Membership Plans

Plans decide what a customer pays and which equipment they can use. SunMule supports recurring monthly memberships, optionally with a monthly session limit, and one-time plans that sell sessions or packages of sessions.

Plan types

• Monthly: A recurring membership. The customer is billed automatically each month. See Payment processing. A monthly plan is either unlimited or limited to a set number of sessions per billing period. See Limited plans and top-up sessions.
• One-time: A one-time purchase with no recurring billing. A one-time plan can include one session or a package of several sessions, and can optionally expire. Customers buy one or more at a time, and the sessions are added to their balance. See One-time plans and packages. A one-time plan can also be set up as a top-up for a limited monthly plan.

Creating a plan

Administrators open Settings > Plans and add a plan.

You also choose which equipment models the plan includes. Customers see only the equipment their plan includes when they check in, and can use View models on the Plan page to see what is included. Top-up plans do not have their own model list. They always use the models and tax setting of the limited plan they top up.

One-time plans and packages

A one-time plan sells sessions without a subscription. Set Sessions included to sell a package, for example a 10-session package, and optionally set when the sessions expire.

One-time plans follow these rules:

• Sessions are added together: Buying a package adds its sessions to the customer's balance. A customer with 4 sessions who buys a 20-session package has 24.
• Expiry: If the plan expires, the expiry date is the purchase time plus the chosen number of months. A later purchase replaces the previous expiry date, so the whole balance follows the newest purchase. If the newest plan does not expire, the expiry is cleared.
• Expired sessions are removed: SunMule checks for expired sessions every 6 hours and sets the customer's balance to 0, so an expired balance can remain for a few hours after the expiry date. The customer's Account tab and portal show an expiry date on the Session Credits card.
• Members cannot buy them: A customer with an active monthly membership cannot buy a one-time plan. Frozen members can.
• One balance at a time: A customer has either a monthly membership or a one-time balance. Joining a monthly plan replaces the one-time balance, and cancelling a monthly plan clears the monthly balance.
• Refunds do not remove sessions: Refunding a payment does not change the customer's balance.

Limited plans and top-up sessions

A limited monthly plan gives the member a fixed number of sessions each billing period, instead of unlimited use. Members who need more can buy top-up sessions.

How a limited plan works

1. Create the plan. Add a Monthly plan and set Sessions per billing period to a number from 5 to 20.
2. The member joins. They start with the full number of sessions.
3. The member uses sessions. Each check-in uses one session. At zero sessions, the customer cannot check in and sees No sessions remaining.
4. The next payment resets the balance. When the monthly payment succeeds, the balance is set back to the plan's limit. Unused sessions do not roll over.

If a payment fails, the balance is not reset until a later payment succeeds. A frozen membership is never reset.

Changing between plans

• Joining a limited plan or unfreezing: The member starts with the plan's full limit.
• Upgrading to a limited plan with a higher limit: The member keeps their current sessions and receives the difference. For example, moving from 8 to 12 sessions per period adds 4.
• Downgrading to a limited plan with a lower limit: The member keeps the sessions they already have until the next reset.
• Moving from an unlimited plan to a limited plan: The member starts with the new plan's full limit.

You cannot change a plan from limited to unlimited while a top-up plan is still linked to it. Edit each top-up plan and clear its Top-up for setting first.

Top-up sessions

A top-up is a one-time plan that is linked to one limited monthly plan. It lets members of that plan buy extra sessions mid-period.

1. Open Settings > Plans and add a plan.
2. Set the type to One-time and enter the price per session.
3. Under Top-up for, select the limited monthly plan.
4. Save the plan.

Top-up plans follow these rules:

• Who can buy: Only active members of the linked plan. A frozen member cannot buy a top-up.
• One plan only: A top-up is tied to a single limited plan. To offer top-ups on several limited plans, create a top-up for each one.
• Other one-time plans are not available: Active members of a limited plan cannot buy regular one-time plans. They buy a top-up instead.
• Same equipment and tax: The top-up uses the models and tax setting of the limited plan. If you change those on the limited plan, the top-up updates automatically.
• Sessions are added to the balance: Bought sessions are added to the member's current balance and are used the same way.
• Reset at renewal: Unused top-up sessions are lost when the balance resets.

Selling top-up sessions

• Staff: On the customer's Account tab, select Buy Top-Up Sessions. The Plan page opens showing only the top-up plans available to that customer. Add sessions to the cart and check out.
• Customers: On the Plan page in the customer portal, top-up sessions appear for members of a limited plan. See Customer self-service.

Assigning and changing plans

Staff open a customer's Account tab, and customers use the Plan page in their own portal. Both use the same actions:

• Join: Add a plan to the cart and check out.
• Upgrade: Move to a higher-priced plan. The upgrade is added to the cart.
• Downgrade: Move to a lower-priced plan. It takes effect right away.
• Freeze: Pause a monthly membership. A frozen member cannot use the membership, but can still buy one-time plans.
• Unfreeze: Add the unfreeze to the cart and check out to resume.
• Cancel: End the membership.
• Buy sessions: Add a one-time plan to the cart. Members of a limited plan buy top-up sessions instead, and members of any other monthly plan cannot buy one-time plans.

Disabled customers cannot change plans.

Shared plans

On a shared plan, the owner pays and the other members use the plan. A member who is not the owner can see the plan but cannot change it.

Recurring billing

Monthly memberships are billed by SunMule's automatic billing run, either on a fixed day or on each customer's anniversary date, depending on your company's setting. Each billing run is paid to the salon allocated for that customer. See Payment processing and Multi-salon setup.

Membership billing uses cards on file. Make sure customers keep a valid card on their Billing tab. See Customer self-service.

Reports

To review members, open Customers and check each customer's plan. See Reporting and analytics.