Changing an organization's plan or seat count¶
A plan change selects a target plan and licensed seat count. Depending on the current paid coverage and target cost, it can require a payment now or save a change for the end of the current term. Saving the request does not by itself change the active plan.
This page describes the inspected request, pricing and application behavior. The connected screen journey and deployed delivery still need verification; no new screen sequence is asserted here.
Before requesting a change¶
A current, active organization administrator can request a change for an active organization or one suspended specifically for billing. The target plan must be active, published and available for self-service, and the seat count must fit that plan's published minimum and maximum.
Plans that require a quotation or sales arrangement cannot be bought through this self-service request. Choosing the exact current plan and seat count is also not a renewal: use the separate subscription-payment journey to renew or end a trial.
A subscription still attached to an existing provider-managed renewal schedule must first complete its billing-owner transition before a new application-managed plan checkout is created. Resuming an already saved request has its own checks.
When payment is required¶
The calculation compares the target plan's base seat cost with the currently applied base seat cost. It then considers whether an unexpired paid term exists.
| Situation | Request behavior |
|---|---|
| Paid target, without an unexpired paid term, including a trial or free plan | Quote a full target term and record that the paid change starts a new term |
| Higher total base seat cost during an unexpired paid term | Quote the positive difference for the remaining prepaid coverage |
| Equal or lower total base seat cost during an unexpired paid term | Save a zero-net change effective at the current expiry |
| Zero-net change without an unexpired paid term | Save a change with the current time as its effective date |
The comparison is based on price and seat count, not just a plan's name or rank. A different plan with fewer seats can cost less overall. A zero-net change means this operation collects no price difference; it is not a promise of a refund or a free future renewal.
The plan-change quote covers the base seat-price change. Separate recurring add-ons are not automatically repriced as part of this calculation. Review their own terms and the final checkout summary.
How prepaid time affects the quote¶
For a paid increase within an existing term, Zerohive considers the actual remaining calendar billing periods. If the next term has already been paid early, the remaining amount can include both the rest of the current term and the prepaid next term.
For example, increasing the monthly base seat cost by 100 with half of one monthly term left gives an illustrative net difference of 50. With that same half-term and one fully prepaid monthly term remaining, the illustrative difference is 150. Actual quotes use the saved calendar boundaries, billing interval and configured price, then round the net result; applicable tax can change the checkout total.
Do not substitute a fixed thirty-day calculation for the saved quote. Monthly and yearly intervals, month-end boundaries and prepaid coverage can produce different results. Check the currency, target seats, effective date, amount due now and tax before paying.
The full target-term subtotal and the amount due now answer different questions. A change during prepaid coverage can show a full target cost alongside a smaller prorated difference.
Resuming a saved request¶
The system first considers a request with the same reference, then an existing scheduled change, then a pending payment. A matching plan change can return that saved workflow instead of creating another one. A different target plan, seat count or consent choice conflicts with an existing saved change; a separate renewal payment is not silently converted into a plan change.
Where saving a payment method was chosen for a paid change, the consent remains bound to the original requesting account. A zero-net change does not grant new saved-method consent.
An interrupted response is a reason to reconcile the saved request. It is not evidence that the request failed or that another payment is needed. Use checkout retry guidance only when that original checkout qualifies for a controlled replacement.
What the returned state means¶
| State or result | What it confirms |
|---|---|
| Request recorded, checkout being prepared | Saved plan-change terms; no ready payment link yet |
| Checkout ready | A payment link is available for the matching pending request |
| Scheduled with no payment required | A saved zero-net change and its effective date; no provider checkout is needed for this change |
| Payment under review or response unavailable | The existing operation needs reconciliation |
| Payment accepted | The payment evidence has been accepted; check the applied plan and coverage separately |
A zero-net change is recorded for later application even when its effective date is the current time. An acknowledgement does not guarantee that every downstream product or member entitlement has changed at that instant.
The payment-method rules remain in saved methods and consent. Paid-period and invoice rules are in payment acceptance. Older checkouts created under the previous process use the additional checks in existing provider payments.
When the change is applied¶
A paid change must match the saved organization subscription, source plan, seats, currency, amount and coverage boundary. The target plan must still exist, have the saved identity and code, and be active. Its current seat limits also apply. A changed or unavailable target requires reconciliation; payment does not authorize substitution of another plan.
The accepted seat price remains the price saved with the request. A later catalogue price increase does not silently replace it. Other plan policy is read from the target at application time, so the original quote is not a promise that every plan setting is frozen forever.
A paid change starting a new term begins coverage at accepted payment time and clears remaining trial dates. A paid increase within an existing term preserves that term's start and end. For the latter, the saved acceptance time must be before the existing expiry; a payment that no longer fits its saved window needs reconciliation.
A zero-net scheduled change cannot apply before its effective date. Once due, applying it changes the plan and seats, but does not by itself purchase a paid renewal.
A renewal paid before or after the scheduled change¶
| Order of events | Result |
|---|---|
| Next term for the scheduled target is paid early | Its accepted future coverage is retained; current features and current expiry remain until the scheduled change |
| Scheduled change then applies | The target plan uses the matching accepted future period |
| Scheduled paid target applies without renewal coverage | The target can be applied while its paid subscription remains past due |
| A matching upcoming payment is accepted after that change | It can establish coverage using its saved target terms; late acceptance starts a full term from acceptance time |
| Scheduled move to a free target applies | No renewal payment is required for that free base plan; the old paid expiry is cleared |
A payment for one target cannot be reused to apply a different target or seat count. Exact replay of an accepted change does not apply it again or extend coverage.
Member access when seats or products change¶
A seat decrease is checked both when requesting it and when applying it. The system protects the existing active licensed organization head and a designated administrator. If those are different memberships, enough seats must remain for both. It does not invent a missing administrator or choose a replacement head through this billing operation.
After protected memberships, retention uses the earliest active licence date, with a stable identifier used to break ties. Excess licensed memberships can be deactivated for seat recovery and their active licences revoked. On a downgrade or lateral plan change, product licences that the new plan no longer permits can also be revoked.
These changes concern organization membership and product access. They do not mean that a person's platform account has been deleted. Review who will retain access before reducing seats, especially when the new plan also removes products.
Later recovery depends on capacity, the stored recovery requirement and current account eligibility. It concerns memberships marked for seat recovery; it does not reactivate every membership that an administrator previously deactivated. A paid plan change also does not remove a non-billing administrative suspension.
If the effective date arrives but the result is unclear¶
Due changes are reconciled by renewal processing and by several current-access checks, including organization and permission reads. If the system cannot establish the due change's outcome, those checks can return unavailable instead of assuming the old plan remains authoritative.
Keep the original change and payment references. Distinguish an applied plan, accepted paid term, updated invoice and restored member/product access. A saved or completed workflow label alone does not prove that every related update has arrived.
For an older provider-managed checkout, recurring schedule updates or cancellations are separately queued. Local plan application is not the provider's completion receipt. Use the original operation for reconciliation rather than starting a competing schedule.