Documentation
Invoicing and Payment
An introduction to invoicing and payment processes.
Back to Cost Structure Calculation
Invoices
Invoices are calculated monthly by default, but this can be adjusted to suit the needs of Users. Users may have a tailored cost profile if their business use case is very specialised.
Billing Profiles
The Billing Profile is the set of Rates that a User pays, plus other invoice-related settings such as the invoice period and invoice day of the month. The three rates are the Market Rate (for Market-Days), the Fill Rate and the Order Rate.
Some Users may have particular use case scenarios that are not best served by the default Billing Profile. For example, if a User has a huge number of Markets but very low volumes on those Markets, they may be able to argue for a reduction in the Market Rate, which could be compensated for by an increase in the Fill Rate.
The vast majority of Users will use the default Billing Profile, but the facility is available for tailoring Billing Profiles if required.
Invoice Periods
The default invoice period is the calendar month. Once a month has passed, each User has an Invoice calculated based on their use of Markets, Orders and Fills. The free usage allowance is applied, equivalent to the use of one Market throughout the month.
If a business User has a compelling argument, the invoicing period can be adjusted to multiple months. For example, if a company requires an invoice quarterly, the period can be set to three months. Administrators can set up a tailored Billing Profile for a User with a specific invoicing period.
Invoice Day of Month
The day of the month that Users are invoiced defaults to the 1st of the month. The day can be changed by Administrators, who can create a tailored Billing Profile specifically for a User.
Invoice Delivery
Invoices are generated by an automated process. The invoices are emailed to the email address that the User provided during the setup process.
The setup process has an email validation step, so we know that the email address is functional and legitimate. As such, this is the selected destination for the invoices.
Payment
Payment is handled using third party Payment Providers. The benefit for the User is that the Payment Provider will be a well known and trusted business that specialises in secure payment handling. Additionally, no payment details (credit or debit card, bank account) are stored in this system.
Third Party Payment Processing
Once this system has calculated the invoice values for a User, an invoice is raised via the Payment Provider. The Payment Provider will send the invoice to the User's email address. The invoice will contain a breakdown of the costs and a link to the Payment Provider's website for payment.
The invoice will have a due date clearly stated on it. When the invoice is paid, the Payment Provider updates their system, and this system can detect the payment by checking the status of the invoice.
Non Payment Protocols
If an invoice is not paid by its due date, access for the User in arrears may be blocked. If payment follows later, the User account block can be lifted by Administrators and normal operation can continue.
Conclusion
This documentation section covered...
- Cost Structure Basics: Users are charged for running Markets, and processing Orders and Fills through those Markets, with a free usage level available.
- Cost Structure Calculation: Detail on how costs are calculated, with an example.
- Invoicing and Payment: How invoices are sent and paid.