Auto-pay collects payment for a subscription's invoices without any manual effort. When auto-pay is on, Cornerspot charges the customer's saved payment method off-session each time an invoice is due — so you don't have to send or chase a single invoice. This guide explains what auto-pay does, how to tell whether it's on, and what the auto-pay statuses mean.
How auto-pay works
Each subscription has a charge method. When auto-pay is enabled, the charge method is Auto-charge: as soon as an invoice is generated for a billing period, Cornerspot attempts to charge the customer's saved card or bank payment method automatically. When auto-pay is off, the charge method is Manual invoicing, and each invoice is collected by hand.
1. Check the charge method on the subscription
Open a subscription from Members & Billing → Subscriptions. The header shows its charge method — Auto-charge when auto-pay is on, or Manual invoicing when it's off — right alongside the status, billing frequency, and currency.
2. See what the next invoice will collect
The Upcoming invoice card shows when the next invoice will issue, its estimated total, and the charge method that will collect it — so you know in advance whether the next period will be charged automatically or invoiced manually.
3. Confirm the cadence and auto-finalize settings
In the Subscription metadata on the sidebar, you can confirm the cadence and the Auto-finalize invoices setting. Auto-finalize matters for auto-pay: when it's on, each invoice is issued the moment it's generated, so auto-pay has a finalized invoice to charge straight away.
Auto-pay statuses
Once a subscription is on auto-pay, you may see one of these states:
- On: auto-pay is active and the next invoice will be charged automatically.
- Action required: the charge needs an extra authorization step (for example a 3-D Secure check) the customer completes in the portal.
- Failed: a charge was declined or errored; Cornerspot will retry and the customer is notified.
- Payment method invalid: the saved card or bank mandate is no longer usable and the customer needs to update it.
How customers enable auto-pay
Customers turn auto-pay on themselves in the member portal (covered in its own tutorial), where they choose a saved payment method to charge. Auto-pay requires a usable card or bank payment method on file, so a customer can only enable it once they've added one. There is no admin auto-pay toggle on the subscription in the dashboard — the dashboard shows you the resulting charge method and status.
Good to know
- Pausing or cancelling turns auto-pay off. When a subscription is paused or cancelled, auto-pay is automatically disabled.
- A finalized invoice is required to charge. Keep Auto-finalize invoices on so each generated invoice is issued and ready for auto-pay to collect.
- Failed charges have their own flow. For what happens when a charge doesn't go through — retries, notifications, and past-due status — see the failed-payment tutorial.