Advanced Billing For WHMCS
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Contents |
About Advanced Billing For WHMCS
Advanced Billing For WHMCS allows you to set up additional billing models for your products based on the actual usage of bandwidth, CPU and other server resources. You will be empowered to charge your clients only for the resources they actually consumed. The module also offers the hourly billing, ticket billing, credit billing and recurring billing. |
- Core Features:
✔ Hourly Billing For Any WHMCS Module |
✔ Ticket Billing |
✔ Configure Billing Per Product |
✔ Manage Extensions And Configure Them Per Product |
✔ View Current List Of Billable Items For Next Invoices |
✔ View Resources Usage History Of Any Item |
✔ Manage Awaiting Invoices And Convert Them To Invoices |
✔ Define Time Period Between Resource Usage Checks |
✔ Define Whether To Store Logs In Files Or In Database |
✔ View Logs |
- 'Recurring Billing' Extension Features:
✔ Bill On Account Termination |
✔ Bill When Invoice Is Generated For Hosting |
✔ Bill Each X Day Of Month |
✔ Bill Each X Days |
✔ Define Minimum Billing Amount |
✔ Automatically Generate Invoice |
✔ Define Invoice Payment Due Date |
✔ Automatically Apply Credits |
✔ Display Advanced Billing Cycle Info |
✔ Apply Discounts To Client Groups |
- 'Credit Billing' Extension Features:
✔ Generate Invoice Each X Days |
✔ Define Minimum Amount Of Credits To Charge |
✔ Send Email When Client's Credit Balance Falls Below Defined Credit Amount |
✔ Automatically Suspend Account When Client Is Out Of Credits - With Override Support |
✔ Define Invoice Payment Due Date |
✔ List Summary Credit Billing Charges Of Any Hosting |
✔ Refund Credit Payment To Client |
✔ Automatically Refill Client's Credit Balance Using Their Credit Card |
✔ Client Can Enable/Disable Auto Refilling And Define A Single Refill Amount |
- 'Resource Usage' Extension Features:
✔ Define Period For Counted Resource Usage |
✔ Define Resource Usage Counting Precision |
✔ Show History Of Resource Usage |
✔ Define Number Of Usage Records Displayed Per Page |
- 'Graphs' Extension Features:
✔ View Graphs In Admin And Client Area |
✔ Generate Time Graphs Of Chosen Resource Usage |
✔ Show Data For Selected Time Period |
✔ View Disk Storage Used To Archive Data |
✔ Flush Archived Data Immediately Or After X Days |
- 'Notifications' Extension:
✔ Allow Clients To Create Multiple Resource Usage Reminders: |
✔ Define Frequency Of Resource Checks |
✔ Define Frequency Of Notifications |
✔ Define Resource Usage Limits |
✔ Define Maximum Number Of Reminders That Clients May Create |
✔ Send Email Reminders To Clients Once Limit Is Reached Or Exceeded |
✔ Choose Reminder Email Template |
- 'Fixed Pricing' Extension:
✔ Bill Clients With Fixed Amount For Active Service Usage After X Hours |
✔ Define Number Of Hours For Service To Be Active |
✔ Toggle Credits To Be Automatically Applied If Available In Client's Ballance |
✔ Toggle Tax To Be Added To Generated Invoices |
✔ Define Invoice Payment Due Date |
✔ Define Fixed Payment Amounts In Available Currencies |
- Available Extensions:
✔ Product Auto Upgrade - Live Upgrade/Downgrade Of Products Depending On The Used Resources |
✔ Proxmox Cloud Autoscaling - Scale Proxmox Servers Within Defined Limits On The Fly |
- Supported Modules:
✔ cPanel & cPanel Extended Integration: Hourly, Bandwidth, Storage, Databases, Addon Domains, Subdomains, Parked Domains, Domain Forwarders, FTP Accounts, Installed Applications, Email Accounts |
✔ DigitalOcean Droplets Integration: Hourly, Memory, Disk, Backups, Volumes, Vcpus, Size, Snapshots |
✔ DirectAdmin & DirectAdmin Extended Integration: Hourly, Bandwidth, Storage, Subdomains, Domain Pointers, FTP Accounts, MySQL Databases, Virtual Domains, Mailing Lists, POP Accounts, Email Forwarders, Email Autoresponders |
✔ EasyDCIM Dedicated Servers Integration: Bandwidth, 95th Percentile Bandwidth Overages |
✔ EasyDCIM Colocation Integration: Bandwidth, 95th Percentile Bandwidth Overages, Power Usage |
✔ OpenStack VPS Integration: Hourly, VCPU Cores, Memory Usage, CPU Utilization, Incoming Bandwidth, Outgoing Bandwidth, Disk Root Used, Disk I/O Read, Disk I/O Write, Floating IP, Fixed IP, Backups Number |
✔ Plesk & Plesk Extended Integration: Hourly, Subdomains, Disk Space, Email Boxes, Sites, Redirects, Mail Groups, Autoresponders, Mailing Lists, Users, Databases, Webapps, Traffic |
✔ Proxmox Cloud Integration: Disk Usage, Disk Size, Bandwidth IN, Bandwidth OUT, Memory Usage, Memory Size, Backups, CPU Number, CPU Usage |
✔ Proxmox VPS Integration: Hourly, Disk Usage, Bandwidth IN, Bandwidth OUT, Memory Usage, Backups Usage, CPU Number, CPU Usage |
✔ Rackspace Email Extended Integration: Hourly, Mailbox Storage, Mailboxes, Sync Licenses, Blackberry Licenses, Exchange Storage, Exchange Mailboxes |
✔ SolusVM & SolusVM Extended VPS Integration: Hourly, Disk Usage, Memory Usage (except KVM virtualization), Bandwidth Used |
✔ SolusVM Extended Cloud Integration: Available Disk Size, Disk Usage, Available Bandwidth, Available Memory, Cores, IP Addresses, Disk Usage, Memory Usage (except KVM virtualization), Bandwidth Used |
✔ Virtuozzo VPS Integration: Templates, CPU Usage, Memory, Bandwidth IN, Bandwidth OUT, Disk Used, Backups Usage |
✔ Zimbra Email Integration: Hourly, Mailboxes, Email Aliases, Domian Aliases, Storage |
- General Info:
✔ Store Usage Records In WHMCS Or External MongoDB Database |
✔ Count Usage Of All Accounts Assigned To Reseller - cPanel, cPanel Extended, DirectAdmin & DirectAdmin Extended |
✔ Multi-Language Support |
✔ Supports PHP 5.6 Up To PHP 7.2 |
✔ Supports WHMCS Template Six |
✔ Supports WHMCS V7.2 And Later |
Installation
In this tutorial we will show you how to successfully install and manage Advanced Billing For WHMCS. We will guide you step by step through the whole installation and configuration process. |
1. Log in to our client area and download the module. |
2. In the downloaded file you will find two packages that support different PHP versions. As presented on the screen below, the first one is dedicated to PHP 5.6 up to PHP 7.0, while the second one is aimed at PHP 7.1 up to PHP 7.2. It does not apply to open source versions. Note: You can check the current PHP version in your WHMCS. To do so, proceed to 'Utilities' → 'System' → 'PHP Info'. |
3. Extract the downloaded file and choose the one with the right PHP version. Upload and extract the PHP file into the main WHMCS directory. The content of PHP version files should look like this. |
4. Now you have to activate the module in your WHMCS system. Log in to your WHMCS admin area. Click 'Setup' , then choose 'Addon Modules'. |
5. In the next step you need to configure your module. To do so, press 'Configure' button. Select database driver for usage records:
If you choose MongoDB, you will additionally have to provide:
Choose the desired admin roles groups to grant access to the module and 'Save Changes'. |
6. Now, proceed to the Extensions section to find more about configuring the license. |
7. The last step is setting up a cron job. You can find it following the path: WHMCS → 'Addons' → 'Advanced Billing' → 'Configuration' page. |
Well done, you have just successfully installed your Advanced Billing For WHMCS! |
If you used the previous version of Advanced Billing For WHMCS and you would like to migrate the data to the current version, please see the How To Update section and follow the instructions listed there. |
Configuration and Management
Now, let us learn more about the functionalities of the module. We will show you the possibilities of our product, using cPanel Extended For WHMCS as an example. Please note that the billing features are different in both modules, but the core functionality of Advanced Billing remains the same. |
Core
Our module core has been designed in such a way so as to allow the collection of records and invoices management. Any extra features are handled by extensions which can be easily enabled/disabled, and are always configured per product. |
Product List
On the Products List you can find all products which have Advanced Billing enabled. If the product's submodule is not supported, the 'default' mode will be used instead. It enables you to bill your client only for an hourly usage of the product.
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Settings
Clicking on the 'Settings' button will allow you to see the Module Settings only for cPanel/cPanel Extended modules and other enabled extensions. We will discuss them later on. |
Here you can set both Application Manager (Softaculous/Installatron) and cPanel theme. Simply enter a theme name as shown on the screen below. |
Used Resource Pricing
Moving to the 'Pricing' section will allow you to set up billing for a specific server resource usage like bandwidth. |
Manage each usage record by setting up its:
In our case, as you can see on the screen below, a customer will not be charged for 1GB (1024MB) bandwidth.
For example, users pay for a quantity of subdomains each hour, but when the traffic is generated, bandwidth used since the last cron run will have to be paid once only.
If you select the 'GB' option, free limit will be still 1024 MB, and the price will be MB/hr, not GB/hr.
To proceed, choose your usage records, units, statuses, set up the prices and free limits. Afterwards, press 'Save'. |
As you probably noticed, there is also a 'Configure' column to the right. It allows you to set up different free limits and pricing depending on the resource origin. |
Items
To view the counted resource usage, go to the 'Items' tab. Each cron run will create an item for each customer (if it does not exist at the moment) and add new records to the existing ones. |
This section will show you some more detailed information on Bandwidth, Storage, Domains and other enabled records. See the price and usage, the last cron run date and the total records summary. |
Invoices
In the 'Invoices' section you can manage all of your awaiting invoices. They can be generated both automatically and manually. On the screen below you can see a previously generated invoice for our cPanel Extended account. |
Here you can verify and modify your awaiting invoices. To avoid any risks, you should double check that all your invoices have been generated correctly. |
Now, let us manually generate a sample invoice for your customer. For this purpose, simply click on 'Generate' next to the chosen invoice. |
After changing the product's package, the invoice will be automatically generated for an old package. |
Settings
In the 'Settings' tab you can find pages such as 'Logs', 'Integration' and 'Extensions'. |
Integration Code
The 'Integration' page contains codes required to integrate Advanced Billing For WHMCS with your client area. The first code allows you to display product pricing while placing an order. |
If the code has been typed in correctly, the sample order should look like this: |
The second integration code is responsible for displaying usage records in the client area. Note: To display usage records in the client area, you need to enable 'Usage Records' or 'Notifications' extension for the product. |
If the code has been typed in correctly, the sample resource usage should display like this: |
Items Archive
On this page, you can find information regarding the archived usage records. Once a client has paid for the used resources, the usage history will be automatically moved to the archive.
There is a number of archived items along with the space they take up on the disk. |
Use the 'Flush' option to clear the archive and remove all stored data. You can also set the time interval to indicate the number of days after which the archive will be cleaned automatically. |
Logs
On the 'Logs' page you will find information about the module's activity. You can view logs in the form of a 'Database' or a 'File' . You can select it in the place marked on the screen below. |
Here you will see different types of logs including informative logs, error logs and critical logs. New log files are created every day to help you always find the information you are interested in. |
Extensions
In this section we will describe each extension step by step. Important: Only five of them are included in Advanced Billing For WHMCS. You can enable each one of them after moving to the 'Settings' → 'Extensions' section. |
If you skip the steps 3-4 from the installation instruction, you have to configure the license for each of the 4 base extensions. Note that each of them uses Advanced Billing license key. |
Credit Billing
'Credit Billing' extension allows you to charge your clients for a product from the client credit balance. To enable this option for a single product, click on 'Settings' button next to the chosen product. If the extension is enabled, a new tab will appear. |
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When the option 'Autosuspend' is enabled and your client's credit balance reaches 0, the client's product will be suspended. Additionally, an invoice reminding of the lacking amount will be generated. If it is disabled and the credit balance reaches 0, the client's product will not be suspended and invoice will be generated according to the number of days set in the 'Create Invoices Each' field. |
Credits
All information related to the credit payment for hosting can be found in the 'Credits' tab that will appear in your menu when enabled. As you can see, there are two columns with credits. |
Recurring Billing
This extension allows you to set up recurring billing for your product.
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Usage Records
This extension displays usage records and usage records history in the client area products page. To use it, you need to of course first enable it, and then place an integration code.
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On the following screen you can see a sample of usage records and usage records history in the client area. |
Fixed Pricing
Use the 'Fixed Pricicng' extension to bill your customers after a specified number of hours of active service usage. Set a defined amount that will be billed per product. |
First of all, enable the extension for a single product. Keep in mind that 'Fixed Pricing' cannot be enabled together with 'Credit Billing' and 'Recurring Billing' extensions.
In case the defined in 'Settings' hour treshold is not reached, the client will be billed for generated usage in a standard manner. |
Graphs
Enable the 'Graphs' extension to gain access to the graphical display of usage records for every configured service in your Advanced Billing module. |
When enabled, a new entry in your navigation menu appears → 'Graphs'. |
Please note that before proceeding, you must also enable the 'Graphs' extension for the product. To do so, move to 'Configuration' → 'Products List' → 'Settings' → 'Graphs'. Enable the extension and save the changes. |
In the 'Graphs' section you will find an extended list of all services in your system. Press 'Show Graph' button and you will be moved to the generated line chart. |
You will immediately see a line chart generated for a default resource usage and time period. You may change the requirements at any time to see a customized version of the graph with data that you actually need, and the time period you desire. Use options located to the left of the graph to personalize the chart statistics. |
Line charts can be displayed not only by administrators in their panel but the clients as well. Find 'Resource Usage Chart' in the product's details to preview the generated graph. Clients, just like admins in admin area may specify the time range and select resources which they wish to see in the graphical mode. |
Notifications
Enable the 'Notifications' extension to allow your clients to set email reminders that will be sent when a specified resource usage limit is reached or exceeded. |
Before your clients will be able to configure reminders, you have to enable the 'Notifications' extension for the product. To do so, move to 'Configuration' → 'Products List' → 'Settings' → 'Notifications'. Enable the extension and, if you wish, define a maximum nuber of notifications a client may create and change the default email template. Save the changes when ready. |
You will find a list of email templates in the 'WHMCS' → 'Setup' → 'Email Templates' section. By default, the 'Advanced Billing Resource Usage Reminder' template in 'Product/Service Messages' is used. You can modify the template to your needs, or alternatively create a new one, then assign it in a previous step.
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Now, while in the client area, you can see the tab with new reminders. Press 'Show to expand it and click on the 'Add Reminder' button. |
Set the name of a reminder name along with the frequency with which the module will check the usage and send notification emails once the limits are reached or exceeded. Note that in addition to selecting the default frequency option from the dropdown menu, you can enter a different numeric value that will determine the frequency in hours. |
Now you can define resource limits on the basis of which notifications will be sent. |
Determine if reminders shall be dispatched after a particular value is reached, exceeded or both. |
If any of defined conditions is fulfilled, the reminder is sent to the client with the frequency set in the previous step. The reminder will no longer be sent if, after the resource usage check, it turns out the level of a given resource type is once again below a defined limit. |
Keep in mind that you can add multiple reminders, each with different limits and different frequencies of checking resources and sending notifications. Once created, you can easily toggle the status of every notification, as well as modify its settings whenever required. |
Product Auto Upgrade (Sold Separately)
Product Auto Upgrade For WHMCS extension is an automatic upgrade/downgrade of a product according to its usage. It will allow you to set rules related to the server resource usage according to which the module will resize your products and their configurable options. |
Proxmox Cloud Autoscaling (Sold Separately)
Proxmox Cloud Autoscaling For WHMCS enables automatic alterations of servers provisioned by Proxmox Cloud For WHMCS depending on their load. The module will allow you to set out rules on VPS resources according to which servers will be modified through resizing or cloning. |
Hourly Billing
Hourly billing allows you to charge your customers for each hour of use of the product (hourly billing calculations are based on the 'Registration Date' product). You can enable hourly billing for any product type. |
Ticket Billing
Ticket billing works exactly as it sounds. When enabled, it bills your customers for each opened ticket. Remember that you must have a product with Ticket Billing submodule assigned to it. |
As in the case of hourly billing, you can enable ticket billing for any product type. |
Sample Configuration
In this section we will show you two samples of configuration of Advanced Billing. |
Two Weeks Billing
In order to set up the invoice generation for resource usage every 2 weeks, follow these steps: 1. Go to 'Addons' → 'Advanced Billing' and select your product from 'Enable Advanced Billing For:' |
2. Go to 'Products List' → (your product's) 'Settings' → 'Recurring Billing' , enable the extension together with the 'Bill on Termination' option. Additionally, choose 'Bill Every X Days' from the 'Billing Type' dropdown menu. Enter '14' into the 'Billing Type Value' textbox and set 'Due Date' to '7' days. |
3. Remember to enter your pricing settings. |
Congratulations, you have just successfully configured your billing options! Your Advanced Billing main page should look like the screen below. |
$20 Billing
To bill your client as frequently as possible, follow these steps: 1.Go to 'Addons' → 'Advanced Billing' and select your product from 'Enable Advanced Billing For:' |
2. Go to 'Products List' → (your product's) 'Settings' → 'Credit Billing' and press 'Enable'. Afterwards, enter '1' into 'Create Invoices Each', '20' into 'Minimum Credit' and '50' into 'Low Credit Notification'. |
3. Remember to set up your pricing. |
Congratulations, you have just successfully configured your billing options! Your Advanced Billing main page should look like the screen below. |
Tips
1. Deactivation of the module removes products' configuration, usage records and awaiting invoices. |
2. 'Installed Applications' usage record supports both Softaculous and Installatron. |
3. You can set up as many products as you want. |
4. If your client uses currency that is not WHMCS base currency (for example, WHMCS base currency is €, while client uses $):
An invoice for such client will be generated in the chosen currency, while usage record and calculation in Advanced Billing will use base currency. |
Update Instructions
Essential guidance through the process of updating the module is offered here. If you switch from Advanced Billing v2.x to v3.x, all data from your previous version of the module have to be migrated to the latest one. /your_whmcs/modules/addons/AdvancedBilling/migrationScript.php If you already own Advanced Billing v3.x and would like to switch to a newer version, just overwrite the files as you would do during a regular update. Keep in mind there is a quick and easy option in our client area that will let you upgrade the license of your module to an open source version at any time - and at a lower price! |
Common Problems
1. When you have problems with connection, check whether your SELinux or firewall does not block ports. |
2. You have problems with finding the specified line in clientareaproductdetails.tpl. Cause 1: You are using Classic or Portal template. <div align="center">{$moduleclientarea}</div> Cause 2: You are using extensively customized template. |
3. If your cron has encountered an error and cannot start again, please check the cron folder in the 'yourWHMCS/modules/addons/AdvancedBilling/cron' path. If there is a 'pid.php' file, delete it and try to execute the cron again. If there is still an error occur, check the details in the logs. |