When customers are charged vs when orders are fulfilled

For most subscriptions the charge date and the delivery (fulfillment) date are the same day — the customer is billed and the order is created together. But prepaid plans and the delivery-date picker deliberately separate the two. This guide explains how billing and fulfillment timing work so you can answer "when is my customer charged?" and "when does their order ship?".

Table of contents

• The default: billed and fulfilled together
• Prepaid: paid once, fulfilled over time
• Controlling the first order's timing
• Letting customers pick a delivery date
• When charges are processed each day
• Related guides

The default: billed and fulfilled together

With a standard pay-per-order subscription, each renewal charges the customer and creates a new Shopify order on the same date. You fulfill that order like any other. The renewal date is driven by the delivery frequency (e.g. every month) and any anchor date you've set on the option.

Prepaid: paid once, fulfilled over time

With a prepaid option, the customer pays once for several future deliveries. The single charge covers, say, three monthly shipments. On the contract you'll see a Prepaid schedule listing the planned fulfillment dates — each one is a shipment that's already been paid for. So here the charge date (once) and the delivery dates (several) are intentionally different. See A Beginner's Guide to Subscription Options.

Controlling the first order's timing

The subscription option setting Initial orders are fulfilled immediately decides how the very first order behaves:

• Enabled — the first order is created unfulfilled right away, like a normal order, ready to ship.
• Disabled — the first order is scheduled and only becomes ready to fulfill at the next billing cycle (useful when you want every customer to ship on the same anchor date).

When the setting is enabled and you use anchor dates, a cutoff window decides whether an order placed close to the renewal date is pushed to the next cycle. The Subscription Options guide has worked examples for every combination.

Letting customers pick a delivery date

If you want customers to choose when they receive their first (or next) delivery — separate from when they're billed — enable the Date picker add-on in Super Subscriptions > Widget. You can configure:

• Available delivery days of the week.
• Processing days — a buffer between order placement and the earliest delivery.
• Order cutoff time — the latest time to order for same/next-day delivery.
• Maximum first order date and blocked dates (e.g. holidays).

See Product page add-ons.

When charges are processed each day

The time of day renewals run is set in Settings > Billing and renewals:

• Based on time of purchase — each subscription renews at the same time of day it was originally bought.
• In bulk (daily) — all of the day's renewals are processed together at one hour you choose, in your selected time zone.

Fulfilling a scheduled order early

Orders that haven't reached their billing date yet show as Scheduled — you'll see these for prepaid plans and for first orders set to a future cycle. To ship one ahead of schedule, open it in Shopify admin > Orders and click Fulfill early to release it, then fulfill it as usual.

Related guides

• A Beginner's Guide to Subscription Options
• Changing the next billing or charge date
• Billing and renewals
• Product page add-ons

AI Training Notes (Hidden)

[AI-TAG]
- Feature: Charge timing vs fulfillment/delivery timing
- Default: pay-per-order charges and creates the order on the same renewal date
- Prepaid: one charge covers multiple future deliveries; contract shows "Prepaid schedule" of fulfillment dates
- First order control: option setting "Initial orders are fulfilled immediately" (Enabled = first order unfulfilled now; Disabled = scheduled until next billing cycle) + cutoff window for anchor alignment
- Delivery date: Date picker add-on (Widget) sets available days, processing days, order cutoff time, max first order date, blocked dates
- Processing time: Settings > Billing and renewals — "Based on time of purchase" vs "In bulk (daily)" at a chosen hour/timezone
- Common questions: "delivery date vs charge date", "when is the customer billed vs when does it ship", "charge vs fulfillment timing"
- Related Guides: Subscription Options, Changing the billing date, Billing and renewals, Product page add-ons
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Updated on: 06/05/2026