governed by the Customers module permissions — see permissions and templates.

Subscriptions at the register

Subscription health also shows where staff actually see it: the sale screen. When a customer with subscriptions is attached to a sale, the register's customer panel lists them under Subscriptions: — each entry shows the item name (or "Subscriptions #ID" when no item is linked) and its status, color-coded so problems stand out at the counter:

• Green — the subscription is Current; nothing to do.
• Red — the last charge Failed. The entry is a link labeled Update credit card: click it and the subscription opens in a new tab, so the cashier can put a new card on file while the customer is right there (opening it requires the Customers module's Add, Update permission).
• Amber — any other status, such as Cancelled; worth a conversation about renewing.

How billing runs

Billing runs automatically in the cloud: subscriptions whose next payment date (or retry date) has arrived are charged each day, with tax included per the item's tax setup — see setting up taxes. You can also trigger a run yourself with Process Recurring Payments on the Customers → Subscriptions page; due subscriptions are then processed in the background — useful for checking your first cycle by hand.

For each due subscription:

• A card-on-file subscription is charged through your processor. On success the status stays Current, the next payment date advances by one interval, and a sale is recorded. On failure the status becomes Failed and a retry is scheduled 2 days later; after 3 failed attempts the subscription is Cancelled automatically.
• A store account subscription always succeeds: the amount is charged to the customer's store account balance, to be collected later — pair this with invoices for store account charges to bill them formally.

Keep the program healthy

Once billing runs on its own, watch the edges: check Customers → Subscriptions for Failed and Cancelled statuses (a failed card usually just needs Update credit card), and run the Customers Series Report for balances about to expire that a reminder could convert into a renewal. A short weekly check keeps the revenue predictable.

Common questions

What's the difference between a series and a recurring charge? A series is paid once up front and used up visit by visit within a validity window. A recurring charge bills again automatically every week, month, or year until cancelled.

Why can't I complete the sale of my recurring item? Two requirements: the sale needs a customer attached, and payment must be made by credit card through your integrated processor or by store account. Cash and other payment types can't carry a subscription.

What happens when a subscriber's card is declined? The subscription's status changes to Failed and the charge retries every 2 days. After three failures it changes to Cancelled and billing stops. Fix the card with Update credit card on the subscription before that happens.

Can I give a customer extra visits or more time on their package? Yes — open Customers, click the ellipsis (...) for the customer, choose Redeem Series, click Edit on the series, and raise the Quantity Remaining or push out the Expire Date.

How do I cancel a membership? Open Customers → Subscriptions, find the subscription, and delete it — or edit it if you only need to pause by moving the next payment date.

Does a redeemed visit show up anywhere? The redemption decrements the quantity remaining, and the Customers Series Report details view lists each redemption's date and quantity used.

Can the recurring price differ from what new buyers pay up front? Yes. The first sale charges the Startup Cost (plus proration if enabled); every cycle after that bills the item's selling price.

Do recurring charges include tax? Yes — each cycle's charge is calculated with the item's tax settings, and every charge creates a normal sale, so taxes report as usual.