Manage Google Workspace subscription

To manage your Google Workspace subscription, use the Managing tab of the subscription page in the Customer Control Panel (see Subscription details). Some operations are also available from the subscription card in the list of subscriptions of your account (see List of subscriptions).

In this article:

Prolong subscription

For the general description of the procedure, see Prolong subscription in the Customer Control Panel guide.

Prolongation is used only for subscriptions with monthly payments. You can change the resource quantity in a prolong order, but the validation of the new quantity is performed. Resources can be downgraded only by the number of unassigned licenses (see Change resources).

Renew subscription

For the general description of the procedure, see Renew subscription in the Customer Control Panel guide.

Annual subscriptions use delayed renewal. In a renewal order, resources can be upgraded and downgraded. Resources can be downgraded only by the number of unassigned licenses (see Change resources).

Renewing a subscription has the following specifics:

1. The platform renews an Annual subscription on the Google side with temporal switching to Flexible.

   Your reseller may forbid its customers to use temporal switching to Flexible for renewing subscriptions. If so, Annual subscriptions on the Google side are renewed using the subscription renewal settings manually configured by your manager via the Google Admin Console. The resource quantity in a renewal order must correspond to these renewal settings, otherwise the renewal process fails.

2. On the subscription expiration day, the platform checks the number of active assigned licenses on the Google side and compares it with the quantity of a resource in the renewal order:
   
   • If the quantity of a resource in the renewal order is greater than or equal to the number of active assigned licenses on the Google side, the platform compares the SKUs.
   • If the quantity of a resource in the renewal order is less than the number of active assigned licenses on the Google side:
     
     1. On the platform side, the subscription remains in the Renewing status, and the renewal order — in the Provisioning status. You can continue using the subscription as Flexible.
     2. Every hour the platform checks the number of active assigned licenses on the Google side and compares it with the resource quantity in the renewal order.

     3. If the resource quantity in the renewal order appears greater than or equal to the number of active assigned licenses on the Google side, the platform compares the SKUs.

     The situation when the quantity of a resource in a renewal order is less than the number of active assigned licenses on the Google side occurs if, in the Google Admin Console, the number of active assigned licenses was changed after creating the renewal order in the platform.

     To renew the subscription on the platform side, contact your manager to temporarily change the number of active assigned licenses to the original number in the Google Admin Console until the platform completes the renewal order.

3. The platform compares the SKU of a plan for the subscription with the Google Workspace SKU of the subscription on the Google side:
   • If the SKUs match, the platform renews the subscription on the Google side with the ordered quantity of a resource, switches back to Annual monthly or Annual yearly, and completes the renewal order.
   • If the SKUs do not match (on the Google side, the subscription is linked to an archived G Suite edition while the subscription in the platform — to an actual Google Workspace edition), the platform recreates a Google Workspace subscription on the Google side with the new SKU, switches it to Annual monthly or Annual yearly, and completes the renewal order.
4. On the Google side, all subscriptions are renewed in Pacific Standard Time, which is 10 hours later than the platform time. It means that the renewal process always takes at least 10 hours. Before completing the renewal order, the platform every hour checks and compare the start date of the commitment interval of the subscription on the Google side and the current expiration date of the subscription on the platform side.
5. After completing the renewal process, the subscription gets the Active status without recalculating the quantity of the charges linked to the renewal order.
6. If the payment for the renewal order is not completed in time, the subscription is stopped. The platform sends information on the Google side to move the subscription to the Suspended status. For Annual monthly and Annual yearly subscriptions, the platform switches a subscription on the Google side to Flexible.
7. For Annual monthly and Annual yearly subscriptions, if the renewal order is paid after the subscription expiration date:
   
   1. The platform checks that the quantity of a resource in the renewal order is greater than or equal to the number of active assigned licenses on the Google side.
   2. The platform checks the subscription status on the Google side and activates it if necessary.
   3. The platform compares the SKUs and, as described above, switches the subscription on the Google side back to Annual monthly or Annual yearly.
   4. The platform moves the subscription expiration date on its side and sets it to the renewal order payment date + the plan period to match the subscription expiration date on the Google side.

Switch plan

For the general description of the procedure, see Switch plan in the Customer Control Panel guide.

You can switch the plan of an active subscription in the following cases:

• Trial subscriptions — before the subscription expires and stops.

• Flexible subscriptions — at any moment.

• Annual subscriptions — on the subscription expiration date. For Annual subscriptions, a delayed switch plan order is used with the provisioning date = the subscription expiration day.

For Google Workspace, switching the subscription plan has the following specifics:

1. The domain ownership must be verified (see Activate Google Workspace subscription).
2. The platform switches the plan of an Annual subscription with temporal switching a subscription on the Google side to Flexible.
3. Before switching the plan of an Annual subscription, the platform compares the subscription expiration date with the startTime parameter of a subscription on the Google side:
   1. If the subscription expiration date is greater than startTime, the platform waits one hour and compares them again.
   2. If the subscription expiration date is less than or equal to startTime, the platform goes to comparing the resource quantity. 
4. The platform compares the number of active assigned licenses on the Google side with the quantity of a resource in the switch plan order:
   

   • If the quantity of a resource in the switch plan order is less than the number of active assigned licenses on the Google side, the platform waits one hour and compares them again.

     The situation when the quantity of a resource in a switch plan order is less than the number of active assigned licenses on the Google side occurs if, in the Google Admin Console, the number of active assigned licenses was changed after creating the switch plan order in the platform.

     To switch the plan of the subscription on the platform side, contact your manager to temporarily change the number of active assigned licenses to the original number in the Google Admin Console until the platform completes the switch plan order.

   • If the quantity of a resource in the switch plan order is greater than or equal to the number of active assigned licenses on the Google side, the platform goes to comparing the SKUs.
5. The platform compares the SKU of a new plan for the subscription with the Google Workspace SKU of the subscription on the Google side:
   • If the SKUs do not match:
     
     1. The platform recreates a Flexible Google Workspace subscription on the Google side with the new SKU, which matches the SKU in the platform, and the new ordered quantity of a resource.
     2. If the new plan belongs to the Annual group, the platform switches the subscription on the Google side to Annual monthly or Annual yearly.
   • If the SKUs match:
     1. The platform sets the new resource quantity for the subscription on the Google side.
     2. If the new plan belongs to the Annual group, the platform switches the subscription on the Google side to Annual monthly or Annual yearly.
6. On the Google side, all Annual subscriptions are switched on the expiration date in Pacific Standard Time, which is 10 hours later than the platform time. It means that the switching process also takes at least 10 hours.
7. After completing the switching process, the subscription gets the Active status without recalculating the amount of the charges linked to the switch plan order.

Change resources

For the general description of the procedure, see Change resources in the Customer Control Panel guide.

• The Basic and Business Starter editions include 30 GB of the GDrive resource for each user. You can additionally purchase the GDrive (Google Drive) and GVault (Google Vault) resources.
• All other editions have Google Vault and unlimited Google Drive storage for each user. You can additionally purchase only Users (user licenses).
• Trial plans include a limited number of users for free. Purchasing the GVault and GDrive resources during the trial period is not available. 
• During the commercial period of Annual subscriptions, you can only upgrade resources. Resource downgrade is only possible with renewing a subscription (see Renew subscription).
• During the commercial period of Flexible subscriptions, you can upgrade and downgrade resources.
• Resources can be downgraded only by the number of unassigned licenses (in change, prolong, and renewal orders). Before downgrading the licenses, go to the Billing page of the Google Admin Console and check the number of unassigned licenses. If necessary, remove the licenses (see Assign, remove, and reassign licenses). You can also view the used disk space on the Billing page of the Google Admin Console.

Stop and activate subscription

For the general description of the procedures, see Stop subscription and Activate subscription in the Customer Control Panel guide.

Stopping and activating are available only for Flexible subscriptions.

Delete subscription

Deleting a Google Workspace subscription is not available.