> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bellabooking.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Membership Settings
> Enable and configure recurring membership plans for your location
## Introduction
The **Membership Settings** page lets you enable or disable the memberships feature for your location. When enabled, you can create membership plans and clients can subscribe through the dashboard or online booking portal.
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## Accessing Membership Settings
1. Go to **Settings** in the sidebar
2. Click **Memberships** (under Location Settings)
**Note:** Only **Owners** and **Admins** can access Membership Settings.
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## Enabling Memberships
1. Toggle **Enable memberships** to on
2. Once enabled, go to **Memberships** in the sidebar to create plans
When disabled:
* No new plans can be created
* No new clients can enrol
* Existing active memberships continue to be billed by Stripe — you'll see a message directing you to the **Members** list to manage existing subscriptions
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## Stripe Requirement
Memberships require Stripe payments to be configured for your location. Online purchases use Stripe Checkout, and all recurring billing is handled through Stripe Subscriptions.
If Stripe is not yet configured, set it up in **Settings** > **Payments** before enabling memberships.
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## Managing members
Open **Memberships** in the sidebar and go to the **Members** list to see everyone on a plan and their billing status. Selecting a member opens their membership, where you can:
* **Retry a failed payment.** If a renewal payment fails, the membership shows as **Past due**. For members paying by saved card, **Retry payment** charges the card again straight away; when it succeeds the membership returns to **Active** and the client is notified that their membership is active again. For members you collect from manually, use **Record payment** at the till instead.
* **Update the card on file.** Send the client a secure link to add a new card — useful when a card has expired or been declined — so future renewals go through.
* **Change plan.** Move a member to a different plan on the **same billing cycle**. Their next payment is adjusted to the new price, the new plan's benefits apply for the rest of the current period, and the client is notified of the change.
* **Clear a stuck purchase.** If an online purchase never completed payment, you can clear the pending membership so the client can start again cleanly.
Bella keeps each membership in step with Stripe automatically. If a payment, pause, cancellation or billing-date change happens directly in Stripe, Bella picks it up and updates the membership's status — and a nightly check reconciles anything that was missed, so a member's benefits always reflect what they've actually paid for.
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## Aligning the billing day
You can set a **billing day** on a plan so every member is charged on the same day — for example, every member on a weekly plan is billed each Wednesday. New members enrol onto that day automatically. For members already on the plan, use **Align billing day** to move everyone to it: Bella shifts each member's next payment to the chosen day without charging twice or losing time they've already paid for, and lets each client know the date of their next payment.
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## Membership notifications
Configure the client messages for memberships under [Automated messages](/settings/automated-messages). The available membership notifications are:
* **Membership activated** — when a membership becomes active after the first payment
* **Membership payment failed** — when a renewal payment fails
* **Membership cancelled** — when a membership is cancelled or expires
* **Membership reactivated** — when a past-due membership becomes active again after a successful payment
* **Membership billing day changed** — when you move a member to a new billing day
* **Membership plan changed** — when you move a member to a different plan
Each can be sent by email, SMS, or both, and the wording is fully editable.
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## Next Steps
* [Create membership plans](/memberships)
* [Configure automated messages](/settings/automated-messages) for membership notifications
* [Learn about online booking](/settings/online-booking) if you want clients to purchase memberships online