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 them the .pdf copy by email.

Choose when the invoices become due. Terms for payment collection are measured in days.

• Due upon receipt – this is the default option. In this case, the invoice generation and due dates are the same.
• Net – select this option to give your customer a specific number of days to pay their invoice before it becomes overdue. 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 on June 16th the invoice becomes due. If the payment is not received, on June 17th the invoice becomes overdue, and the collection process will be initiated.

Specify the number of days before an invoice is due that the 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 a 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.

• Do not charge – at the end of a customer’s billing period, PortaBilling only generates a .pdf invoice and sends it to the customer. The customer then pays the invoice in any of the following convenient ways: by credit card via the self-care portal, in a bank, etc.
• Upon 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.
• On the due date –  at the end of a customer’s billing period, PortaBilling generates a .pdf invoice and sends it to the customer.  The invoice amount due is calculated according to the standard algorithm: based on the previous invoice balance, payments received during this period, and charges during this period. If on the due date, there is still an unpaid amount on this invoice, PortaBilling automatically charges this amount to the customer’s credit card.

You can configure PortaBilling to re-attempt collecting customer payments in case the initial attempt fails, e.g., due to lack of available funds.  If one of the charge attempts succeeds, no further attempts will be made.

This option works if you select to charge customers’ credit cards immediately Upon 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 the number of days after the invoice due date when 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.

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

Configure actions and notifications if payment is past due.

Suspend the customer

Specify the number of 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.

Specify the number of days after the invoice due date when the customer record is permanently terminated.

For example, you specify “60 days” here. The invoice due date is September 1st, and on this day the invoice becomes overdue. If the customer doesn’t pay for this invoice (and all other overdue invoices) within 60 days, their customer record will be terminated on October 31.

Note that this value must be greater than the number in the Suspend customer > Days after the due date field.

You can notify customers about the approaching termination. Specify the number of days before the permanent termination date to send a notification to the customer.

If you define payment terms in days, the number that you specify here must be equal to or less than the number in the Terminate customer > Days after due date field.

The minimum value is 1.