Enhance Stripe Data: Add 'cancel_at' Field For Accurate Subscription Tracking
The Need for Precise Subscription Cancellation Tracking
Accurate data analysis is crucial for making informed business decisions, especially when it comes to subscription management. Currently, the PostHog data warehouse source for Stripe subscriptions lacks the cancel_at field. This omission creates significant challenges in tracking scheduled cancellations. The cancel_at field is essential for pinpointing the exact date and time when a subscription is scheduled to end. This is especially true for subscriptions that use Stripe's "flexible" billing mode, which was introduced in SDK version "clover" and later. Without this field, it's difficult to get a clear picture of when subscriptions will actually terminate, leading to reporting inaccuracies. The current schema includes cancel_at_period_end (a boolean), canceled_at (a timestamp indicating when cancellation was initiated), and cancellation_details (a JSON object with cancellation reasons), but it misses the critical cancel_at timestamp. This absence leads to several problems that impede effective data analysis and accurate subscription management. The lack of the cancel_at field results in discrepancies between the expected and reported cancellation dates, which complicates the process of understanding customer churn and subscription lifecycle. This results in inaccurate subscription counts when compared to the Stripe dashboard, because the complete cancellation state is not fully captured in the current schema. Consequently, this leads to a lack of detailed data analysis needed to fully understand subscription cancellations.
The Importance of the cancel_at Field
The cancel_at field is a timestamp that denotes the precise date and time when a subscription is scheduled to be canceled. This information is vital for businesses that want to know exactly when a subscription will end. The cancel_at field would significantly enhance the ability to accurately analyze subscription data. Imagine you're trying to understand your churn rate or how many active subscriptions you have at any given time. Without the cancel_at field, these calculations become unreliable. This directly affects business decision-making, from forecasting revenue to understanding customer behavior. The absence of the cancel_at field also affects the data available for customer segmentation. The ability to segment customers based on their cancellation status and timing is crucial for targeted marketing and retention strategies. The cancel_at field ensures that all the relevant data points are available, making it easier to analyze cancellation trends, identify at-risk customers, and implement timely interventions.
Impact on Data Analysis
The absence of the cancel_at field can lead to inaccurate reporting, particularly when subscriptions are scheduled to be canceled in the future. Accurate data is essential to avoid problems associated with data integrity and decision-making. The lack of the cancel_at field can cause a discrepancy between the expected and reported cancellation dates, thus complicating the ability to understand customer churn and subscription lifecycle, which can lead to poor decision-making. It also leads to inaccurate subscription counts, creating confusion when comparing the data with the Stripe dashboard. This can lead to skewed business metrics, making it difficult to understand the true state of your subscription business. The inability to filter and analyze the data based on scheduled cancellation times will create major issues. The use of this data is very important for making data-driven decisions that are based on accurate and timely data.
Implementing the cancel_at Field: The Proposed Solution
To address this critical data gap, the proposed solution involves adding the cancel_at field to the stripe_subscription schema. The addition will bring the PostHog data warehouse more in line with what is reported in the Stripe API. The recommended code snippet adds the cancel_at field to the stripe_subscription schema. This approach aligns with existing patterns used for other timestamp fields like canceled_at, ended_at, and trial_end. It involves creating an IntegerDatabaseField to store the raw timestamp and using an ast.ExpressionField with the toDateTime function to convert the integer representation into a readable date and time format. This field will be hidden to prevent unintended modifications and will be correctly interpreted by the system. The proposed changes do not require any alterations to the current Stripe API version; the cancel_at field is already available in the API response. This ensures that the integration is clean and avoids unnecessary complexity, thereby ensuring consistent and reliable data. The implementation of this field will give the ability to accurately track subscription cancellations.
Code Implementation Details
The suggested implementation involves modifications within the products/data_warehouse/backend/models/external_table_definitions.py file. The code snippet to be added defines how the cancel_at field will be stored and processed within the data warehouse schema. The suggested code creates an integer database field and then uses an expression field to transform the integer into a readable date-time format. This strategy ensures data integrity and consistency. The use of an ast.ExpressionField with the toDateTime function ensures that the data is correctly formatted for analysis. The code uses the toDateTime function to convert the string representation into a readable date and time format. This is similar to how other timestamp fields are handled, ensuring consistency across the schema. This method facilitates accurate and reliable data analysis.
Benefits of Implementation
Implementing the cancel_at field offers several key benefits. First, it ensures that your data accurately reflects the scheduled cancellation dates, allowing for more precise churn analysis and revenue forecasting. Secondly, it allows for more accurate subscription counts, which aligns with the Stripe dashboard, thus reducing confusion and improving data consistency across platforms. Additionally, it enables better customer segmentation based on cancellation status, which can inform targeted marketing and retention strategies. This enhancement will lead to more robust and reliable data analysis, ultimately improving business intelligence and decision-making capabilities. All these benefits ensure a more comprehensive and accurate data set for the analysis.
Alternatives Considered and Why They Were Rejected
Several alternative solutions were considered but ultimately rejected due to their limitations and shortcomings. First, the possibility of updating the Stripe API version was assessed. However, this approach was deemed unnecessary. The cancel_at field is already available in the current API version, so there's no need to update the API. The goal is to capture the existing data more effectively within the PostHog data warehouse. Second, using cancel_at_period_end as a proxy was considered. However, the cancel_at_period_end field only indicates the intent to cancel at the end of the period, not the actual scheduled cancellation timestamp. This field is insufficient for providing the detailed granularity needed for precise reporting and analysis, which requires knowing the specific date of cancellation. Lastly, parsing the cancellation_details JSON object was considered. However, the cancellation_details object contains information about the reason or feedback of the cancellation but not the scheduled cancellation timestamp. Consequently, this object does not provide the crucial information required for accurate cancellation tracking. Therefore, the direct addition of the cancel_at field is the most efficient and reliable solution.
Additional Context and References
The feature request originated from a user ticket on PostHog's Zendesk support system. The ticket provides valuable context on the problem, including the specific challenges faced by users. This information underscores the practical need for the cancel_at field. Furthermore, the provided debug information offers details on the events and sessions affected by this issue. This information is particularly useful for identifying and understanding the scope of the problem. Finally, the links to specific events and error tracking within PostHog provide more technical insights into the issue.
Debug Information Explained
The debug information included in the request offers valuable context about the reported issue. The "Kind: bug" and "Target area: data_ingestion" tags indicate the nature of the issue and the area of the system it affects. The ticket provides details on the data_ingestion process. The link to the report event shows the specific event related to the issue, while the session link provides a detailed replay session. The error tracking link provides access to specific exceptions related to the issue, helping in understanding the scope of the problem. The SQL query example shows how users are trying to query the data, further highlighting the need for the cancel_at field. The "Persons-on-events mode" information specifies how user data is handled within the system, ensuring data privacy and correct event tracking.
Conclusion: The Path Forward
Adding the cancel_at field to the Stripe subscription schema is crucial for accurate subscription tracking and data analysis. The proposed solution is a straightforward and effective way to address the current data gap. It leverages existing infrastructure and follows established patterns within the data warehouse. By implementing this feature, PostHog will enhance its ability to provide precise and reliable subscription data, empowering users to make better business decisions and gain a deeper understanding of their customer base. This improvement will enhance the overall value of the PostHog platform for subscription-based businesses, improving data quality and business insights. The implementation of this field is a crucial step towards providing a comprehensive and user-friendly experience for all users.
For more information on Stripe's API and subscription management, please visit the official Stripe Documentation.
