February End-of-Month Subscription Renewals (Short Month Behavior)

Each February, subscriptions that renew on the 29th, 30th, or 31st can appear to renew “early.” This is expected behavior for calendar-based billing when the renewal date does not exist in a given month.

Why February Causes Renewal Confusion

February has fewer days than other months. As a result, subscriptions with end-of-month anchors may converge on the same renewal date (February 28 or 29). Merchants commonly notice:

• Subscriptions anchored to the 29th/30th/31st renewing on February 28 (non-leap year)
• Higher-than-usual renewal volume on February 28/29
• Temporary spikes in declines and dunning activity due to concentrated renewal attempts
• Questions about whether the renewal date permanently changed

How Recurly Handles End-of-Month Billing Dates

For monthly subscriptions, when a subscription’s renewal date falls on a day that does not exist in the renewal month (for example, the 31st in February), Recurly bills on the last available day of that month.

Non-Leap Years vs Leap Years

February renewals differ depending on whether the year is a leap year:

Common Questions

Does February “shorten” the billing cycle?

February cycles may have fewer days (28 or 29), but the subscription interval remains monthly. This is normal for calendar-based monthly billing.

Will February automatically prorate the subscription charge?

No. Standard monthly subscriptions do not automatically prorate because February is shorter. The full monthly amount is billed on the renewal date.

Why did many renewals happen on the same day?

Renewals anchored to the 29th, 30th, and 31st can all fall on February 28 (in non-leap years), which may increase transaction volume and concentrate declines and retries.

Impact on Payment Failures and Dunning

When more renewals occur on a single day (February 28/29), you may see an increase in:

• Gateway declines due to higher attempt volume
• Invoices entering past_due and starting dunning around the same time
• Overlapping retry schedules in early March

Reporting Considerations

February’s end-of-month behavior can temporarily affect daily revenue dashboards, renewal cohorts, and MRR charts due to the shift in renewal timing. This is typically a timing distribution change rather than lost revenue.

Best Practices

• Proactively communicate to customers that end-of-month renewals may bill on February 28/29.
• Review dunning settings to ensure retries are appropriately spaced and customer notifications are clear. 
• Monitor gateway performance and decline rates around February 28/29, especially if you have a large number of end-of-month subscriptions.
• If you want to reduce end-of-month convergence long-term, consider anchoring new subscriptions on dates 1–28 when your business model supports it.

When to Contact Support

Contact Support if you observe any of the following:

• A subscription renews on a date that is not the last day of February when the anchor date does not exist
• Invoices remain stuck in Processing for an extended period and do not resolve after normal gateway settlement timing
• Renewals do not return to the expected anchor date in March