Zuora is a cloud-based subscription management platform that enables businesses to manage recurring billing, subscription pricing, financial operations, and revenue recognition. It supports businesses looking to adopt or scale subscription-based billing models by offering tools for pricing flexibility, customer lifecycle management, invoicing, and analytics. With its robust APIs and integration capabilities, Zuora allows organizations to connect with CRMs, ERP systems, payment gateways, and other applications to streamline end-to-end subscription workflows.

Business use cases

Automating Subscription Activation

Frends can integrate Zuora with CRM systems such as Salesforce, HubSpot, or Zoho CRM to automate subscription workflows. For example, when a deal is closed in the CRM, Frends can automatically trigger the creation of a subscription in Zuora, including the customer details, pricing plans, and contract terms. This ensures a seamless transition from sales to billing with minimal manual effort.

Streamlining Payment Reconciliation

Frends can connect Zuora with payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal, or Authorize.Net to automate payment reconciliation. For instance, Frends can match payment confirmations from the gateway with corresponding invoices in Zuora and update their status automatically. This reduces errors, improves cash flow visibility, and minimizes manual reconciliation tasks.

Managing Pricing Updates

Frends can help organizations synchronize pricing changes by integrating Zuora with ERP or e-commerce platforms. For example, when pricing models or discounts are updated in Zuora, Frends can push these updates to other systems, ensuring that all platforms reflect consistent product and pricing data.

Enabling Advanced Analytics and Reporting

Frends can extract subscription data from Zuora and integrate it with business intelligence (BI) tools like Tableau, Power BI, or Google Data Studio for analytics. For instance, recurring revenue trends, churn rates, or active subscription metrics from Zuora can be visualized in real time on BI dashboards, enabling data-driven decisions.

Automating Invoicing and Taxation

By integrating Zuora with tax compliance platforms like Avalara or TaxJar, Frends can automate invoicing processes that include location-based tax calculations. For example, Frends can fetch tax rates for customer subscriptions from the tax compliance platform, apply them to invoices in Zuora, and ensure compliance with regional tax laws.

Facilitating Multi-Currency Subscriptions

Frends can integrate Zuora with forex or currency conversion APIs to automate workflows for multi-currency billing. For instance, Frends can retrieve real-time exchange rates and apply them to invoices in Zuora, ensuring customers in different regions receive accurate pricing in their local currencies.

Simplifying Customer Communication

Frends can connect Zuora with communication platforms like SendGrid, Twilio, or email marketing tools to keep customers informed about their subscriptions. For example, Frends can trigger automated emails or SMS notifications for invoice generation, subscription renewals, failed payments, or upcoming billing cycles.

Automating Credit and Refund Workflows

Frends can streamline refund management by integrating Zuora with CRM systems or financial platforms. For example, when a refund request is approved in a CRM, Frends can trigger a workflow in Zuora to create a corresponding credit note, process the refund, and update the financial system.

Enhancing CRM and Subscription Data Synchronization

Frends can ensure alignment between customer data in Zuora and CRMs like Salesforce. For example, when a subscription is created, canceled, or updated in Zuora, Frends can sync these changes with the customer record in the CRM, enabling sales teams to have real-time visibility into customer activities.

Supporting Subscription-Based Forecasting

Frends can integrate Zuora with ERP or financial planning tools to improve revenue forecasting. For example, Frends can extract upcoming subscription payments, revenue trends, and churn predictions from Zuora and feed this data into planning systems, enabling accurate forecasting and decision-making.

Managing Usage-Based Billing

For businesses using metered or usage-based billing, Frends can integrate Zuora with IoT platforms or usage tracking systems. For instance, Frends can fetch real-time usage data from tracking tools, aggregate it, and use Zuora’s APIs to generate accurate invoices based on consumption.

Automating Subscription Renewals

Frends can connect Zuora with customer success platforms to enhance renewal workflows. For example, Frends can monitor approaching renewal dates in Zuora and notify account managers or trigger automated reminders to customers, reducing churn and improving renewal rates.

Handling Failed Payment Notifications

Frends can automate the handling of failed payments by integrating Zuora with communication platforms or dunning management tools. For instance, Frends can detect failed payments in Zuora, update the subscription status, and trigger reminder emails or retry workflows based on predefined retry schedules.

Streamlining Global Operations

Frends can integrate Zuora with regional ERP and tax systems to support global subscription management. For example, subscriptions managed in Zuora can be synced with local tax reporting systems to comply with country-specific regulations, ensuring seamless cross-border operations.

Archiving Financial Records

Frends can automate data backups by transferring invoices, transaction records, and subscription data from Zuora to secure cloud platforms like AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, or Google Drive. For example, monthly subscription data can be archived automatically for compliance and audit readiness.

Enhancing Customer Self-Service

Frends can integrate Zuora with customer portals or helpdesk systems to improve self-service options for customers. For instance, Frends can enable customers to retrieve updated subscription details, download invoices, or process plan changes through a self-service portal connected to Zuora.