Introduction

Bookkeeping is a vital process in managing the financial side of any subscription-based business. From charging customers and issuing invoices to processing refunds and forecasting revenue, it’s essential to track every transaction accurately.

In circuly, all payment-related operations are automated and traceable—making it easier for your team to keep clean financial records while offering customers transparency. This article will walk you through how circuly handles payment data, different payment types, invoicing logic, and more.

Overview

circuly integrates with your Payment Service Provider (PSP) to manage and trigger different payment types. The system never stores actual payment data, but instead creates a payment token and a payment profile that links to your PSP.

Key features include:

• Secure payment tokenisation and profile creation
• Automation of initial, recurring, and one-time payments
• Manual and automated refund processing
• Email templates and PDFs for all payment-related actions
• Custom invoice numbering and styling
• Data export for tax and accounting

How circuly gets access to customer payment data

1. Customer completes checkout by entering their payment details.
2. circuly creates a payment profile at the moment the customer lands on the Order Confirmation Page.
3. The payment token is stored securely—circuly never accesses or parks payments.

The available payment methods depend on your connected PSP (e.g., Stripe, Braintree).

Types of payments in circuly

• Initial payments
• Recurring payments
• One-time payments

Initial Payment

This is typically the first charge at order placement. It may include:

• The first monthly fee
• Setup fees
• Shipping costs

However you can choose not to charge the initial payment in the checkout and delay the charge, (delayed charge) until a later point in time. When you do so, you’ll have to charge the initial payment manually. 

If you choose to delay the initial charge, you must enable:

Settings > Subscriptions > CREATE SUBSCRIPTIONS > Allow unpaid subscriptions

Initial payment must be charged for the subscription to be created unless explicitly allowed otherwise.

Recurring Payment

Charged automatically based on billing frequency (monthly, yearly, etc.). Can be charged manually if needed, for example:

• To retry a failed payment
• To charge ahead of schedule

One-Time Payment

Manually triggered for use cases like:

• Repair fees
• Buyout charges
• Additional services

Refunds in circuly

• Both partial and full refunds can be processed manually in the circuly Hub.
• Triggers the following templates:
  • Transaction refund
  • Refund invoice (PDF attachment)

Invoicing in circuly

Invoices are automatically generated for:

• All payment types
• Manual invoice corrections
• Subscription cancellations
• Retried failed payments

How Invoices Are Sent

You have two options:

• ‍Via your bookkeeping tool- Integrate via webhook or shop system- Invoice numbers will differ from circuly’s- Customers won't see invoices in the Self-Service Portal
• ‍Via circuly- circuly sends the invoice email automatically- Customers can access invoices via the Self-Service Portal

Invoice Setup and Triggers

Setup

Go to:
Settings > Invoice & Payments > INVOICE SETUP

• Customise invoice numbering scheme
• Define default tax or regional settings

Note: circuly uses date-to-date invoices (e.g., start date + 30 days). To avoid spanning two months, you can start all subscriptions on the 1st of each month and use a one-time payment for partial charges.

Email Templates

• All invoice PDFs are sent alongside email templates (HTML/CSS based)
• You can edit these or use circuly’s default templates
• Variables are predefined and only available ones can be used

Invoice download and export

Invoices can be exported using filters:

Filter monthly invoices

• Go to: Invoices tab
• Click filter icon
• Set field: Created, select date or range

Filter refund invoices

• Field: Invoice type
• Option: contains
• Value: refund

You can also filter by:

• Initial payments
• Recurring payments
• Buyout invoices
• Cancellations
• One-time transactions

Additional settings

• Email Templates: Go to circuly Hub > Email Templates to enable and style payment and invoice emails
• BCC List: Add a BCC email to receive a copy of all payment-related emails

Settings > Email > General > BCC list

What happens next

Once set up:

• Payments are triggered and tracked automatically
• All financial transactions are documented
• Customers are notified via email
• Your accounting team can export clean data for reconciliation

Revenue forecasting in circuly

Revenue forecasting involves tracking:

• Subscriber count
• Subscription price
• Contract length
• Churn rate

For accurate forecasting:

• Use historical data when available
• If you're just starting, set a minimum contract duration to stabilise your revenue outlook

circuly’s data exports and subscription metrics can be used in external tools like Excel or BI software for deeper revenue modeling.

Understanding Payment Statuses

Every payment listed in the Payments tab includes a status column to indicate the current stage:

• ‍Paid: Payment was successful and confirmed
• ‍Failed: PSP attempted to charge and failed
• ‍Scheduled: Payment is scheduled and not yet attempted
• ‍Pending: Payment is in process, e.g., during SEPA hold
• ‍Refunded: Payment has been refunded (partial or full)
• ‍Cancelled: Payment was cancelled manually or due to system error

Use this data to audit payment activity and resolve issues proactively.