Cancelling vs. Force Terminating an Order
This article explains the difference between the Cancel and Force Terminate actions in Business Engine, and describes how recurring payment attempts are handled after an order is terminated.
Cancel vs. Force Terminate
Business Engine Admin offers two ways to end an order, and it's important to understand the distinction.
Cancel initiates a scheduled cancellation workflow. When you cancel an order, you set a future cancellation date and are required to provide a cancellation reason. The workflow also triggers one or more customer notification emails automatically.
Force Terminate bypasses this workflow entirely. The order is terminated immediately, with no cancellation date and no required reason. Use this option when an immediate termination is needed and the standard cancellation process is not appropriate.
Recurring Payment Behavior After Termination
This section applies only to customers using Business Engine end-user billing.
When an order is terminated, any outstanding charge is not automatically removed or cancelled. The charge remains as an open invoice, and automated payment attempts will continue on the normal schedule until the balance is paid.
This behavior is intentional — it allows Business Engine to keep attempting collection on outstanding balances even after a service has ended, while still giving you the flexibility to stop billing on a per-customer basis if needed.
If you want to stop billing a customer after termination, you have two options:
- Disable automatic billing for that customer, which stops future payment attempts.
- Apply a negative transaction to cancel out the outstanding balance.
To summarize: terminating an order does not affect open invoices or stop automated payment attempts. The payment cycle continues until the balance is settled, automatic billing is disabled, or the balance is zeroed out.