Set up level-change proration policy

This guide shows you how to decide what happens to a member’s money when they change levels partway through their term. You set one default for your whole organization, choose whether members can pick for themselves, and — if you want — set exceptions for specific level pairs.

Who can do this: Admins who can manage memberships. Admins without that permission can view the policy but not change it.

Before you start

Have at least two membership levels set up. Overrides only make sense when a member can move from one level to another.
Decide your default: when someone changes levels, should MapleGather apply the difference now, add credit to their account balance, or charge full price and extend their renewal?

The three credit modes

Apply the difference immediately — charge or refund just the difference between the two levels, right away.
Credit to account balance (the system default) — charge any upgrade difference; for a downgrade, add the unused value to the member’s account balance to use later.
Charge full price and extend renewal — no partial credit. An upgrade charges the full new-level price now; a downgrade charges nothing today. What the member paid for their unused time is turned into time on the new level, at the new level’s price: an upgrade renews one full term from today plus that time, and a downgrade buys more time at the lower price. Two exceptions: on a level with a fixed renewal date for everyone the date can’t move, so the unused value goes to the member’s account balance and the renewal date is that fixed date; and on a free level there’s no price to buy time with, so the unused value goes to the account balance and the renewal date stays the same.

Leaving a lifetime level is charged the same in every mode. When a member on a lifetime level switches to a level that gives a renewal date (one that renews, or a one-time level with a single fixed renewal date), the switch is a new purchase of that level: the member pays its full first-term price, whether it costs more or less than the lifetime level, their lifetime membership ends, and the new level renews one term from today. Nothing is credited for the lifetime. The preview tells the member (or you, when you make the change for them) before anything is confirmed. You can waive that charge when you make the change on the member’s behalf (a reason is required); a waived term earns no credit if the member changes level again later. Until paying for a level change by card is available, members can’t make this switch themselves when it charges their card, so they’ll ask you; when nothing is charged or refunded to a card they can: a free level under account-balance credit or charge-full-extend-renewal, and under price-delta only when the member has no remaining credit (any credit would be refunded to their card); under price-delta, a remaining credit that covers the price exactly (any excess would be refunded to their card, so they ask you); under account-balance credit, a remaining credit at or above the price (the rest goes to their balance). Under charge-full-extend-renewal the full price is always charged — the credit becomes extra days instead — so only a free level lets them switch themselves. [amended pre-merge 2026-10-12, c21 AH r4: under price-delta a $0 level opens the exit only with no credit — a credit there nets negative, a card refund] [amended pre-merge 2026-10-12, c21 AH r3: per mode — charge-full-extend-renewal always charges the full price, so a credit never opens the exit there]

Moving between two levels that never renew is charged the same in every mode, too. A member whose membership never renews (a lifetime level, or a one-time-payment level that gives no renewal date) and who switches to another level that never renews pays the difference between the two levels’ prices when the new one costs more — $200 from a $300 lifetime level to a $500 one; a member on a free level pays the full price — and nothing when it costs the same or less; nothing is refunded and nothing else is converted. Members can make the free moves themselves; until paying for a level change by card is available, you make a priced one for them (and can waive the charge). A member on a one-time-payment level with no renewal date who switches to a level that gives a renewal date is leaving a lifetime level, as above — for a one-time member that can only be a one-time level with a single fixed renewal date, because levels on another billing schedule aren’t offered.

Choose based on how you want money to flow. Credit to account balance keeps value with the member for future dues and registrations, and is the safest default. Apply the difference immediately is simplest for members who want an instant adjustment. Charge full price and extend renewal suits levels where you’d rather not prorate mid-term.

Steps

Go to Proration policy (at /admin/billing/proration).
Under Default credit handling, select one of the three modes.
Set Let members choose how their credit is handled:
- On — the level-change screen shows members a menu of the allowed options.
- Off — your default (or a matching override) applies automatically, and members just see the result.
To set an exception for a specific change, open Per-level-pair overrides and select Add an override.
In the new row, pick the From level, the To level, and the Credit handling for that exact direction.
Repeat steps 4–5 for any other pairs you want to handle differently.
Select Save.

Which rule wins

When a member changes levels, MapleGather picks the credit mode in this order, highest first:

An admin’s per-change choice — when an admin changes a member’s level for them, they can override the mode for that one change.
A per-level-pair override — a row you added here for that exact From → To direction.
Your organization default — the mode you set above.
The system default — credit to account balance, used if nothing else is set.

This order is shown on the screen so you always know which rule applies.

Verify

You’ll know it worked when a “Proration policy saved” message appears. To check it end to end, change a test member’s level and confirm the Review your change screen shows the mode you expect.

If something goes wrong

“You already have an override for this change” — two override rows use the same From → To pair. Each direction can appear only once. Remove or edit the duplicate, then save.
“Pick a From level, a different To level, and a credit option” — a row is incomplete, or the From and To levels are the same. Fill in all three fields with two different levels.
A row says the level no longer exists — an override points at a level you’ve since removed. Delete or change that row, then save.
Removing every override — saving with no override rows clears all of them. Your default (and member choice) still apply.
You can only view the policy — you don’t have permission to change it. Ask an org owner to give you permission to manage memberships.
“This policy changed since you loaded it” — another admin saved while you had the page open. Reload to see the latest, or save your version over it.