## **🧾 What Is Proration and How Does It Work?**

When you upgrade your Search Atlas subscription mid-cycle, you are charged only for the remaining days in your billing period on the new plan. At the same time, any unused value from your current plan is calculated as a **credit** and applied toward your new plan cost. This process is called **proration**.

Understanding how proration credits are calculated — and how they interact with your total payment — is key to verifying that your billing is correct.

## **📊 How Your Upgrade Credit Is Calculated**

Your proration credit is based on the **unused portion of your current plan** at the moment you upgrade. Here is how the calculation works:

1. **Identify your current plan's daily rate.** Divide your plan's billing amount by the number of days in your billing cycle.
2. **Count the remaining days** left in your current billing period at the time of upgrade.
3. **Multiply** the daily rate by the remaining days. This is your proration credit.
4. That credit is then **applied toward the cost of your new plan**, reducing the amount you owe at checkout.

For example: if you were on a Growth plan and had unused value remaining, that unused amount becomes a credit. The credit **reduces the net charge** on your invoice — but it does not increase the gross amount you paid out of pocket.

## **💡 Why Your Credit May Look Different From What You Paid**

A common source of confusion arises when customers compare the **total amount charged on their card** to the **credit amount shown on an invoice**. These two numbers represent different things:

- **Total card charge:** This is the full amount debited from your payment method for the new plan (e.g. $3,351.60). It may include a credit that was applied at checkout, meaning the gross plan cost was higher and the credit reduced what you actually paid.
- **Proration credit:** This is the unused value credited from your previous plan (e.g. $1,179.75). It was applied **before** your card was charged, not added on top of what you paid.
- **Net charge:** The amount actually billed to your card after the credit was applied. This is the figure our system uses for refund or adjustment calculations.

In short: a $1,179.75 credit applied at upgrade means you paid **less** at checkout — not that $1,179.75 was added to the amount you owe back.

## **🔄 How Refunds Are Calculated on Upgraded Plans**

If you downgrade, cancel, or are eligible for a refund after upgrading, the refund amount is based on the **net payment** actually charged to your card — not the gross plan value or the credit amount from a prior plan. Here is the general process:

1. Our billing system identifies the **net charge** for your current plan period.
2. Any **unused days** on that plan are calculated at the daily rate.
3. The refund is issued for those unused days based on the net amount paid.

This means that a previously applied credit from a prior plan **does not compound** into a second refund — it was already used to reduce your earlier charge.

## **⚠️ Known Billing Issues We Have Fixed**

Our engineering team has identified and resolved several billing bugs that could affect proration accuracy. If your account was impacted by any of the following, your billing may have been corrected automatically or may require manual review:

- **Annual subscriptions with monthly add-ons** were under-credited during upgrades due to a calculation error. This has been fixed.
- **Retained wrong billing dates** on agency upgrades caused incorrect proration windows. This has been resolved.
- **Accounts provisioned at the wrong plan level** after a paid upgrade have been corrected.
- **Subscription state errors** following billing migrations have been resolved.

If you upgraded during a period when these bugs were active, your account may be eligible for a manual credit adjustment. Please reach out so our team can review your specific billing history.

## **✅ How to Verify Your Own Billing**

You can review your invoices and payment history directly inside the platform. To check your billing details:

1. Log in to your Search Atlas account.
2. Click your avatar in the top-right (Account Menu) and select **Billing**.
3. Review your invoice history, applied credits, and charge amounts.
4. Compare the **net charge** on each invoice to confirm proration was applied correctly.

If the numbers do not match your expectations, note the invoice dates, plan names, and amounts before contacting support — this will help our team resolve your case faster.

## **🛠️ Still Have Questions About Your Specific Bill?**

Billing calculations can vary based on your plan type, billing cycle, add-ons, and the exact date of your upgrade. If you believe your proration credit or refund amount is incorrect, our billing team can walk through the full calculation with you line by line.

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type **human teammate** to be connected with a member of our team.