Laravel Cashier Guide: Streamlining Subscription Billing Management

Let’s say you have created a high-quality subscription-based Laravel website. Then, there will be a constant juggle between recurring payments, managing invoices, and subscription cancellations. But don’t worry; our professional Laravel development company has the solution: Laravel Cashier.

Laravel Cashier is one of the best in a long line of platforms, including Laravel Horizon, Socialite, Octane, and more, for optimizing a Laravel website. This official Laravel package is your one-stop shop for subscription billing bliss. Forget clunky plugins and tedious integrations – Cashier offers effortless subscription management, automated billing and invoicing, and much more.

I have devised this blog to tell you all about Laravel Cashier and how you can integrate it into your website.

What is Laravel Cashier?

Laravel Cashier is an official package for the Laravel PHP framework that simplifies and streamlines the process of managing subscription billing and invoicing for your web application. It essentially acts as a bridge between your Laravel app and a secure payment gateway, like Stripe, to handle all the nitty-gritty of recurring payments.

With Cashier, Laravel development experts can easily handle coupon redemptions, subscription quantity changes, cancellation grace periods, and even generate invoice PDFs. This package simplifies the integration of subscription billing services into a Laravel application. So they can focus on creating unique subscription-based products rather than the complexities of billing systems.

Laravel Cashier streamlines the setup and maintenance of subscription billing, making it an essential tool for developers working on subscription-based web applications.

How does Laravel Cashier Work?

Laravel Cashier is a powerful subscription billing management system that simplifies the process of handling user subscriptions and managing payment methods. Let’s see how Laravel Cashier works:

Set Up the Database

When you first install Laravel Cashier, it brings along its own set of database migrations that need to be run to create the tables necessary for storing your subscription data. Here’s how the database setup goes:

1. Begin by creating a new database or utilizing an existing one to store data related to subscriptions and payments.
2. Define the required tables, including users, subscriptions, subscription_items, and payment methods, and establish their respective relationships.
3. In the Laravel configuration files, set up the database connection using the correct credentials and database name.
4. Use Laravel’s migration feature to migrate the database schema, creating the specified tables and their structures within the database.

By understanding the database setup and its purpose, you can effectively leverage the Cashier’s capabilities to manage your subscriptions and take full control of your billing system.

Creating Subscription Plans

Creating subscription plans is the most important part of your recurring revenue engine, and Laravel Cashier makes it a breeze. Here’s how the process goes:

1. Identify pricing tiers and features for each plan, such as basic, standard, and premium.
2. Configure the plans in the Laravel Cashier settings, specifying details such as pricing, trial periods, and plan names.
3. Integrate the plans into your application, ensuring they align with your business model and cater to your customers’ needs.
4. Thoroughly test the subscription plans to ensure their functionality and billing accuracy.

This strategic approach contributes to a rapid acquisition of users and revenue growth, showcasing the effectiveness of well-designed subscription models.

Handling User Subscriptions

After you have created different subscription plans, the subscribers will start to pour in. But the Laravel Cashier will help you manage your journey flawlessly. Let’s see how this package handles user subscriptions:

1. Create a user-friendly interface for managing subscriptions, giving users the ability to view, upgrade, or cancel their subscriptions.
2. Develop backend functionality to handle changes to user subscriptions, such as upgrading or downgrading tiers, pausing subscriptions, or managing add-ons.
3. Establish automated emails or notifications to keep users informed about upcoming subscription renewals, payment failures, or other subscription-related events.
4. Offer a seamless process for users to update their payment methods, ensuring uninterrupted access to subscription services.

This process will help you foster a loyal customer base, minimize churn, and build a thriving subscription business.

Managing Payment Methods

You have to give your users different payment methods to ensure they can pay for your subscription securely and efficiently. Let’s see how the Cashier powers smooth and reliable payments:

1. Verify Payment Methods: Allow users to easily manage their payment methods, including adding, removing, or updating credit cards or bank accounts, through a secure interface.
2. Handle Payment Failures: Implement efficient mechanisms to handle any failed payments, providing clear instructions to users on how to update their payment information.
3. Support Multiple Payment Options: Offer users a variety of payment options, such as credit/debit cards, digital wallets, or other electronic payment systems, to choose from.
4. Secure Payment Data: Ensure the security of user data by complying with industry standards and regulations, including encryption and secure storage of payment information.

By leveraging Laravel Cashier’s payment management capabilities, you can build a secure, user-friendly, and efficient system for handling payment methods. That minimizes the friction and ensures smooth recurring revenue generation for your business.

Laravel development services use Cashier to take care of the complex logic behind subscription billing. That leaves you free to focus on building a fantastic user experience and growing your business.

What are the Benefits of Using Laravel Cashier?

Laravel Cashier offers a multitude of benefits for Laravel developers as well as businesses building subscription-based applications. Here are a few key advantages:

For Developers

• Increased Efficiency: Cashier automates repetitive tasks like managing subscriptions, invoicing, and payment processing, saving you valuable development time.
• Simplified Billing Logic: Cashier provides a clean and well-documented API for managing subscriptions, making it easier to build and maintain your billing system.
• Reduced Risk of Errors: Cashier handles complex logic like handling failed payments and retries, minimizing the risk of errors and ensuring smooth subscription management.
• Improved User Experience: Cashier facilitates a seamless user experience for subscription management, including intuitive payment forms, secure payment processing, and clear invoices.
• Integration with Laravel Ecosystem: Cashier seamlessly integrates with other Laravel packages, making it easy to build a comprehensive subscription-based application.

For Businesses

• Increased Revenue: Cashier enables recurring revenue generation, leading to predictable and stable income streams.
• Reduced Customer Churn: Cashier simplifies subscription management and offers flexible options like free trials and coupon codes, helping you retain customers.
• Improved Customer Insights: Cashier provides access to valuable data on user subscriptions, enabling you to make informed decisions about pricing, promotions, and product features.
• Scalability and Growth: Cashier is built for scalability, allowing you to easily accommodate increasing numbers of users and subscriptions without compromising performance or security.
• Reduced Operational Costs: Cashier automates many manual tasks, reducing operational costs associated with billing and customer support.

Overall, Laravel Cashier is a powerful and versatile tool that simplifies and streamlines subscription billing management for both developers and businesses.

So, if you’re considering building a subscription-based application in the Laravel ecosystem, Laravel Cashier is definitely a fantastic choice. Its ease of use, comprehensive features, and numerous benefits make it a valuable asset for any developer or business.

What are the Different Types of Subscriptions Supported by Laravel Cashier?

Laravel Cashier offers a comprehensive and user-friendly solution for subscription billing management. This platform supports multiple types of subscriptions, and each is designed to cater to different business needs.

By understanding the differences between these types, you can determine which one suits your business model and effectively manages your subscription billing:

Single Plan Subscriptions

As the most straightforward option, the Single Plan Subscription offers a fixed price and set features. It’s ideal for businesses with simple offerings or those starting with the basic subscription model.

Here’s how you implement this model:

1. Create a new table in your database to store the details of single-plan subscriptions.
2. Add fields for plan name, price, features, and any other relevant information.
3. Define the relationship between users and the table for single plan subscriptions in your Laravel application.
4. Implement the necessary logic to allow users to subscribe to a single plan and manage their subscription status.

When setting up single plan subscriptions, make sure to clearly communicate the features and benefits of the plan to users to help them make informed decisions.

Multiple Plan Subscriptions

A Multiple Plan Subscription allows you to cater to different user needs and budgets by offering several plans with varying prices and features. This flexibility can increase revenue potential and attract a wider audience.

1. Create and define multiple subscription plans tailored to different customer needs, such as basic, standard, and premium, each offering varying features and price points.
2. Allow users to choose from the available multiple plan subscriptions during the signup process based on their requirements and budget.
3. Provide the flexibility to upgrade or downgrade between multiple plans, giving users the ability to adjust their subscriptions as their needs change.
4. Automate billing and invoicing for users subscribed to multiple plan subscriptions, ensuring a seamless and accurate payment process.

Offering multiple plan subscriptions can greatly enhance customer satisfaction and retention rates by catering to diverse user preferences and needs.

Usage-based Subscriptions

A Usage-based Subscription model charges users based on their actual usage of a service or resource, providing a more dynamic and personalized pricing structure. It’s often used for cloud services, data storage, or similar offerings.

• Develop a mechanism to track usage metrics, such as data volume, API calls, or feature usage.
• Define the unit of measurement and corresponding pricing tier for different levels of usage.
• Ensure seamless integration with Laravel Cashier to automate billing based on the recorded usage.

This Laravel Cashier subscription model ensures fair and transparent pricing. It encourages responsible usage and caters to users with varying needs. However, the implementation and billing logic can be complex and require robust tracking and metering systems.

Beyond these three, Laravel Cashier also supports other types of subscriptions like Free trials, Tiered subscriptions, and Annual subscriptions. So if you want any of these subscription models on your website or web app, I suggest you consult with a Laravel development agency.

What are Some Common Issues and Troubleshooting Tips for Laravel Cashier?

As with any other software or technology, subscription management also entails some issues for the users. But don’t worry; it’s nothing you can’t fix. From failed payments to expired subscriptions to incorrect billing amounts, I’ll tell you about some of the common issues and their troubleshooting tips for Laravel Cashier.

Failed Payments

Failed payments are an inevitable bump in the road for any subscription business. They may be due to expired cards, insufficient funds, incorrect payment details, Stripe connection issues, or bank fraud prevention. But with Laravel Cashier, you have the tools and knowledge to handle them effectively and minimize their impact.

• Check Payment Details: Verify that the payment method on file is valid and has sufficient funds. If necessary, request users to update their payment information.
• Retry Payment: Attempt to process the payment again after addressing any underlying issues. Notify the user about the failed payment and the retry attempt.
• Communicate with Users: Reach out to the user to inform them about the failed payment and provide guidance on resolving the issue. Offer assistance in updating payment details or addressing any concerns.
• Grace Period: Consider implementing a grace period to allow users a short window to rectify the failed payment before suspending services.

It’s crucial to maintain open communication with users regarding failed payments to ensure a positive customer experience and minimize disruptions to the subscription service.

Expired Subscriptions

Expired subscriptions, while tricky, are almost inevitable in any subscription-based business. The reasons behind that might be non-renewed payments, cancellations, delinquent payments, or maybe even system errors.

But you can troubleshoot and fix them. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Identify: Regularly monitor expired subscriptions using Laravel Cashier’s built-in tools or custom notifications.
2. Communicate: Notify customers in advance of expiring subscriptions via email or in-app messages, outlining renewal options and benefits to encourage continuation.
3. Offer Renewal Incentives: Provide discounts or special offers for renewing subscriptions to entice customers to continue their memberships.
4. Automate Renewal Reminders: Set up automated reminders closer to the expiration date to prompt customers to renew, reducing the likelihood of accidental lapse.
5. Assist with Renewal Process: Simplify the renewal process by enabling easy renewal options through the customer portal or with one-click renewal functionality.

Ensure to maintain a helpful and supportive tone while guiding customers through the expired subscription renewal process, aiming to provide a seamless and positive experience.

Incorrect Billing Amounts

Another issue with subscription-based websites is unexpected discrepancies like incorrect billing amounts. It may be due to misconfigurations in price settings or tax calculations. Other potential causes include currency issues, free and trial periods, subscription upgrades/downgrades, and more.

But here are a few ways you can fix it for your Laravel website:

• Check Subscription Plan: Ensure that the correct subscription plan is associated with the user’s account, as selecting the wrong plan can result in billing discrepancies.
• Review Usage Charges: Verify if the billing discrepancies are a result of additional usage charges or overage fees, especially for usage-based subscriptions.
• Validate Tax and Discounts: Double-check the application of taxes and discounts to the billing amount, as errors in these calculations can lead to incorrect billing amounts.
• Monitor Currency Conversion: For multi-currency support, keep track of currency conversion rates and ensure that the billed amounts are accurately converted from the base currency.

If you encounter these or more issues and don’t know how to alleviate them, I suggest you have a consultation with our Laravel experts.

How to Integrate Laravel Cashier?

Now that you know the benefits of Laravel Cashier let’s see how web developers integrate this tool into Laravel websites and web apps. From installation to integration with your payment gateway and creating subscription plans, here’s how the process goes:

Install Laravel Cashier

The process of installing Laravel Cashier involves using Composer, one of the prominent web development tools. It’s a dependency manager for PHP. Here’s how it helps install Laravel Cashier:

Step 1: Open the command prompt or terminal on your PC and run the following command:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag= "cashier-config"

Replace “your-project-name” with the desired name for your Laravel project.

Step 2: If and when your Laravel project is set up, navigate to its root directory using the terminal and install Laravel Cashier using Composer:

composer require laravel/cashier

This command fetches the necessary files and installs Laravel Cashier as a dependency in your project.

Step 3: After installing Cashier, you need to configure it to work with your application. First, publish the Cashier configuration file by running:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag= "cashier-config"

This command will create a cashier.php file in the config directory of your Laravel application. Open this file and configure your preferred payment gateway settings (e.g., Stripe) and other options. (we’ll discuss it later.)

Step 4: Laravel Cashier requires additional database columns to store subscription-related information. Run the following command to migrate the necessary tables:

php artisan migrate

This command will create tables like subscriptions, subscription_items, and others in your database.

Step 5: To use Laravel Cashier in your application, you’ll typically need to apply the Billable trait to your User model. Open the User model (usually located at app/Models/User.php) and add the following line:

use Laravel\Cashier\Billable;
Then include the Billable trait in the class:
class User extends Authenticatable
{
    use Billable;
    // ...
}

That concludes the installation and setup of Laravel Cashier. Next up, you need to configure the payment gateway.

Configure your Payment Gateway

The payment gateway is the service responsible for processing payments, handling transactions, and managing subscriptions. Here’s how you can configure your payment gateway:

Step 1: Choose Payment Gateway: Research and select a payment gateway that aligns with your business needs and target market, ensuring it supports Laravel Cashier requirements.

Step 2: Set Up Gateway Account: Create an account with the chosen payment gateway provider, providing accurate business and banking information.

Step 3: Integrate Gateway: Follow the Laravel Cashier documentation to integrate the selected payment gateway into your application, ensuring seamless communication for billing and payment processing.

Step 4: Test Transactions: Execute test transactions to verify the functionality and reliability of the integrated payment gateway.

Always refer to the latest documentation for both Laravel Cashier and the chosen payment gateway for the most accurate and up-to-date information. Or contact a web development company for proper Laravel Cashier payment gateway integration.

Create Subscription Plans

Laravel Cashier simplifies this process by allowing you to define subscription plans in your configuration files. You can associate them with pricing details from your chosen payment gateway. Here’s the detailed process for the same:

Step 1: Laravel Cashier allows you to define your subscription plans in the config/cashier.php configuration file. If this file doesn’t exist, you can publish it using the following command:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag= "cashier-config"

Once the configuration file is published, open it (located at config/cashier.php) and locate the plans section. Add your subscription plans, specifying the plan’s identifier, name, and price. Here’s an example with two plans, ‘basic’ and ‘premium’:

'plans' => [
    'basic' => [
        'name' => 'Basic Plan',
        'price' => 10.00,
    ],
    'premium' => [
        'name' => 'Premium Plan',
        'price' => 20.00,
    ],
],

Step 2: If you’re using Stripe as your payment gateway, Laravel Cashier will synchronize your plans with Stripe. You’ll need to configure these plans in your Stripe dashboard as well. Each plan in your Laravel configuration should correspond to a plan you create in your Stripe dashboard.

Step 3: In your application, when creating a subscription for a user, you’ll specify the plan identifier. Here’s an example of how you can subscribe a user to the ‘basic’ plan:

$user = User::find(1);
$user->newSubscription('default', 'basic')->create($paymentMethod);

Replace ‘basic’ with the identifier of the plan you want to subscribe the user to.

Step 4: You can display plan information in your views using Laravel Cashier’s Blade directives. For example:

@if (auth()->user()->subscribed('default'))
    <p>You are subscribed to {{ auth()->user()->subscription('default')->stripe_plan }} plan.</p>
@endif

This checks if the user is subscribed to any plan and displays information about the plan.

Integrate Cashier into your Application

Laravel Cashier lets you handle subscription billing, payment processing, and related functionalities seamlessly. Here’s how you integrate Cashier into your Application:

Step 1: Laravel Cashier provides a Billable trait that you need to include in your User model. Open your User model (usually located at app/Models/User.php) and add the following lines:

use Laravel\Cashier\Billable;
class User extends Authenticatable
{
    use Billable;
    // ... other model code
}

This trait adds methods and attributes to your User model, allowing it to interact with Laravel Cashier functionalities.

Step 2: To subscribe a user to a plan, you can use the newSubscription method. Here’s an example:

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
public function subscribe(Request $request)
{
    $user = $request->user();
    $user->newSubscription('default', 'plan-id')->create($paymentMethod);
    return redirect('/dashboard')->with('success', 'Subscription successful!');
}

Replace ‘plan-id’ with the identifier of the subscription plan you want to subscribe the user to. $paymentMethod represents the payment method token, usually obtained from the frontend when collecting payment details.

Step 3: You can check the subscription status of a user using Blade directives in your views:

@if (auth()->user()->subscribed('default'))
    <p>You are subscribed to {{ auth()->user()->subscription('default')->stripe_plan }} plan.</p>
@endif

This code checks if the authenticated user is subscribed to any plan and displays information about the subscribed plan.

Step 4: To update a user’s subscription plan, you can use the swap method:

$user->subscription('default')->swap('new-plan-id');

This code swaps the user’s current subscription plan with a new one identified by ‘new-plan-id’.

Step 5: To cancel a user’s subscription, you can use the cancel method:

$user->subscription('default')->cancel();

This code cancels the user’s subscription. You can also pass now() as an argument to cancel immediately or provide a specific date for cancellation.

Step 6: Laravel Cashier uses webhooks to handle events like subscription cancellations and renewals. Configure the webhook URL in your Stripe dashboard and set up the webhook controller:

php artisan make:controller StripeWebhookController

Handle the necessary events in the generated StripeWebhookController.

Step 7: Customize your views to display subscription information, payment details, and other relevant information to your users.

Always refer to the latest Laravel Cashier documentation for the most accurate and up-to-date information. You can also consult with dedicated Laravel developers for the most accurate integration of Laravel Cashier into your website or web app.

FAQs on Laravel Cashier for Subscription Billing Management

To Conclude

You need proper management for any subscription-based website, and Laravel Cashier is one of the best platforms for that. It is a popular package for managing subscription billing in Laravel applications.

Laravel offers a simple and flexible interface for creating and managing recurring payments, handling subscription cancellations and upgrades, and generating invoices. It also provides secure and reliable payment processing, built-in support for multiple payment gateways, and customizable subscription plans.

So, if you want a well-managed subscription-based website with Laravel Cashier, have a consultation with us today!