This FAQ explains how billing and subscriptions work in Green Business Benchmark°, including plans, group limits, checkout, upgrades, downgrades, payment methods, invoices, taxes, grace periods, and access changes.
Plans and Pricing
How is billing structured?
Billing is managed per organization, not per user.
Each organization has one subscription, and that subscription is managed by the organization owner.
What is the primary scaling dimension?
Green Business Benchmark° plans scale primarily by groups. A Group represents any distinct part of your organization where sustainability work happens, such as a location, department, team, or business unit.
Standard, Premium and Enterprise plans include a base number of (1) one group in the subscription. Organizations can purchase additional groups up to the maximum allowed by their plan.
What are the group limits per plan?
Standard and Premium plans allow up to 50 groups through self-service.
Enterprise plans do not have a maximum group limit.
Plan | # Groups Included | Max Additional Groups |
Starter | 0 | 0 |
Standard | 1 | 50 |
Premium | 1 | 50 |
Enterprise | 1 | Unlimited |
What billing interval is available?
Yearly billing is currently the only active billing option.
What kinds of features does a plan include?
Plans may include a combination of:
On/off capabilities, such as group management, public profile, or certification badge
Numeric limits, such as maximum groups or maximum members
Tiered access levels, such as Basic, Advanced, or Premium access for assessments, roadmaps, and initiatives
Purchase
How do I purchase a plan?
You can select and purchase a plan during onboarding when setting up a new organization. You can also manage your subscription from the billing page at any time.
What payment methods are accepted?
Green Business Benchmark° accepts credit and debit cards through Stripe.
What happens if my card requires 3D Secure authentication?
If your card requires 3D Secure, also known as 3DS, you’ll be prompted to complete the authentication challenge during checkout. The platform waits for confirmation before finalizing your subscription.
What happens if I start checkout but don’t complete it?
Your checkout is saved.
After 48 hours, the checkout is marked as abandoned. You may receive recovery emails after 1, 7, and 14 days to help you complete the process.
Plan Changes
When does a plan upgrade take effect?
Plan upgrades take effect immediately.
Your card is charged a prorated amount for the remainder of the billing period, and your organization gains access to the new plan’s features right away.
When does a plan downgrade take effect?
Plan downgrades take effect at the end of your current billing period.
Until then:
Your current plan remains fully active
You’ll see a Pending Change banner on the billing page
Will I be warned if a downgrade affects my current usage?
Yes. If your organization is currently using more groups or members than the new plan allows, you’ll see a warning during the downgrade preview.
Can I cancel a scheduled downgrade?
Yes. You can cancel a pending downgrade before it takes effect and continue on your current plan.
Group Quantity
How do I add more groups to my plan?
You can add more groups from the billing page. Adding groups generates a prorated charge for the remainder of your billing period.
Can I reduce the number of groups on my plan?
Yes. You can reduce the number of groups on your plan, but you cannot go below the number of groups currently in use.
Any reduction creates a credit that is applied to your next invoice.
Before you reduce the number of groups on your plan, you must first Inactivate or Delete a group:
Go to Groups
Find the group you want to Inactive or Delete
Click the three dots to the right to select your choice
Provide a reason for Inactivating the group to be recorded in audit logs
Next, update billing:
Go to Billing & Subscriptions
Click the Update Groups button
Click the Review Change button
Confirm the update by clicking the Finalize Change button
Are there any situations where I can’t change my group quantity?
Yes. Group quantity changes are blocked during:
Active grace periods
Unresolved payment failures
Subscription Cancellation
How do I cancel my subscription?
You can cancel your subscription from the billing page. Cancellation is scheduled for the end of your current billing period. You’ll keep full access until then.
Can I reverse a cancellation?
Yes. You can resume your subscription at any time before the end date of your current billing period without interruption.
Payment Grace Periods
What is a payment grace period?
A payment grace period is a window of time after a failed payment for a plan upgrade or group quantity increase.
During the grace period, your organization keeps read-only access to gated features while the payment issue is resolved.
How long is the payment grace period?
Payment grace periods are:
7 days for plan or feature upgrades
14 days for group quantity increases
These timeframes are subject to change.
What can I do during a payment grace period?
During a payment grace period, read-only access to gated features is maintained. Write operations are blocked until the payment issue is resolved.
How does a payment grace period get resolved?
A payment grace period can be resolved in three ways:
If payment succeeds, the grace period is cleared and the upgrade is applied.
If the grace period expires, your plan reverts to its previous limits.
If you cancel the pending upgrade, the grace period is cleared immediately.
Payment Methods
How do I manage my payment methods?
You can manage payment methods from the billing page.
From there, you can:
View saved cards
Add a new card
Set a default payment method
Remove non-default cards
Invoices
What generates an invoice?
Invoices are created for:
Initial subscriptions
Renewals
Plan upgrades with prorated charges
Group quantity increases with prorated charges
Credits from downgrades or group reductions are applied to the next invoice.
What can I do with my invoices?
From the billing page, you can:
View invoices
Download invoices as PDFs
Pay unpaid invoices
Void unpaid invoices
Billing Details and Tax
What billing details can I manage?
You can manage:
Name
Email
Phone
Billing address
A same as organization option can pre-fill billing details from your organization details.
Can I add a tax ID to my account?
Yes. You can add tax IDs for tax-exempt billing.
Supported tax ID types include:
US EIN
EU VAT
UK VAT
Other supported tax IDs
Country selection filters the available ID types, and Stripe verifies tax IDs automatically.
Subscription Statuses
What subscription statuses might I see?
You may see the following subscription statuses:
Status | Meaning |
Active | Fully active and paid |
Trialing | In a trial period |
Past Due | Payment failed and Stripe is retrying |
Canceled | Subscription has ended |
Unpaid | All payment retries have been exhausted |
Incomplete | Initial payment is pending, such as waiting for 3DS confirmation |
Incomplete Expired | Initial payment window expired |
Paused | Subscription is temporarily paused |
Paywalls and Access
What happens if I try to access a feature my plan doesn’t include?
You’ll see an upgrade dialog showing which plan includes the feature and how to upgrade.
What happens if my organization has no active subscription?
You’ll be directed to the billing page to select a plan or resume an existing checkout.
What if my payment is pending?
You’ll see a prompt directing you to the billing page to resolve the payment.