> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://studies-guides.jaspari.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Billing Cycles

> How and when your organization is actually charged, how your billing cadence changes over time, and what happens if a payment fails.

Charges (a volunteer accepting an offer, a booked visit) accumulate as they happen. They aren't billed individually. All charges within a billing period are included in one invoice on your organization's billing cycle and charged automatically.

## Your billing cadence

Every organization starts on a **weekly** billing cadence unless manually adjusted. After 3 consecutive on-time payments at your current cadence and continued use of the Studies Platform, you automatically move to longer billing cycles.

## How each invoice is paid

When an invoice comes due, your wallet balance is applied first:

* If your wallet balance covers the full invoice, it settles completely with no card charge.
* If your wallet covers only part of it, the remainder is charged to your default card.
* If your wallet is empty, your default card is charged for the full amount.

See [Payment Methods](/billing/payment-methods) for how your default card is chosen, and [Credits](/billing/credits) for how your wallet balance works.

## If a payment fails

* The platform retries a failed charge once per business day, for up to 5 business days total from the original due date (the original attempt counts as day 1).
* After the second failed attempt (day 2), a **hold** takes effect: new volunteer matching pauses for your organization's studies until the balance is paid. Volunteers already in your pipeline keep moving, and your team keeps full access to the platform. Automatic retries keep running on their normal schedule even while the hold is active.
* Once day 5 passes with the balance still unpaid, the platform stops retrying automatically, but the hold remains in place, and the invoice remains open, until the balance is paid.
* You can clear a hold at any time by paying the invoice directly or adding funds to your wallet; studies resume normal processing automatically once it's paid.

<Tip>
  A payment hold never suspends accounts, blocks login, or affects volunteers already in progress.
</Tip>


## Related topics

- [Credits](/billing/credits.md)
- [Pricing](/billing/pricing.md)
- [Payment Methods](/billing/payment-methods.md)
- [Roles & Permissions](/sharing/roles-permissions.md)
- [Collaborate with Other Organizations on a Study](/sharing/collaboration.md)