Customer Class - Regular Invoices tab

Generate Invoice PDF

• At the end of the billing period –              With this option enabled, PortaBilling® processes the customer’s xDRs, applies charges (e.g. subscriptions, fees, etc.), creates an invoice and generates a .pdf file. XDR processing for the next customer only starts once the .pdf file for the previous customer has been generated. Note that this is the default option.

• Postponed, based on resource availability              –With this option enabled, PortaBilling® creates a regular invoice and charges a customer’s pre-authorized payment method immediately. PortaBilling® begins to generate the .pdf files only once the calculations related to the previous billing period (e.g. xDR processing, statistics) for all customers have been completed. This is a useful option for service providers who automatically charge customers’ pre-authorized payment method.

• On demand – With this option enabled,  PortaBilling® makes all calculations for the customer, creates their regular invoices and saves them to a database. These invoices are then accessible via API. However, the .pdf file will not be generated unless explicitly requested. Note that at any time an administrator can initiate .pdf file invoice generation on the customer’s page.

Invoice Template

Select one of the predefined invoice templates. For how to create an invoice template please refer to the Templates section of this guide.

Click the Invoice Template link to review and edit the selected invoice template.

Send invoices via email

Define when to send invoices by email to a customer.

• Automatically – Select this option to automatically send a .pdf copy of the regular invoice to a  customer when a new invoice is created.
• After review and approval by admin – Select this option to send a .pdf copy of the regular invoice to a customer only after an administrator has reviewed and approved the invoice.
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  • Hold for review for … days – Type the number of days PortaBilling® will wait for an administrator to approve an invoice before sending the invoice to the customer.
•  Never – Select this option if you don’t want to send a .pdf copy of the regular invoice to the customer.

Payment Terms

Auto-charge invoice balance using          the saved Payment Method

Select this check box to automatically charge the customer’s pre-authorized payment method for the full amount due when their billing period is closed. PortaBilling® calculates an regular invoice and immediately charges the customer’s credit card. Upon successful payment processing, PortaBilling® generates an invoice.pdf file with a zero amount due.

If the payment transaction was unsuccessful, PortaBilling® generates the invoice with the amount due and this invoice must be paid.

Payment is expected within … days          after invoice generation

Define the invoice grace period. This defines how many days after the regular invoice generation a payment is expected. The invoice due date is calculated as based on the grace period (invoice_issue_date          + grace period). 

For example, if the issue date is June 1 and the grace period is 15, the invoice must be paid before June 16. 

Note that the grace period can be zero. The invoice is then considered to be due upon receipt. 

Notify customer about upcoming due          date … days before due date

This option is available only when the Payment is expected within … days after invoice generation option is not empty or 0.

Type how many days prior to the invoice due date a notification should be sent to a customer. Use comma to separate values.

For instance, “14, 7, 3” means that the customer should receive a notification 14, 7 and 3 days before the due date. (Obviously,          if the customer pays after the first notification, no further notifications will be sent).

Leave this field empty to disable notifications completely.

Payment Collection

Do not try to collect the payment          if the amount due is less than

This is the minimum invoice amount due required to collect payment (and to automatically charge the customer’s credit card). You can specify it only if the currency for this customer class is set. If the amount due in a generated invoice is smaller than this threshold, there is no payment collection and notifications are not sent to the customer. The payment status of such an invoice is No payment required.

The invoice doesn’t become overdue. If the customer doesn’t make a payment, the invoice amount due applies to the next invoice(s) until the amount due for the new invoice crosses the threshold.

For example, if you specify the minimum payment collection threshold as $30:

• Invoice #1 includes charges for the first billing period of $10. The invoice total is $10. The customer isn’t required to pay for this invoice yet. The invoice status is No payment required.
• Invoice #2 includes charges for the second billing period of $10 plus the previous invoice total of $10, so the amount due is $20. The customer isn’t required to pay for this invoice yet. The invoice status is still No payment required.
• Invoice #3 includes charges for the third billing period of $12 plus the previous unpaid amount due of $20, so the invoice amount due is $32. Since it crosses the payment collection threshold ($30), PortaBilling® sends a notification to the customer that there’s an unpaid invoice with the amount due of $32. The invoice status is Unpaid.
• The customer pays $25, which fully covers the first and second billing periods ($10+$10) and a part of the third billing period ($5). Thus, invoice #3 is partially paid and the customer still must pay $12-$5=$7 to cover invoice #3 in full.             

   

             Note that if the customer doesn’t pay invoice #3 in full by the due date, the invoice becomes overdue (even though the unpaid reminder is less that the payment collection threshold). An overdue invoice can trigger system actions for payment collection, e.g., service limitation, suspension, customer/commitment termination.             

   

• Invoice #4 includes charges for the fourth billing period of $12 plus the remaining unpaid $7. In this invoice #4, the total amount due is $19, but since this is less than the minimum payment collection threshold ($30), the customer isn’t required to pay for invoice #4 yet. The status of this invoice is No payment required.             

   

             Note that invoice #3 still has Partially paid status (the remaining amount due is $7), so PortaBilling® sends the customer a notification that they must pay for invoice #3.

Restore limited/suspended services after partial payment if the unpaid remainder is less than the payment collection threshold.

By default, if an invoice was generated with the amount due exceeding the collection threshold, it can’t receive the No payment required status after partial payment. If such an invoice is paid partially and the unpaid remainder is less than the payment collection threshold, the customer still must pay the unpaid remainder by the due date. Otherwise, the service can be limited/suspended or other actions can apply (customer termination, commitment termination).

Also, if the service is already limited/suspended due to an unpaid invoice, it can’t be restored after a partial payment, even if the unpaid remainder is less than the payment collection threshold.

For example, an invoice for $50 is overdue and service for the customer is suspended. The customer pays $40. An unpaid amount of $10 remains, and even though $10 is less than the payment collection threshold ($30), the customer must still pay $10 to cover the overdue invoice in full and use the service again.

You can change this behavior. If the unpaid remainder is less than the collection threshold, the new behavior is as follows:

• The customer is not required to pay the unpaid remainder until the amount due of the new invoice(s) crosses the threshold.
• If an invoice is overdue and already caused service limitation/suspension, the service is restored after partial payment.
• A partially paid invoice receives the No payment required status.
• A partially paid invoice doesn’t become overdue and can’t cause the service limitation/suspension or customer termination.

To change the default behavior, go to the Configuration server > ClusterSuite > Web_Cluster > Global > Invoice group > Open_Customer_With_Debt_Under_Collection_Threshold option > select Yes.

Re-send the invoice … days after the          due date

Type how many days after the invoice due date a notification regarding the overdue invoice should be sent. Use comma to separate values.

For instance, “0, 7, 14” means that the customer will receive a notification on the due date and then 1 and 2 weeks later. (Obviously, if the customer pays after the first notification, no further notifications will be sent).

Leave this field empty to disable notifications completely.

Charge using the saved Payment Method          … days after the due date

Type how many days after the invoice due date another attempt should be made to charge a customer’s credit card for the invoice amount due. The first attempt to charge the customer’s credit          card is made immediately during invoice generation  

Use comma to separate values.

For instance, “0, 3, 10” means that PortaBilling® will attempt to charge the customer’s credit card  on the due date and then 3 and 10 days later. (Obviously, if one of the charge attempts succeeds, no further attempts will be made).

Leave this field empty to disable re-collect attempts completely.

Suspend the customer's services upon          non-payment

Select this option if you want to suspend a customer’s services if a regular invoice is unpaid.

Send a suspension warning … days before          the suspension date

This option is available only when you enable the Suspend the customer's services upon non-payment option.

Type how many days before the suspension date (or before the customer is automatically suspended for the second time if the suspension was delayed by the administrator) a notification will be sent to the customer.

Note that the number of days specified here must be less than or equal to the number of days specified in Suspend the customer’s services upon non-payment … days after the due date.

Leave this field empty to disable such notification.

Suspend the customer’s services upon          non-payment ... days after the due date

This option is available only when you enable the Suspend the customer's services upon non-payment option.

Type how many days after the due date the suspension of customer’s services will take place if the regular invoice is still unpaid.

Note that the number of days specified here must be greater or equal to the number of days specified in Send a suspension warning … days before the suspension date.

Terminate the customer upon non-payment

Select this option if you want to close a customer’s account if a regular invoice is unpaid.

Send a warning … days before the permanent          termination date

This option is available only when Permanently terminate the customer … days after the due date is not empty or          0.

Type how many days before the closing date a notification will be sent to the customer.

Note that the number of days specified here must be less than or equal to the number of days specified in Permanently terminate the customer … days after the due date.

Leave this field empty to disable this notification.

Permanently terminate the customer          … days after the due date

This option is available only when you enable the Close the customer’s account option.

Type how many days after the due date the customer’s account will be closed if the regular invoice is still unpaid.

Note that the number of days specified here must be greater than or equal to the number of days specified in Send a warning … days before the permanent termination date.