Out-of-turn invoices

With out-of-turn invoices you can immediately charge customers for the services provided (e.g., equipment rental) and receive payments. Out-of-turn invoices are generated for customers on demand.

Here you can enable out-of-turn invoicing for customers and configure the invoicing parameters, payment terms and collection policy for them.

Turn on the toggle switch to enable out-of-turn invoices for customers. The toggle activates other configuration parameters.

An invoice template is the special HTML document that defines how your customers’ .pdf invoices look. You create invoice templates on the Templates panel. Then you select the desired invoice template from the list.

You can use different invoice templates for regular and out-of-turn invoices. The Do not create an invoice value means PortaBilling only produces xDR summaries for the customers and doesn’t generate .pdf invoices.

Define when to send out-of-turn invoices to a customer by email:

• Never – customers won’t receive their .pdf invoices by email.
• Automatically – PortaBilling creates a new invoice for a customer and automatically sends the .pdf copy to them by email.

Choose when the invoices become due. Terms for payment collection are measured in days/billing periods as defined in the regular invoice configuration.

• Due upon receipt – this is the default option. Leave this option if you want the invoices to become due upon generation.
• Net – select this option for the invoices to become due in a specified number of days/billing periods after the generation. This is a period when the payment is expected.

The invoice due date is calculated as the invoice generation date plus the specified period. For example, if the invoice generation date is June 1st and you specify 15 days here, it means that the invoice must be paid before June 16th, since on June 16 the invoice becomes due. On June 17th the invoice becomes overdue.

Specify how many days before an invoice is due a customer receives a notification. This option is available only if you choose the Net option above and specify the period.

To send several notifications, specify comma-separated values in descending order. For example, “14, 7, 3” means that the customer receives notification 14, 7, and 3 days before the invoice due date (if the customer pays after the first notification, no further notifications are sent).

To improve the cash flow, you can automatically charge customers’ credit cards for invoice payments.

• Upon an invoice generation – at the end of the customer’s billing period, PortaBilling calculates an 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 is unsuccessful, PortaBilling generates the .pdf invoice with the actual amount due.
• Upon a due date – you must specify the grace period for this charging mode. At the end of a customer’s billing period, PortaBilling generates a .pdf invoice and sends it to the customer. The invoice status remains Unpaid during the grace period. On the due date PortaBilling charges the customer’s credit card. Upon successful payment processing, the invoice status becomes Paid in full. Otherwise, it becomes Overdue.

Schedule the next attempts to charge customer credit cards if the initial payment was unsuccessful.

This option works if you selected to charge customers’ credit cards immediately Upon an invoice generation. Specify when PortaBilling attempts to re-collect customer payments after the unsuccessful initial transaction but before the invoice due date.

Several attempts are possible. Specify the values separated by commas and in the descending order (e.g., 4, 2, 0). A zero value means to charge again on the due date.

To disable re-collect attempts completely, leave this field empty.

Specify how many days after the invoice due date PortaBilling will attempt to re-collect the customer payment. Several attempts are possible. Specify the values separated by commas and in the ascending order (e.g., 0, 2, 4)

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

To disable re-collect attempts completely, leave this field empty.

Configure how to deal with customers upon non-payment

Send a notification regarding the overdue invoice to a customer. Specify how many days after the invoice due date that a customer receives such a notification. An empty field disables these notifications.

You can define several thresholds to send multiple notifications to a customer. Specify values separated by commas and in the ascending format (e.g., 10, 12, 15).

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

You can suspend a customer if their invoice remains unpaid. When a customer is suspended, their services are blocked though some subscription fees may still apply (this depends on the subscription configuration).

Specify the suspension period. This is how many days after the due date that the customer becomes suspended. The minimum value is 1 day. The empty field means no suspension applies.

Specify how many days before the suspension date to send a notification to the customer. The value here must be equal to or lower than the suspension period.

This option is used to permanently terminate a customer’s record if they fail to make a payment covering all their overdue invoices within a set period after the due date.