Integration Guide

PayPal Payments Standard Integration Guide June 2012 127
Recurring Payments – Subscribe Buttons
Managing Subscriptions
3
Using Downloadable History Logs to Track Subscribe Payments
PayPal lets you download a file that contains all of your subscription payment history for a
time frame that you specify. You can choose comma delimited, tab delimited, Quicken, or
QuickBooks as the file format.
To download a file with your subscription payment history:
1. Log in to your PayPal account at
https://www.paypal.com.
2. Move your mouse over the History tab and then click the Download History link.
The Download History page opens.
3. Click the Customize Download Fields link.
The Customize My Download History page opens.
4. Scroll down the page, and select the Subscription Number checkbox.
5. Click the Save button.
The Download History page opens again.
6. Specify the time frame for the subscription payments you want to download and the file
type you want.
7. Click the Download History button, and follow the onscreen instructions.
For more information on the Download History page, see the
Merchant Setup and Administration
Guide.
Using Instant Payment Notification to Track Subscribe Transactions
PayPal lets your web server receive messages about Subscribe transactions and payment
activity on your account. If you activate Instant Payment Notification, PayPal sends messages
when:
 Payments first occur with a status of Completed or Pending.
 Payments clear, fail, or are denied, if the initial status was Pending.
 Subscriptions begin, end, or are canceled, if you use Subscriptions Password Management.
To learn more, see:
 “Instant Payment Notification – notify_url” on page 415
 “Generating Usernames and Passwords with Subscribe Buttons” on page 143
 Instant Payment Notification Guide
How Billing Cycles and Recurring Payments Work
PayPal attempts to collect recurring payments from subscribers on the day after the previous
billing cycle or trial period ends. Billing cycles can be daily, weekly, monthly or yearly,
depending on the terms of the original subscription.