Cancelling billing contract subscriptions
Last updated: June 11, 2026
Overview
Cancelling a billing contract subscription immediately stops the subscription, cancels its active contributions, and — if the subscription has already been invoiced — issues a credit note for the invoiced amount back to the funder.
Use this when a funding arrangement has been incorrectly raised and any billed periods need to be reversed.
Cancellation is different from ending a subscription:
Cancel — stops the subscription immediately and credits any invoiced periods.
End — sets a future end date for normal end-of-service handling, with no credit issued.
Cancellation can't be undone.
Where to find it
You can cancel a subscription from any page that lists billing contract subscriptions:
A booking's funding tab — under subscriptions.
A billing contract's subscriptions page.
A contact's billing contract subscriptions page.
A contact organisation's subscriptions page.
In the subscription row, open the row actions menu and choose Cancel contribution (for billing-module subscriptions) or Cancel subscription (for other modules, such as billable extras or day care).
How it works
Click Cancel contribution / Cancel subscription on the subscription row. A side panel opens.
If the subscription has invoiced periods, a preview is shown with the credit amount and the period it covers.
Fill in the form:
Cancellation reason — optional free-text field.
Credit note issue date — required if the subscription has invoices.
Credit note due date — required if the subscription has invoices. Must be on or after the issue date.
Confirm. On success, a toast confirms the cancellation and, where applicable, shows the credit amount that was issued.
Rules and validation
A subscription can't be cancelled when:
The booking is locked.
The subscription is already cancelled.
The subscription is a parent of active linked subscriptions — end the linked subscriptions first.
The subscription is a linked child whose parent already has invoiced linked adjustments.
It's a booking-period subscription with no end date set.
Other rules:
The due date must be on or after the issue date.
If invoiced periods exist, an issue date and due date are required so the credit note can be raised.
Frequently asked questions
Q: What's the difference between cancelling and ending a subscription? A: Cancelling stops the subscription immediately and credits any invoiced periods. Ending sets a future end date for normal end-of-service handling and doesn't issue a credit.
Q: Can I undo a cancellation? A: No. Cancellation is permanent, which is why the side panel warns "Cancelling can't be undone." If a credit note has also been issued, you'll need to handle that through the funder's billing separately.
Q: Will the funder be credited automatically? A: Yes, if the subscription has invoiced periods. Found calculates the credit as the sum of the actual invoiced amounts (care fees plus invoiced adjustments) and raises a credit-note invoice using the issue and due dates you enter.
Q: What if the subscription has never been invoiced? A: No credit note is created and you won't need to enter issue/due dates. The subscription is simply marked as cancelled.
Q: Why can't I cancel — the button is disabled? A: The most common reasons are that the booking is locked, or the subscription has active linked child subscriptions that need to be ended first.
Q: I get "Subscription is already cancelled" — what does that mean? A: The subscription has already been cancelled previously. Refresh the page to see its current status.
Q: I get "End all linked subscriptions before cancelling this subscription" — what do I do? A: This subscription is a parent of one or more active linked subscriptions. Cancel or end those child subscriptions first, then cancel the parent.
Q: Why is the cancellation reason optional? A: It's stored on the subscription for reference and appears on the activity timeline, but it isn't required to process the cancellation. Adding one is good practice for audit and reporting.
Q: Does cancelling affect the booking itself? A: It doesn't change the booking, but it cancels every active contribution on that subscription and clears its next billing period so no further invoices are raised.
Q: Why does the button say "Cancel contribution" sometimes and "Cancel subscription" other times? A: For billing-module subscriptions (the funder's contribution to care fees), the label is "Cancel contribution". For non-billing modules such as billable extras or day care, the label is "Cancel subscription".
Q: Can I preview the credit before confirming? A: Yes. When invoicing is enabled and the subscription has invoices, the side panel shows a preview of the credit amount and the period it covers before you confirm.