What counts as a subscription?
Under ApprovalMax’s Tiered Usage-Based Pricing (TUP) model, a subscription is defined by four billing details:
Billing cycle (Monthly or Annual)
Currency
Billing address
Payment method
You can find all your subscriptions in the Subscriptions tab under Billing & Subscriptions. Each subscription appears as its own card.
If two subscriptions have the same combination of these four settings, ApprovalMax automatically combines them into a single subscription card.
You can see which Organisations are grouped in a subscription card on its Usage tab.
When can a subscription merge happen?
A subscription merge can occur when an Account Owner or Account Manager:
updates your subscription billing address
updates your payment method
The goal is to keep your account tidy; one set of subscription billing details should correspond to one subscription.
Why do some subscriptions not merge?
If both a new or updated subscription and an existing matching subscription are active and in good standing, ApprovalMax merges them straight away.
All Organisations from the new or updated subscription are moved to the existing matching subscription; the old subscription is cancelled; no access is interrupted; and no data is lost.
Example: You update your payment method on Subscription A. The new method matches Subscription B, which is also active. The Organisation under Subscription A moves to Subscription B, and Subscription A is cancelled.
However, if either subscription has an overdue payment or is in a grace period, an immediate merge is not possible.
Once the outstanding invoice is paid and both subscriptions reach Active status, ApprovalMax merges them automatically and sends the Account Owner an email confirmation.
Example: You update your billing address on an active Subscription A, and the new address matches the address for Subscription B, which is currently in a grace period.
A notification lets you know the two subscriptions will stay separate for now.
Once the overdue payment for Subscription B is settled, the two subscriptions are combined automatically; no further action is required.
What stays the same after a merge?
All Organisations and their subscription plans remain active. Organisation data is unaffected. Invoice history stays with the subscription it was created on. After a merge, the surviving subscription keeps its own invoice history, and the cancelled subscription retains its own records separately.
Your historical invoices are not deleted; they remain accessible on their original subscription card records in the Invoices tab.
Why can’t I upgrade plan or update billing details for an Organisation?
If a subscription is in a grace period due to an unpaid invoice, you won’t be able to upgrade plan or update billing or payment details at the individual Organisation level.
To resolve this, you will need to pay the outstanding invoice first. Once settled and the subscription returns to Active, edits are available again.
Notifications
Before a change is applied: Whenever a billing or payment update would trigger a subscription merge or create a coexistence situation, ApprovalMax displays a confirmation message before saving your changes.
If the matching subscription is Active, you'll see a "Combine subscriptions?" confirmation explaining that the subscriptions will be merged immediately. You can choose to Confirm or Cancel.
If the matching subscription is in a Grace period (or both subscriptions are in a grace period), you'll see a “Heads up” message explaining that the subscriptions will remain separate for now because of the outstanding balance. Once the overdue invoice is paid and both subscriptions are eligible, ApprovalMax will automatically combine them.
After an automatic merge: When ApprovalMax automatically combines two subscriptions, the Account Owner receives an email confirming which subscription was retained, which subscription was cancelled, and which Organisations were moved.