Pausing a client’s recurring billing

Life happens — a client goes on holiday, faces a financial hardship, or simply needs a break from active coaching. When that comes up, the last thing you want is an awkward conversation about a charge that just hit their card. Knowing exactly how to pause a client's recurring billing in Coachful keeps the relationship intact and gives you a professional, friction-free way to handle the situation.

This guide walks you through every step of pausing recurring billing on Coachful, explains what happens to the client's access during a pause, and covers the most common mistakes coaches make when managing subscription changes.

TL;DR — Quick Answer

• Recurring billing is managed through Stripe Connect, which Coachful uses to process coach payments directly.
• You can pause a client's subscription from the Coach → Clients → [Client] → Billing tab, or directly in your Stripe dashboard.
• Pausing stops future charges but does not automatically revoke program or squad access — you control that separately.
• You can set a pause to resume automatically on a specific date, or resume it manually whenever you're ready.

How Recurring Billing Works in Coachful

When a client purchases a recurring offer — such as a monthly retainer, a weekly coaching subscription, or a multi-tier program membership — Coachful creates a Stripe subscription linked to that client's account. Because Coachful uses Stripe Connect, funds go directly to your connected Stripe account, meaning you have full control over subscription management without relying on a third-party intermediary.

Each recurring offer you build in Coachful maps to a Stripe product and price. The billing cycle (weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual) is set when you create the offer under Coach → Offers → Create offer → Billing type → Recurring. Payment plans — where a client pays in installments — are handled slightly differently and are covered in the Payment plans guide.

Understanding this Stripe-backed architecture matters because a "pause" in Coachful is surfaced as a Stripe subscription pause under the hood. Stripe supports pausing subscriptions natively, which means billing stops cleanly and resumes without creating a new subscription or losing historical payment data.

Before You Pause: Things to Decide First

A two-minute conversation with yourself (or your client) before hitting pause will save you a support headache later. Consider the following:

How long will the pause last?

Stripe allows you to set a resumes_at date so billing restarts automatically — ideal when a client is travelling for three weeks and will be back on a known date. If the timeline is uncertain, you can leave the resume date open and restart billing manually when they're ready.

Should the client retain access during the pause?

Pausing billing does not automatically remove a client from your programs, squads, or scheduled calls. If a client is pausing payment because they're stepping back entirely, you may also want to archive them from the relevant program or mute their squad notifications. If they're just taking a short break, keeping access open is usually the right call — it preserves their progress and keeps the relationship warm.

Will you offer a prorated credit or an extension?

If a client paid for the current cycle and needs to pause mid-period, you can issue a partial credit or refund for unused days through Stripe, or simply extend their next billing date by the number of paused days. Decide this upfront so you can communicate it clearly to the client.

Pro tip: Coaches on Coachful who communicate a clear pause policy inside their client onboarding materials report fewer awkward mid-cycle billing disputes. Add a one-paragraph "Billing Pauses & Cancellations" section to your welcome packet — you can host it on your Coachful website or link to it from your client portal.

Step-by-Step: Pausing a Client's Recurring Billing

There are two ways to pause billing: through the Coachful dashboard (recommended for most coaches) or directly in Stripe (useful for advanced configurations).

Method 1 — Coachful Dashboard

1. Sign in to your coach workspace at app.coachful.co/sign-in.
2. In the left sidebar, navigate to Clients.
3. Find and click the client whose billing you want to pause. Use the search bar if you have a large client roster.
4. Open the Billing tab on their profile. You'll see all active subscriptions linked to that client.
5. Locate the recurring subscription you want to pause and click the three-dot menu (⋯) next to it.
6. Select Pause subscription.
7. In the modal that appears, choose one of two options:
   • Pause until a specific date — Enter the date you want billing to automatically resume. Stripe will charge the client on that date as if the billing cycle continued.
   • Pause indefinitely — Billing stops and will only resume when you manually trigger it.
8. Optionally, add an internal note (visible only to you and your team) explaining the reason for the pause.
9. Click Confirm pause. The subscription status will update to Paused in both Coachful and your Stripe dashboard within a few seconds.

Method 2 — Stripe Dashboard

1. Log in to your Stripe dashboard.
2. Go to Billing → Subscriptions.
3. Search for the client by name or email.
4. Open their subscription and click Actions → Pause subscription.
5. Choose whether to pause collection only (no charges, but the subscription remains active) or to pause the entire subscription, and set the resume date if applicable.
6. Save your changes. Coachful will sync the updated status automatically within minutes.

Use the Stripe dashboard method if you need advanced options such as pausing collection while still generating invoices (useful for accounting purposes), or if you're managing the subscription as part of a larger bulk update.

How to Resume a Paused Subscription

Resuming billing is just as straightforward as pausing it. If you set an automatic resume date, nothing more is required — Stripe will charge the client on that date and continue the billing cycle as normal. If you paused indefinitely, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Coach → Clients → [Client] → Billing.
2. Find the paused subscription (it will be labelled Paused).
3. Click the three-dot menu (⋯) and select Resume subscription.
4. Confirm the action. Billing will resume on the next natural billing date, or immediately if the billing date has already passed.

Coaches working with multiple clients across group programs can use Michelle, Coachful's AI assistant, to quickly surface a list of all paused subscriptions. Just ask: "Show me all clients with paused billing" and Michelle will pull the list directly from your dashboard.

What Happens to Client Access During a Pause

This is the most misunderstood part of the pause workflow, so it's worth being explicit. Pausing billing in Coachful does not automatically change a client's access level. Here's what stays the same and what you may need to adjust manually:

• Program access — The client remains enrolled in any programs they were part of before the pause. Their progress, completed tasks, and habit streaks are preserved.
• Squad access — They stay in any cohort squads or community squads they belong to and can still send messages.
• Scheduled sessions — Any upcoming 1:1 bookings or group calls remain on the calendar. You'll need to cancel or reschedule these manually if the client is stepping away entirely.
• Portal login — The client can still log in to their portal at {your-slug}.coachful.co.

If you want to restrict access during the pause, go to Coach → Programs → [Program] → Members and set the client's status to Paused or Archived. For squad access, you can remove them from the squad or mute their participation until billing resumes.

Issuing a Refund or Credit Alongside a Pause

Sometimes a pause is requested partway through a billing cycle and the client expects a partial credit. Coachful doesn't generate prorated credits automatically — you'll handle this in Stripe. Here's how:

1. In your Stripe dashboard, navigate to Billing → Subscriptions → [Client's Subscription].
2. Click Actions → Create credit note or go to the most recent invoice and issue a partial refund for the unused days.
3. Alternatively, apply a Stripe customer balance credit that will offset the next invoice when billing resumes.

For coaches who offer coupons as a goodwill gesture during a pause (e.g., "10% off your first month back"), you can create a coupon in Coach → Offers → Coupons and share the code with the client to apply on their next renewal or re-enrollment.

Common Mistakes & Troubleshooting

Mistake 1: Cancelling instead of pausing

Cancelling a Stripe subscription is irreversible — once cancelled, you cannot unpause it. You'd have to ask the client to re-enroll, which creates a new subscription and breaks the billing history. Always use Pause, not Cancel, when a temporary break is intended. If you accidentally cancel, create a new offer link and share it with the client; their program progress will still be there if you haven't archived their enrollment.

Mistake 2: Not notifying the client

Stripe does not automatically email clients when their subscription is paused from the coach side. It's your responsibility to send a confirmation. A quick message via Coachful's built-in chat (powered by Stream) or email is all it takes. Silence can make clients wonder if something went wrong with their account.

Mistake 3: Forgetting open invoices

If a client has an outstanding unpaid invoice at the time of the pause, pausing the subscription won't clear that debt. Unpaid invoices will still attempt collection. Check the client's billing tab for any open invoices and either collect payment, void the invoice, or issue a credit note before pausing.

Mistake 4: Losing track of indefinitely paused subscriptions

It's easy to forget a client is paused, especially if you have a busy roster. Set a calendar reminder or use Michelle to check your paused subscriptions list monthly. Subscriptions paused for more than 90 days with no agreed return date are usually better handled as cancellations with a fresh re-enrollment offer.

Mistake 5: Pausing a payment plan installment

Payment plans (e.g., "pay $300/month for 6 months for a one-time program") behave differently from recurring subscriptions. Pausing a payment plan installment schedule requires careful coordination so the total installment count and amounts remain correct. Reach out to Coachful support before pausing a payment plan, or see the Payment plans guide for details.

Mistake 6: Expecting instant Stripe sync

Changes made directly in the Stripe dashboard can take a few minutes to reflect in Coachful. If you don't see the "Paused" status immediately after saving in Stripe, wait two to three minutes and refresh the client's billing tab before assuming something went wrong.

Best Practices for Managing Billing Pauses at Scale

If you run group programs or large cohorts, the occasional pause request can quickly multiply. Here's how experienced coaches keep things clean:

• Build a pause policy into your offer terms. Specify how many pauses a client can request per year, the minimum and maximum pause duration, and your refund or credit policy. This reduces back-and-forth and sets expectations upfront.
• Use internal notes. Every pause should have a note on the client record explaining why and for how long. Your virtual assistant (if you've added one via the VA role in Coachful) will thank you.
• Review paused subscriptions monthly. Make it a habit to check Coach → Clients, filter by billing status "Paused", and reach out to any client paused for longer than planned. A simple "We'd love to have you back" message can reactivate a client and recover revenue.
• Pair pauses with a re-engagement sequence. Use Coachful's website and funnel builder or your existing email tool to trigger a re-engagement sequence 7 days before the pause ends. Keep the momentum going so the client returns ready to work.

Ready to Manage Billing with Confidence?

Pausing a client's recurring billing is a small but meaningful part of running a professional coaching practice. Done right, it protects client relationships, reduces churn, and keeps your revenue recoverable. Coachful's Stripe Connect integration gives you direct control over subscriptions without needing a developer or a third-party billing tool — everything lives in your dashboard alongside your programs, sessions, and client conversations.

If you're not yet using Coachful to manage your coaching business end-to-end, start your free trial and see how much easier billing, scheduling, and client management can be in one place. Already a member? Sign in to your workspace and take a look at your billing settings today.