Get an overview of how ChartMogul uses your data for subscription analytics and learn how to import and manage your data in ChartMogul.
Here’s what we cover in this article:
- The building blocks of Subscription Analytics
- How to import data
- Reviewing imported data
- Reviewing your metrics after importing data
Resources and further reading:
Before you begin
- Configure your data settings to ensure ChartMogul calculates metrics and analytics based on the needs of your business.
- Consider adding sample data to get familiar with how ChartMogul calculates metrics and analytics before importing actual data.
- Depending on the amount of data, an initial import may take several hours. You’ll receive a confirmation email once your import is complete. Check our status page for real-time maintenance updates.
The building blocks of Subscription Analytics
To access subscription analytics, import your business’ customers, plans, invoices (or subscriptions), and cancellations (as subscription events). To access cash flow reports, import transactions.
If you use a billing system integration, ChartMogul automatically imports the data required for subscription analytics. Check your billing system’s integration guide for more details.
If you don’t use a billing system integration (or have data stored outside this system), import data using a manual import method.
Here’s an overview of the data points you’ll need to import and how ChartMogul uses your data.
| Dataset | Description | How ChartMogul uses the data |
|---|---|---|
| Customers | Companies or consumers with a potential, current, or past relationship with your business. | ChartMogul creates customer records. |
| Plans | The product/services you offer on a subscription (recurring) basis. | ChartMogul generates subscriptions. |
| Invoices and invoice line items | Details of the product/services you bill your customers on a recurring basis. Invoice data must include invoice line items. |
ChartMogul generates subscriptions. From there, it calculates all metrics and analytics (except for cash flow reports, which require transaction data). |
| Transactions (payments and refunds) | Attempted payments and refunds to invoices. |
ChartMogul generates cash flow reports. Refunds contribute to cash flow metrics but don’t impact MRR (except for Stripe). |
| Cancellations | Details of the subscription being canceled, including the customer name and date. Subscriptions can remain active indefinitely — even after all payment attempts for an invoice have failed. | ChartMogul relies on cancellation events to definitively know when the subscription has ended for calculating metrics and analytics. |
| Contacts (optional) | Personal and contact details of individuals with a current or past relationship with your business. | ChartMogul stores contacts on customer records. Importing contacts is optional when using Subscription Analytics, but required to use ChartMogul CRM. |
| Manual subscriptions | Details of a business’ subscriptions (no invoice data required). | ChartMogul generates subscriptions. |
How to import data
The import method you’ll use to import data for subscription analytics depends on how you bill your customers or track subscriptions. This could be using a third-party system such as Stripe or Recurly, your own custom-built billing system, or a set of manual processes. Depending on the needs of your business, you may need to use multiple import methods.
Each import method is added as a source. Datasets must be in the same source to accurately calculate metrics.
Learn more about each import method:
Importing data using an integration
ChartMogul has integrations with the following billing systems to import the datasets required to use subscription analytics. To learn how ChartMogul integrates with your billing system and how to import data, review its integration guide:
- App Store Connect
- BlueSnap
- Braintree
- Chargebee
- ChargeOver
- GoCardless
- Google Play
- Keap
- Maxio
- Memberful
- Paddle
- PayPal
- Quickbooks
- Recurly
- Stripe
- Subbly
- WHMCS
- WooCommerce
- Xero
- Zuora
Add each billing system as a source. If your business has data stored outside of this system, review the options below to import data manually.
Importing data manually
Import data manually when your business doesn’t use an integration, or you want to import additional data (such as historical data).
The method you’ll use to import data manually depends on how your business stores data: using invoices or as subscriptions. Learn more about the differences.
Importing invoice data
If your business uses invoices to bill customers, use one of the following methods:
- API — Integrate with any system and keep your ChartMogul metrics up-to-date automatically. Best method for businesses with developer resources.
- Add data within ChartMogul — Manually add data using data tables. Import customers and contacts using flexible CSV import and upload remaining datasets using structured CSV import. Best method for businesses who want a non-technical method for importing customers, invoices, and transactions.
- Google Sheets — Import customer, invoice, and transaction data using our Google Sheets integration. Best method for businesses who use Google Workspace.
- Manual subscriptions — Businesses who have invoice data can use manual subscriptions to track subscriptions in ChartMogul. Best method for businesses who do not need to track refunds, prorated invoices, void invoices, or subscriptions with multiple components in ChartMogul. This method is also useful for importing historical data.
Importing subscription data
If your business doesn’t use invoices, but instead keeps records of subscriptions, use:
- Manual subscriptions – Track subscriptions and generate cash flow metrics. Best method for businesses who keep records of subscriptions instead of invoicing customers.
Importing data from multiple sources
Depending on the needs of your business, you may need to use more than one import method. You’ll add each method as a source.
For example, most of your customers pay for their subscriptions with Stripe but a handful use direct debit. In this case, you’ll create two sources: one Stripe source and one custom source. Or, you have historical data stored outside your billing system. In this case, you’ll create two sources: one custom source for the historical data and one source for your billing system.
What’s the difference between manual subscriptions and other import methods?
All import methods allow you to access subscription analytics and cash flow reports. However, manual subscriptions generate subscriptions and transactions differently than other import manual methods (API, CSV, Google Sheets, or adding data directly within ChartMogul).
For manual subscriptions, ChartMogul generates subscriptions and transactions using the details you add when creating a manual subscription. All other import methods are formatted to match our data model: ChartMogul uses invoice data to generate subscriptions and transaction data to generate transactions.
Manual subscriptions do not support refunds, prorated invoices, void invoices, or subscriptions with multiple components. If your business needs to track these items in ChartMogul, import dating manually using API, CSV, Google Sheets, or directly within ChartMogul.
Reviewing imported data
Once imported, ChartMogul gives you complete visibility into your data as it exists in our platform through a series of data tables. To view these tables, navigate to Settings & Data > Sources, then select the source you want to view. Learn more about adding and editing data within ChartMogul.
Reviewing your metrics after importing data
Once you’ve connected your billing system(s) to ChartMogul and have imported data, we recommend reviewing your metrics. Review what to do if you are experiencing issues importing your data.
Here’s a recommended checklist:
| Metrics or data location | Data to review |
|---|---|
| MRR, Subscribers, and Customer Churn Rate | Ensure the values displayed in ChartMogul are similar to any existing calculations you may have. |
| Navigate to MRR > Chart Data, then select a cell to view the Activity table. | Check that your existing subscription changes have been imported, as these changes generate MRR movements. |
| Customer records | Check a few customer records to ensure their details, MRR, and transactions are accurate and up-to-date. |
If you’ve gone through the preceding checklist and find discrepancies in your metrics or data (as it exists in ChartMogul), here are more tips and resources:
- Review your data settings. You may need to adjust your churn recognition, smart activity classification, auto-churn, or time zone settings.
- Your billing system software may handle data and calculate metrics differently. Learn more about why metrics in ChartMogul may differ from your billing system, and then complete an audit of your subscription data.