Automatic Payments and Manual Invoicing

Payment Options

SmartSurvey offers a choice in how you pay between automatic payment and manual invoicing. Which option will be best for you will depend on your chosen plan and your own preference. 

All of our subscriptions automatically renew at the end of the chosen subscription period (monthly or yearly). The renewal date will either be one calendar month (So, the same day, the following month) or 12 months after your initial payment. The difference between the two options is that for Automatic Payments, we will attempt to take payment automatically from the payment card on file on the renewal date.

For Manual Invoicing, which is only available on Business & Enterprise annual plans, we will send you a reminder 30 days before the renewal date, and then send an invoice on the renewal date itself. From being issued the invoice, you will have 30 days to pay. 

You can cancel at any time by downgrading your account. When you choose to downgrade, you will stay on your chosen plan until the next payment becomes due - you won't lose any plan time you've paid for. For more details about how to downgrade, see "Downgrading to a Free Account". You will downgrade immediately if you have overdue payments and the payment will remain outstanding. 

The table below lays out the key differences between Automatic Payments and Manual Invoicing.

Automatic Payments 

On our self-serve plans, you can pay by debit or credit card. You’ll be asked to input your payment card details when you upgrade your plan. The card details you use when upgrading will then be used to take payment automatically on your renewal date, which will either be 1 month or 12 months after you're initial payment.  

The payments will be taken automatically, you do not need to do anything and your plan access will never be interrupted as long as yourn are payments as successful.  If a payment is missed, for example if the card has expired, the system will follow the process described in the guide Expired Cards and Missed Payments.

We support 3DSecure payments for banks that require additional authorisation steps. If 3D secure is trigger on your recurring payment you will receive an email to log in to SmartSurvey and authorise your payment.  

Manual Invoicing 

We offer Manual Invoicing on our higher annual plans: Business Annual, Business Teams and all of our Enterprise Plans. Your invoice will automatically be generated and sent to you for payment on your renewal date. 

Business Annual & Teams Plans

You will receive a reminder 40 days, 15 days and 7 days before your renewal. We allow you to check your billing email contact details as well as update your Purchase Order on your billing page if you need to change it ahead of your next invoice.  

A video guide on how to update the PO Number is below.

Please note that you cannot change the Billing Address on a tax invoice once it's been issued due to HMRC rules, but if you are unable to add the PO Number before the invoice is issued, you can add it from the Billing Page afterwards, and then download a PDF containing the updated details. 

You will receive an Invoice PDF by email as well as a link to open your hosted invoice page.  

An example invoice is shown below:

You can either pay by BACS using our bank information provided on the bottom of the invoice or pay by card via the hosted page. You also then have the option to change to automatic payments if you wish to pay by card in the future.  

You have 30 days to pay your invoice. At the end of the 30 days, the invoice will be set as overdue and you will enter our automated dunning process: 

• After 2 days your account will be locked
• After 9 days your account will be automatically downgraded to Basic. 

Please ensure you include your SmartSurvey Invoice number as the reference with your BACS payment to avoid any interruptions to your plan access. You will downgrade immediately if you have overdue payments and the payment will remain outstanding. 

Enterprise Plans 

If you're on an Enterprise plan, our sales team will be in contact ahead of your renewal to remind you and update any details required such as Purchase Order numbers. On the renewal date our accounts team will send your invoice to you by email for payment. 

Changing Payment Method 

You can change from Card payment to Manual Invoice when you move from any plan to Business Annual or Business Teams from our pricing page. 

If changing plan during your billing period, the price will be pro-rated for the remainder of the period and you will receive an invoice for the remaining amount.  

You can change from Manual Invoice back to Card Payment if you wish to downgrade back to a Monthly Plan or Professional Annual. You will need to add payment details to complete your downgrade.  

If you are on Business and wish your next renewal to be changed please contact Accounts.   

PDF Invoice Downloads

If you are on an Annual Plan, whether it is automatic or manual, you can download a PDF of the renewal invoice by clicking "Download Renewal PDF"