Billing manual is the basic source of information that should be referred to, for understanding Marketplace billing. It provides comprehensive understanding about billing and all the processes involved in it. Billing comes included as part of the greater HC Marketplace and extends vital billing functionality to hosts and customers. It basically allows hosts to invoice its customers and receive payments from them but includes all necessary features that are required of a recurring billing system. It allows transactions only between two levels (hosts and customers) but also permits the host to delegate tasks to additional staff members from its organization. This section introduces and discusses all the core concepts of billing in terms of HC Marketplace.

Billing Type

There are two kinds of billing i.e. prorated and non-prorated. Each of them is explained as follows:

Prorated

Prorated billing is a common billing method in the hosting industry. If the billing type is prorated then the billing system charges a complete month and then first recurring is prorated. For instance if a user signs up to a $50 plan on 5th July and his billing day is 14th, he would be charged $50 for a complete month i.e. 5th July – 5th August. On 5th August he will be charged $16 for the period 5th August – 14th August (prorated) and onward billing will be from 14th to 14th each month.

Non-prorated

In Non-prorated billing the recurring is done on the date of signup e.g. 5th of each month.

Billing Precision

Billing Precision indicates the number of decimal places in the billing amounts. Suppose you select 2 from the drop-down list box then only 2 spaces after the decimal point would be considered and not the entire value e.g. 5467.98769 (769 would be ignored while billing). The billing precision once set, carries throughout the billing transactions.
 

Maximum Declined Transactions Attempt

Some Gateways charge extra for each declined credit card transaction therefore it’s necessary to determine the max number of attempts in case of declined credit card transactions. Set the maximum number of attempts that should be made to charge the credit card.

Email Alert Days

Sometimes it’s very helpful to send an impending payment alert email to Customers before their invoices become due. This serves to notify Customers well in advance. You can specify the number of days here or may choose not to send the alert. Select Never in case you don't want to send the alert.
 

Email Reminder Days

Reminders are sent after the invoices have been generated, notifying Customers to pay especially if the invoices are yet to be cleared. You can specify the number of days here or may choose never to send the reminder.
 

Billing Life Cycle

There are certain safeguards in place, in case due bills are not cleared by customers. These safeguards manifest themselves in the form of a user life cycle. A vendor can trigger the user life cycle as soon as any customer’s bill falls in the due category, passing the customer through the different stages of the life cycle. The life cycle makes certain restraints available at each stage in case of non-payment, until the final restraint i.e. a user delete notification. The host can define a billing life cycle globally for all customers or it can specify individual life cycles for each customer. In case there is a life cycle defined globally and the host goes in and specifies a separate life cycle for an individual customer, the individual life cycle will override the global cycle. In case there is no life cycle defined globally, only the cycles specified individually will apply.

Grace Days

Customers may be allowed a grace period to clear their due bills. If the dues are cleared within the stipulated grace period they are relieved from facing the next stage. However if the dues remain outstanding, customers enter the next level of the life cycle which restricts their access to the panel. The grace period is extended in terms of days and after expiry of grace days if any, the Marketplace restricts the panel access. You may choose to channelize all of the customers into the grace period or a selected few of them.

Access Lock Days

If after the expiry of the grace period dues still remain pending, the Marketplace locks down the panel access. This is known as the “Access Lock”. Customers will be able to login with their credentials but will be displayed only a payment form, without being able to carry on any further panel operations. The access lock comes secured in terms of days and after expiry of these days if any, the Marketplace marks customers for termination. You may choose to channelize all of the customers into the access lock period or a selected few of them.

Users Termination Enabled

If the previous restriction goes unheeded, the host reserves the right to delete the customer. Customer termination is the third and the final level in the life cycle. If after expiry of access lock days, customers still don’t pay, Marketplace sends a mail to the host listing all the defaulters. The host can then choose which customers to delete. The delete operation will delete customer data, denying the customer login access to its account.

Invoices and Payments

Invoices are generated against the services used by the customers. It hold details of kind of service used, its frequency and quantity. While Payments are your paid invoices/bills.