In today's dynamic business environment, the need for subscription-based services has surged due to evolving consumer preferences and demands. Subscription models are transformative, offering a recurring revenue stream and fostering long-term customer relationships. Chargebee is a subscription management solution that is vital in this landscape. Connecting Chargebee with BigQuery helps businesses merge Chargebee's subscription data with BigQuery's analysis tools, providing valuable insights for improved customer experiences and better decision-making.

In this article, you'll explore the two popular methods to integrate Chargebee and BigQuery after a quick overview of both platforms.

Chargebee Overview

Chargebee is a subscription management and recurring billing tool serving 227 countries with over 6,500 customers. It helps you handle all the subscription aspects, such as billing, invoicing, and revenue recognition. While Chargebee is not a payment gateway, it seamlessly integrates with other services to handle both recurring and one-time payments. The platform supports a diverse range of payment options such as Paypal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Amazon Payments, debit and credit cards, bank-based payments, and more. 

BigQuery Overview 

Google BigQuery is a leading cloud-based data warehousing platform. It is a fully managed storage system that allows you to store and analyze your data with built-in features like geospatial analysis, business intelligence, and machine learning. BigQuery stores data in columnar format, which helps increase efficiency in executing queries by reducing the amount of data that needs to be processed. 

You can use BigQuery either through its web-based user interface (UI) or through the command-line tool. The web interface of Google Cloud enables you to streamline complex queries and perform complex tasks of storing and analyzing data in a few clicks. However, the command-line tool helps developers and data scientists use third-party libraries, tools, and APIs to transform and analyze data logically. 

Methods to Move Data From Chargebee to BigQuery

• Method 1: Using Airbyte to connect Chargebee to BigQuery
• Method 2: Using the manual method to migrate data from Chargebee to BigQuery

Method 1: Using Airbyte to Connect Chargebee to BigQuery

Airbyte is an ETL tool that automates data integration from sources to destinations. Using its pre-built connectors, transformation features, and intuitive interface, you can get a unified platform for your specific data pipeline needs. In addition, the process of connecting Chargebee to BigQuery is very straightforward. Here's how to perform this task: 

Step 1: Establish Chargebee as Source

• Create an account on Airbyte cloud or log in to an existing one. 
• On the Airbyte cloud dashboard, click the Sources tab from the left navigation bar. 

• Type in Chargebee on the Search field and click on the connector box. 

• Next, you’ll see a Create a source page.  
• Fill in the required fields, including API Key, Site, Start Date, Product Catalog, and configure your Chargebee details.
• Click on Set up Source. 

• To learn more about using Chargebee as a data source in Airbyte. Click here. 

Step 2: Establish BigQuery As Destination

• After successfully configuring Chargebee as a source, click on the Destinations tab in the left pane. 
• Now, select the Search field on the Destinations page and type in BigQuery.  

• Click on the connector card as you see one. 
• You'll be directed to Create a destination page. 
• Provide a unique Destination name for the connector. On the Connection section, fill in Google Cloud details, including Project ID, Dataset location, and Default Dataset ID. 
• On the bottom, you'll see the Loading Method. Select between: GCS Staging and Standard Inserts.

• Add Service Account Key JSON and other fields according to your requirements. 
• Click Set up destination. 

Step 3: Create a Connection Between Chargebee And BigQuery

• Now that you have set up a source and destination, you must establish a connection between Chargebee and BigQuery in Airbyte. To perform this task, click Create a connection after creating a destination or click on the Connections tab from the left navigation bar. 

• Select Chargebee from Step 1 and BigQuery from Step 2 to create a connection. 
• Next, provide a unique Connection name.
• Select the Schedule type as Scheduled, Manual, or Cron. Configure other necessary settings, such as Destination Namespace, Destination Stream Prefix, and Detect and propagate schema changes. 
• You can also adjust the Sync mode and select Replication frequency according to your requirements. 
• Lastly, click on Set up Connection > Sync mode to start synchronization.

Done. This will successfully migrate your data from Chargebee to BigQuery.  

Method 2: Using CSV Files to Migrate Data from Chargebee to BigQuery Manually

There are several ways to move data from Chargebee to BigQuery manually. However, in this method, we will use the import/export of CSV files to connect data between both systems. 

Here's a detailed guide: 

Prerequisites

• Google BigQuery account. 
• Chargebee account. 
• Google Drive account. 

Step 1: Export Data From Chargebee in CSV Format

• Login to your Chargebee account to access its web interface. 
• Look at the right-hand navigation bar on the home page and click on Settings options. 
• Click on the Import & Export Data option from the dropdown menu. 
• You’ll see an Export Chargebee data section. There, click on the Export data button. 
• Now, you can export the data you want, including invoice data, transactions, product catalog, and subscription data. 
• After selecting the export data, click the Select Criteria to export button. 
• Next, it'll give you a popup menu that previews data where you can add certain filters and conditions according to your business requirements. You can also choose to export data in default configurations.
• Lastly, click on the Export option, and it will start preparing your data and download it on a zip file on your local machine.
• Go to the zip file you downloaded on your local machine and extract it to obtain a CSV file with the data on it. 
• Verify the data in the CSV file and structure it as per your ideal format if necessary. 

Step 2: Upload the Data in Google Drive

• Now, we will use Google Drive as a mediator to upload the CSV file to BigQuery easily. 
• To perform this task, log in to your Google Drive account. 
• From the top left corner, click on the +New button. Then, from the dropdown menu, select File Upload. 
• Choose the CSV file you downloaded from Step 1 and upload it. 
• After the upload is successful, copy the link to the file destination in Google Drive.

Step 3: Import Data into Google BigQuery

• Login to your Google Cloud console and navigate to the BigQuery page. 
• In the Explorer pane from the left side, create a new project or select an existing one in BigQuery. 
• Click on the Create dataset option to create a new database under your current project. 
• Now provide a unique Dataset name, and fill in other configuration details per your requirements. Click CREATE DATASET. 
• Right-click on the Dataset you just created and click +Create table. 
• In the Create table section, give your table a unique name. 
• Select Drive as the source. In the Select Drive URI field, paste the link to the file you uploaded to Google Drive from Step 2, and set the file format to CSV. 
• Configure other details and click CREATE TABLE. 
• Ensure the destination is the project and database you created in BigQuery. 
• Now, BigQuery will automatically import the data file you exported from Step 1.
• Verify the table's structure and tweak the formatting according to your requirements.

That's it. You have successfully migrated your Chargebee data to BigQuery. 

Limitations of Using Manual Method

• Error-prone: The process becomes more error-prone as the manual method requires human intervention. There can be formatting errors, file handling mistakes, structural mismatches, and a lack of error tracking. This can result in data loss and incorrect data migration. ‍
• Limited Scalability: The manual approach is not scalable when dealing with huge amounts of data or performing frequent data transfers. As data grows, it becomes more and more unfeasible, which results in more complex integrations and longer migration times. 

Conclusion

You have learned two easy ways to migrate data from Chargebee to BigQuery. The first method uses an approach that automates data integration using the Airbyte ETL tool. You just have to select Chargebee as the source and BigQuery as a destination and connect the source to the destination. Within a few clicks, you are done with the migration. 

However, the manual approach is time and human-resource-intensive. You have to export the data in a CSV file from Chargebee, transform it accordingly, upload it to Google Drive, and then import it to BigQuery. Additionally, you must perform this task whenever you require new data on Chargebee to leverage BigQuery's features. 

We suggest using Airbyte to streamline data migration from any source to the destination of your choice.