What happens to the invoice when a student is on hold?

Applies to: Owner / Manager / Staff
PLUS Feature: No
Plan: All
Last updated: October 28, 2026

Overview
What the invoice shows after a hold
Which payment plans change the invoice
Flat monthly price: counted by the day
Priced by the lesson: counted by visits
Group classes
Paid, partly paid, or not invoiced yet
Tax, discounts, late fees, and card surcharges
Before you click Place On Hold
FAQ
Related Articles

Overview

A subscription hold keeps a student enrolled while they take a break. When you click Place On Hold, Opus1.io recalculates the bill for every month the hold touches. This is called hold proration: the family is charged only for the part of the month that falls outside the pause.

Why: Families on a summer break usually ask "what do we owe for July?" before the invoice is due. Knowing how Opus1.io figures the number lets your front desk answer once, correctly, and avoid a refund conversation later.

How the reduction is figured depends on the payment plan. Some plans count days, some count lessons, and a few do not prorate at all. Holds themselves, including how to place one, are covered in How do I use subscription holds?. This article is about the invoice.

What the invoice shows after a hold

After you place the hold, open the invoice for each month it covers. You will see one of three results.

What you see	What it means for the family
A new negative line and a smaller balance	They still owe the reduced amount. Autopay collects that new amount on the due date.
The invoice closes at $0 with the status Paid	The whole month is inside the hold. Nothing is collected. The invoice reads Paid because the balance is zero, not because money came in.
The invoice was already paid, and a credit appears on the payer	The card payment stays where it is. The difference becomes monetary credit on the person who paid that invoice.

Months the hold does not touch keep their normal price. The month before the hold and the first full month after it are ordinary invoices.

A hold can also create invoices that did not exist yet. A July hold placed in June can make the July invoice appear right away, already reduced.

Reading the Proration hold line

On the invoice, find the line that starts with Proration hold. Opus1.io writes the hold dates and how the reduction was figured into that line, in one of three forms:

A percent, such as 64.52% off, on a flat monthly price
billed for 2 visits x $50.00, when the plan has a price per visit for partial months
2 visits skipped, when the plan reduces the month by the share of lessons inside the hold

Sales tax is figured again on the new total underneath. The amount due at the bottom is what the family owes. When your own count and the invoice disagree, trust the proration line.

The proration line is added once, at the moment you place the hold. Hold dates cannot be edited afterward, so the invoice will not recalculate later.

Which payment plans change the invoice

Opus1.io holds work only on monthly subscriptions. Weekly, biweekly, yearly, one-time, and lesson pack plans cannot be put on hold.

On the service's payment plan, the How is it charged? setting decides the math.

How is it charged?	How the hold reduces the invoice
Flat rate, no first month proration	Counted by the day
Flat rate, first payment prorated daily based on start date	Counted by the day
Flat rate, first payment prorated daily based on start date (except if start during first week)	Counted by the day. The first-week exception applies to the first month of enrollment only, not to holds.
Flat rate, first payment prorated based on number of visits	Counted by visits, using How much should be charged per visit for partial months?
Flat rate, first payment prorated based on number of visits (except if start during first week)	Counted by visits, with a first-week and last-week exception
Variable rate based on number of visits	Counted by visits. The family pays for the share of lessons outside the hold.

If the hold window shows Invoices will not be prorated for this subscription payment type, Opus1.io leaves the invoice amounts alone. Per-visit plans are the usual case. Tuition-table subscriptions do not offer a hold at all.

A hold cannot start in the same calendar month the subscription started, so hold proration never overlaps the first month's proration. The first invoice was already priced from the start date.

Flat monthly price: counted by the day

Use this section for the three daily Flat rate plans in the table above, on a private-lesson subscription.

Opus1.io compares the hold to each calendar month and takes off the share of that month's days the hold removes. The examples use a $200 monthly price, no tax, and a 31-day month. Your numbers will differ with your price, the length of the month, tax, and any discount already on the invoice.

The hold starts and ends in the same month

Both the start date and the end date are days off. The family pays for the rest of the month.

Hold: July 7 through July 21, which is 15 days off in a 31-day month.

Days billed: 16
Proration line: 48.39% off, −$96.77
Amount due before tax: $103.23

The hold starts mid-month and runs into the next

The family pays for the days before the start date. The start date is a day off.

Hold: starts July 12 and continues into August.

July days billed: July 1–11, which is 11 days
Proration line: July 12 to July 31, 64.52% off, −$129.03
July amount due before tax: $70.97

The hold covers the whole month

The invoice is reduced by the full monthly price. It closes at $0 and reads Paid. Autopay will not charge it.

The hold started in an earlier month and ends this month

Here the end date is treated differently. Lessons stay on hold through the end of the end date, but the invoice counts the end date as the first day back on the plan. The family pays for the end date and every day after it.

Hold: started in July, ends August 27. August has 31 days.

Days billed: August 27–31, which is 5 days
Proration line: August 01 to August 27, 83.87% off, −$167.74
August amount due before tax: $32.26

A hand count that treats August 27 as a free day comes out one day short of the invoice. This only happens in the month a hold ends after starting in an earlier month. In the July 7–21 example, the end date was free.

Priced by the lesson: counted by visits

Use this section when the plan prorates by number of visits, or is a Variable rate based on number of visits.

Opus1.io counts the lessons scheduled in that calendar month, then counts how many fall inside the hold. Every lesson on the schedule for that month counts, including ones already canceled or late-canceled before the hold, and lessons marked On Hold. Staff-canceled lessons count too if the plan has Count staff-canceled visits in per-visit billing turned on.

The plan has a price per visit

The partial month is rebilled as lessons outside the hold multiplied by the price per visit.

Example: the plan is $200 a month with a partial-month price of $50 a visit. July has four lessons, and the hold covers two of them.

New charge: 2 × $50 = $100
Proration line: billed for 2 visits x $50.00, −$100
Amount due before tax: $100

Set How much should be charged per visit for partial months? to what a family should pay for each lesson they still take in a partial hold month. Opus1.io uses the same price for the first month of enrollment.

A hold never raises an invoice. If the lessons outside the hold, at the per-visit price, would cost more than the invoice already charges, Opus1.io leaves the invoice as it is.

If every lesson that month is inside the hold, the invoice goes to $0 and closes. If the month has no lessons scheduled at all, there is nothing to count, and the invoice is left as it is.

The plan has no separate per-visit price

This covers Variable rate based on number of visits, and a visit-based flat plan with the per-visit price left blank. Opus1.io takes off the share of the month's lessons that fall inside the hold.

Example: four lessons in the month, two inside the hold, and a $200 invoice.

Half the lessons are inside the hold, so half the charge comes off
Proration line: 2 visits skipped, −$100
Amount due before tax: $100

Location closures and canceled appointments

Count location closures appears in the hold window on visit-based flat plans and starts out on. With it on, a closure outside the hold counts as a lesson the family still pays for, and a closure inside the hold counts as a lesson skipped. Turn it off to leave closures out of the math. Variable-rate plans do not show this switch and leave closures out.

Turning off Cancel appointments during hold does not change the invoice. Opus1.io bills from the lesson dates inside the hold either way. Leave it on so the calendar matches the bill.

The first-week exception

This applies only to Flat rate, first payment prorated based on number of visits (except if start during first week). On this plan, a hold that only clips the first week or the last week of a month leaves that month at the regular price.

A hold that ends in the first week of a month, such as September 3, leaves September at the full monthly price. September 1–3 are still on hold for lessons.
A hold that starts in the last week of a month, such as July 25, leaves July at the full monthly price.
A month the hold covers completely, such as all of August, still goes to $0.
A hold that runs through the middle of a month, such as from July 12, uses the per-visit math above.

Group classes

On a monthly group class enrollment, Opus1.io reduces the invoice by the share of that invoice's billing period that falls inside the hold. The window runs from the start of the start date through the end of the end date, so both dates count as time off.

A hold that covers the whole billing period takes that invoice to $0. A hold that covers part of it takes off that share, and the proration line shows the dates and the percent.

This differs from private lessons on a flat monthly price, where a hold that began in an earlier month charges the end date. On a group class, the end date stays inside the hold for billing too.

In the hold window for a group class, the appointment switch reads Mark client as cancelled during hold.

Paid, partly paid, or not invoiced yet

Opus1.io recalculates the invoice whether or not money has come in. What happens next depends on the payments already on it.

Nothing has been paid

The balance drops to the new total, and autopay or a manual payment collects that amount. A balance of $0 closes the invoice.

The family has paid part of it

They owe the new total minus what they already paid.

Example: July was $200, they paid $50, and a hold from July 12 reduces July to $70.97. They still owe $20.97. If what they paid is more than the new total, the extra becomes credit, as in the next section.

The invoice is already paid

The invoice stays closed. Opus1.io adds monetary credit for the difference to the payer on that invoice.

Example: July was $200 and paid in full. A hold from July 12 reduces it to $70.97, so the payer receives $129.03 in monetary credit. The credit name looks like this:

Refund - Monthly Membership - Jul, 2026 - hold - July 12 to July 31, 2026 - 64.52% off

Monetary credit is account money the family can put toward a later invoice. It is not a makeup credit for a missed lesson. Find it on the payer's profile, or across all families in Reporting: Credits. How these credits behave is covered in How do I add monetary credits to a client's account?

The month has not been invoiced yet

Placing the hold creates the invoices for the months it covers, with the proration already on them. You can review the reduced or $0 invoice well before its due date.

Tax, discounts, late fees, and card surcharges

Opus1.io applies the hold to the invoice as it stands, not to the plan's list price.

Discounts. A discount already on the invoice stays, and the percent comes off the discounted amount.
Sales tax. Tax is recalculated on the reduced total. On a $200 plan with 10% tax, the July 7–21 hold leaves $103.23 plus $10.32 tax, for an invoice total of $113.55.
Late fees. A late fee already on the invoice stays at its full amount.
Card surcharges. If your school adds a card surcharge, Opus1.io figures it again on whatever balance is still due.

Before you click Place On Hold

The invoice math happens once, at the moment you save the hold, so a few minutes of checking up front saves a correction later.

Agree the start date and the end date with the family. Opus1.io treats those dates as final on this subscription.
Open the payment plan and note How is it charged?, and the per-visit price if there is one.
Open the student's invoices for the months the hold will touch. Note which are open and which are paid.
Place the hold.
Open those invoices again. Read each Proration hold line, and check the payer's credits if an invoice was already paid.

If your timezone differs from the subscription's, check the dates in the hold window. Opus1.io saves the hold in the subscription timezone, so a date can display as the next calendar day on your clock. The window warns you when the timezones differ.

FAQ

The plan says "no first month proration." Why did the hold still lower the invoice?
That setting only controls the first month of enrollment. On every flat-rate plan in Opus1.io, a later hold still takes off the days the student is away. Only the payment types that show "Invoices will not be prorated" in the hold window leave the amount alone.

Will the family get the money back on their card?
Not automatically. Opus1.io leaves the card payment in place and turns any overpayment into monetary credit for a later invoice. If your school would rather return the money, staff can refund the card from the payment, and then remove the matching credit so the family is not refunded twice.

Can I charge a holding fee to keep the student's time slot?
The hold itself only ever reduces an invoice in Opus1.io. To charge a fee for keeping the slot, add a one-time charge to the family's account for the hold months. On a visit-based plan, the per-visit price also sets what a family pays for lessons they still take in a partial month.

The invoice came out wrong. Can I undo the hold?
Opus1.io cannot edit or remove a saved hold, and ending the subscription does not reverse proration already applied. Correct the invoice itself, with a discount, a one-time charge, or an adjustment to the credit. To change the hold dates, end the subscription and enroll the student again, as described in Can I change, extend, or cancel a subscription hold?

How do I use subscription holds? — placing a hold and what it does to lessons and payroll
Can I change, extend, or cancel a subscription hold? — which fix to use when the dates need to change
Setting up payment plans for your appointment-based services — the How is it charged? options and the per-visit price
How are invoices generated from subscriptions? — the normal billing cycle a hold interrupts
What does each invoice status mean? — why a $0 invoice reads Paid
How do I add monetary credits to a client's account? — how hold credits are used on later invoices