What Is a Setup Fee?
A setup fee is a one-time charge applied on the first invoice for a service. It is not charged on renewals. Setup fees are configured per billing cycle in the pricing matrix.
Common use cases:
- Account creation / onboarding fee for managed services.
- Hardware provisioning fee for dedicated servers.
- Domain registration fee (for non-domain-type products where you handle registration manually).
Configuring a Setup Fee
- Go to Admin → Products → [product] → Pricing tab.
- For the billing cycle you want to add a setup fee to, fill in the Setup Fee field alongside the price.
- Enter the amount in decimal format (e.g.
25.00for a $25 fee). - Save.
Each billing cycle can have a different setup fee. A quarterly plan might have a $10 setup fee while the annual plan waives it entirely (enter 0).
[!TIP] Setting the setup fee to
0(or leaving it blank) suppresses the line item entirely — the invoice will not show a $0.00 setup fee row.
How It Appears on the Invoice
When a setup fee is charged, the first invoice contains two line items for that product:
Starter Hosting Plan (Monthly) $9.99
Setup fee for Starter Hosting Plan $25.00
─────────────────────────────────────────
Total $34.99
Renewal invoices contain only the base price line:
Starter Hosting Plan (Monthly) $9.99
─────────────────────────────────────────
Total $9.99
Promo Codes and Setup Fees
Whether a promo code applies to the setup fee depends on the promo code configuration:
| Promo type | Applies to setup fee? |
|---|---|
| Percent — recurring | Yes, on first invoice (which includes setup fee) |
| Percent — first payment only | Yes, on first invoice |
| Fixed — first payment only | Discount applied to order total (setup fee included) |
See Promo Codes & Coupons for details.
Configurable Option Setup Fees
Configurable options can also carry their own setup fees, charged once on the first invoice alongside the product setup fee. See Pricing per Option Value.
Waiving a Setup Fee Manually
Admins can edit an invoice before it is paid to remove or adjust the setup fee line item. This is useful for loyal clients or special cases.
- Go to Admin → Invoices → [invoice].
- Click Edit Invoice.
- Remove or adjust the setup fee line item.
- Save.
[!WARNING] Editing a paid invoice is not supported. Waive setup fees before the client pays, or issue a credit note afterwards.