The quick answer
Go to Transactions > Subscriptions > Create Subscriptions. Choose the Customer first. NetSuite fills in the customer's default Billing Account, subsidiary and currency, so change the billing account if this subscription should bill on another cycle. Then choose the Subscription Plan, a Price Book for that plan, and the Start Date. Confirm Initial Term, which can come from the plan, and NetSuite calculates End Date. Check the Lines, Pricing and Renewal subtabs and click Save. The subscription saves in Draft. Saving doesn't activate it, so nothing is invoiced until you activate it and run billing.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and operating-company names are fictional. Use your own records and values when following the steps.
Before you start
This example subscribes Larkspur Veterinary Group, a customer in the Fernhill Holdings : Fernhill US subsidiary that pays in US Dollar, to a plan called Clinic Connect Plan. The plan has three lines: a Clinic Onboarding Fee that's optional, a Clinic Connect Seat that recurs monthly, and SMS Reminder Messages billed on usage. The plan's initial term is 1 Year, and it has two price books, Clinic Connect - Monthly USD and Clinic Connect - Annual USD.
A subscription is the last piece of SuiteBilling setup, so the rest has to exist first. You need the Subscription Billing feature, the subscription items, a subscription plan, a price book for that plan in the subscription's currency, and a billing account for the customer. A billing account isn't strictly required to save, but you need one for the same customer, subsidiary and currency before you can activate. You also need the Administrator role or a role that can create subscriptions. If your account uses advanced revenue recognition, you may also have to fill in revenue recognition options on the subscription.
"Stand-alone" just means the subscription is created on its own rather than from a sales order.
01. Check the customer's billing accounts and subscriptions
Open Larkspur Veterinary Group from Lists > Relationships > Customers and click the Billing Accounts subtab. There are two accounts. BACC000214 Larkspur - Annual License is the Customer Default and bills annually. BACC000215 Larkspur - Monthly Usage bills monthly, with its first bill cycle on 10/01/2026.
Click the Subscriptions subtab. It says No records to show. That's the starting point: billing accounts, but no subscription. The subtab's New button can start a subscription for this customer too. This guide uses the stand-alone menu path instead.
02. Start a stand-alone subscription
Go to Transactions > Subscriptions > Create Subscriptions. A new Subscription form opens. Subscription ID says To Be Generated until you save.
03. Choose the customer and billing account
Choose the customer first, because the other fields depend on it. In Customer, choose Larkspur Veterinary Group. Billing Account fills in the customer default, BACC000214 Larkspur - Annual License. Subsidiary and Currency fill in and lock, and Status shows Draft. The Billing Account section at the bottom of the header shows that account's schedule: Annual in Advance, billed annually, next bill cycle 01/01/2027.
This subscription should follow the monthly cycle, so change Billing Account to BACC000215 Larkspur - Monthly Usage. The Billing Account section now reads Monthly on the 1st, Monthly, with a start date and next bill cycle date of 10/01/2026.
The billing account's schedule sets the billing cycle that charges are invoiced on. How often each line is charged is set on the price book. The two don't have to match. You can switch to another billing account of the same customer later, as long as every line is still in Draft or Pending Activation.
04. Choose the plan, price book and dates
In Subscription Plan, choose Clinic Connect Plan. Initial Term fills in 1 Year from the plan here (check it, since you can change it), and the Lines subtab fills with the plan's three lines. Then open Price Book. It offers both of the plan's price books. Choose Clinic Connect - Monthly USD.
Start Date shows today's date. Replace it with 10/01/2026, the day the service starts. End Date is read-only and changes to 09/30/2027, the last day of a one-year term. Check the date it shows in your account. Class and Department can default from the plan or be mandatory in some accounts. Here they stay blank.
05. Check the lines, pricing and renewal
On the Lines subtab, Clinic Onboarding Fee has Include blank and Status Not Included. It's optional on the plan and Larkspur isn't buying onboarding. Clinic Connect Seat and SMS Reminder Messages show Include Yes and Status Draft. The seat is Recurring and billed In Advance, and the SMS line is Usage and billed In Arrears.
Click the Pricing subtab. Every line starts 10/01/2026 and takes its price from the price book. The onboarding fee is Above 0: $1,250.00, charged One Time. The seat is quantity 1 at Above 0: $45.00, so its Recurring Amount is 45.00, charged Monthly. SMS Reminder Messages shows 2,000 Included, then Above 0: $0.03, charged Monthly. It has no recurring amount. Usage is charged from usage records once the subscription is active and rating has run, and only messages above the 2,000 included each month are charged.
Click the Renewal subtab. Default Renewal Term shows 1 Year. That's the term a renewal would use. It doesn't start one. Leave Automatically Initiate Renewal Process cleared, so the subscription doesn't start its own renewal before the end date.
06. Save the subscription
Click Save. The confirmation says the subscription was created. Subscription ID is SUBS000318 and Subscription Name is Clinic Connect Plan - 10/01/2026. NetSuite filled in the name because the field was left blank, and your account's ID and name will differ. Status is Draft, Billing Account is BACC000215 Larkspur - Monthly Usage, and End Date is 09/30/2027.
The Activate and Modify Pricing buttons are greyed out. No line is Pending Activation or Active yet.
07. Find it on the customer
Open Larkspur Veterinary Group again from Lists > Relationships > Customers and click Subscriptions.
Check the result
- The Subscriptions subtab lists Clinic Connect Plan - 10/01/2026 with Status Draft.
- Its Billing Account is BACC000215 Larkspur - Monthly Usage, not the default annual account.
- Start Date is 10/01/2026 and End Date is 09/30/2027.
- On the subscription, the seat and SMS lines are Draft and the onboarding fee is Not Included.
- Nothing has been invoiced yet.
To make it live, edit the subscription, set each line you're activating (here the seat and SMS lines) to Status Pending Activation, and save. Activate then becomes available. It opens an activation change order: apply those lines and save it with an effective date of 10/01/2026. Future charges are calculated from that effective date. The onboarding fee stays Not Included because Larkspur isn't buying it.
Common questions
What's a stand-alone subscription in NetSuite?
It's a subscription you create directly from Transactions > Subscriptions > Create Subscriptions, without starting from a sales order. You pick the customer, billing account, plan, price book and dates yourself. It's the route to use when there's no sales transaction the subscription should come from.
Why is Activate unavailable after I save a subscription?
Saving creates the subscription in Draft, and saving doesn't activate it. In this example, Activate stays greyed out while the lines are Draft. Edit the subscription, set each line you're activating to Pending Activation, and save. Then Activate becomes available.
Can I change the billing account on a draft subscription?
Yes. While the lines are still Draft or Pending Activation, you can pick another billing account for the same customer, as long as the subsidiary and currency match. Its billing frequency doesn't have to match the charge frequency on the price book.
Why is the optional line Not Included on my subscription?
The line isn't required on the subscription plan, so it isn't included unless you choose it. A Not Included line doesn't charge anything. In this example, the onboarding fee stays Not Included because the customer isn't buying onboarding.
Does saving a subscription create charges or an invoice?
No. Here, saving creates a Draft subscription and nothing more. Activation, rating and invoicing are separate steps that come after, and usage lines also need usage records before they're charged.