Invoices and Billing Cycles
How Commet generates invoices, what they contain, and when customers are charged.
Invoices are the financial records Commet generates automatically whenever a subscription event or billing cycle occurs.
Invoice types
| Type | When Generated | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Recurring | Every billing cycle | $99 plan base + $12.50 overage |
| Overage | Between cycles (quarterly/yearly only) | 15k extra API calls billed monthly |
| Plan change | Customer upgrades mid-cycle | Starter to Pro, prorated $45 |
| Credit purchase | Customer buys a credit pack | 500 credits for $40 |
| Balance top-up | Customer adds funds | $50 balance top-up |
| Add-on activation | Customer activates an add-on mid-cycle | SMS add-on, prorated $32.26 |
| Adjustment | Manual correction issued | $10 refund for service issue |
| One-time payment | Standalone charge (payments.charge or a payment link) | $250 one-off invoice, no subscription |
| Reactivation | Canceled subscription is reactivated | Fresh invoice, billing anchor reset to now |
The One-time payment type backs the payments resource — charges and payment links with no subscription. Its single line uses the one_time line type.
Invoice line types
Each invoice is made of typed lines. The line type tells you what the charge is for.
| Line type | What it is |
|---|---|
plan_base | The plan's recurring base price |
feature_overage | Metered usage beyond the included allowance |
feature_seats | Seat charges — advance for excess seats plus mid-cycle true-up |
feature_quota | Quota charges — advance plus true-up |
discount | Introductory offer discount |
promo_code_discount | Promo code discount |
credit | Credit application |
balance_overage | Balance model overage when the balance is exhausted and usage isn't blocked |
addon_base | An add-on's base price |
one_time | A standalone one-time payment, with no subscription |
When charges happen
| Component | When Charged | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Plan base price | Advance (period start) | $99 on Jan 1 |
| Boolean features | Included in plan base | SSO, Custom Branding |
| Metered overage | True-up (period end) | 2,500 extra API calls |
| Included seats | Advance (with base) | 5 editor seats |
| Additional seats | Hybrid: true-up for the past period + advance for the next | 3 extra seats prorated for the days used, then billed ahead |
Billing intervals
| Interval | Base Invoice | Overage Invoice | Consumption Reset | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | Every 7 days | Included in recurring invoice | Every 7 days | $25/week every Monday |
| Monthly | Every month | Included in recurring invoice | Every month | $99/month on the 1st |
| Quarterly | Every 3 months | Monthly | Every month | $297 base quarterly, overage monthly |
| Yearly | Every 12 months | Monthly | Every month | $899 base yearly, overage monthly |
| One-time | Single charge at checkout | At period end (if overage exists) | Never | $299 lifetime, no recurring charges |
For quarterly and yearly plans, overage is calculated and invoiced monthly even though the base charge is less frequent. For weekly plans, everything runs on a 7-day cycle. For one-time plans, the customer pays once at checkout and never receives a recurring invoice — only overage charges if applicable. See One-Time Payments for details.
Learn more
Related
- Handle Failed Payments — Retry flow and grace periods for failed charges
- Consumption Models — Metered, Credits, and Balance explained
- Finance Overview — How money flows through Commet
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