> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.uplifter.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What are membership billing cycles?

> Billing cycles are periods Uplifter generates automatically from the start date and interval.

<Note>
  **Must know**

  * Billing cycles are **system-managed** — there is no "add a period" step. You set a start date and interval, and Uplifter creates the periods.
  * The **first cycle is created when you publish or activate** the membership, not before.
  * Uplifter keeps only the current cycle plus the next one ahead — cycles roll forward as time passes.
</Note>

A billing cycle is a single period of a membership — for a monthly membership, one month; for a yearly one, a year. You never build these by hand. Instead, they're derived from two things on the membership: its **Start Date** (the anchor the cycles count from) and its **Billing Interval**.

From there the cycles line up back to back. A membership anchored on the 15th, billed monthly, runs "Jun 15 – Jul 14", "Jul 15 – Aug 14", and so on — each cycle picking up exactly where the last one ended.

A couple of details that occasionally surprise people:

* **Month-end dates clamp.** A membership anchored on Jan 31 lands its next cycle on Feb 28 (or 29 in a leap year), since February has no 31st. It doesn't drift — later cycles return to the anchor day where the month allows.
* **Only current and next exist at any time.** Uplifter doesn't pre-build years of cycles; it keeps the live one plus one ahead and generates the next as each period turns over.

You can see the generated periods in the **Billing periods** section of a membership's detail page, listed alongside the **Members** section. One-time and Per Session memberships are the membership itself — a single cycle that spans from the start date to the end date.

**Related:** [How do I set membership pricing and billing?](/club/memberships/how-do-i-set-membership-pricing-and-billing) · [What happens when a membership renews?](/club/memberships/what-happens-when-a-membership-renews) · [How do I publish a membership?](/club/memberships/how-do-i-publish-a-membership)