Billing clients
Subscriptions, payment links, usage rebilling, invoices and margin.
Once your plans exist, you put each client on one. Wozena then meters their calls, adds usage to their Stripe invoices and shows you what each client earns you.
- Stripe is connected. See Connect Stripe.
- At least one active client plan.
- For paid plans, the client has a client admin who has accepted their invite. See Team, roles and invites.
Why every client needs a subscription#
A client needs an active subscription, or an activated free plan, before their agents can be published, place test calls, get phone numbers or run campaigns. Until then those actions show “An active client subscription is required for this action”. You can still build and edit the client’s agents while you wait.
Clients who sign up through a plan link subscribe themselves. For everyone else, use the client’s “Billing” tab.
Send a payment link#
- Open the client’s Billing tabGo to Clients, open the client, and select the “Billing” tab (“What this client pays you.”).
- Choose a planPick the plan from “Choose a plan…”, then click “Create payment link”.
- ConfirmThe dialog “Create a secure payment link?” explains that Stripe Checkout collects the client’s card and that no access is granted until Stripe confirms a successful payment. Click “Create and send link”.
- Check it was deliveredThe link is emailed to the client’s primary client admin with the subject “[your brand]: complete your subscription” and a “Complete secure payment” button. A message tells you whether it was emailed. If it wasn’t, click “Copy link” and send it yourself.
Activate a free plan#
Choose a free plan and click “Activate free plan”, then “Activate now” in the “Activate this free plan?” dialog. The client’s workspace unlocks immediately. No card is taken and nothing is created in Stripe. The activation is recorded in your audit log.
The allowance resets every 30 days (365 days for a yearly plan). When it runs out, outbound calling and number provisioning pause until you move the client to a paid plan.
Awaiting payment#
After you send a link, the client shows “Awaiting payment”. Access stays locked until they complete checkout. From the Billing tab you can:
- “Create new payment link” to send a fresh link, for the same or a different plan.
- “Cancel pending” to withdraw the checkout.
A client who opens Checkout and walks away can stay in Awaiting payment indefinitely. Follow up, then send a new link or cancel the pending one.
Change a client’s plan#
- Pick the new planOn the client’s “Billing” tab, choose the new plan from “Change plan…” and click “Change”.
- Review and confirmThe dialog “Change this client’s plan?” shows the current and new plan. Click “Change plan”.
Overage the client has built up so far is billed first. The new price applies immediately and the renewal date doesn’t change. Stripe prorates the difference and settles it on the client’s next invoice: an extra charge for an upgrade, a credit for a downgrade.
Cancel a subscription#
Click “Cancel”, then “Cancel subscription” in the “Cancel this subscription?” dialog. Cancellation is immediate and can’t be undone. Usage already metered this period is still billed on a final invoice, and no further charges accrue. To restart billing, subscribe the client again.
Per-client caps#
A client normally inherits the overage caps from their plan. To give one client different limits without changing the plan:
- Find the cap cardOn the client’s page, find “Client overage cap”.
- Override the planTurn on “Override plan limits” and set “Maximum extra minutes / period” and “Maximum extra active numbers”. Leave a field empty for no limit.
- SaveClick “Save client cap”. Pricing still comes from the plan.
Overrides aren’t available for clients on a free plan. Their allowance is always a fixed limit.
When a cap is reached
You and the client’s admin get an alert at 80% of the cap and again at 100%. At 100%, new calls and number purchases are blocked with “You have reached the calling limit for this plan…” until the next period, or until you raise the cap or change the plan.
How usage rebilling works#
- Metering. Each call is metered when it ends. Minutes are rounded up per call, so a 2 minute 5 second call counts as 3 minutes.
- Included first. Calls use up the plan’s included minutes first. Only minutes beyond them are charged.
- Pricing. On a flat-rate plan, extra minutes × your per-minute rate. On a multiplier plan, the call’s Retell cost for those minutes × your multiplier. Multiplier charges wait until Retell reports the call’s cost.
- Numbers. (Active numbers − included numbers) × your per-number price, once per period.
- Collection. Every hour, new charges are added to the client’s Stripe customer as invoice items named “Usage overage (N min)” and “Phone number overage”. Stripe collects them on the client’s next subscription invoice. On yearly plans, overage is collected at renewal or cancellation.
- No double charges. Each call is billed once, even if it is processed more than once.
- Free plans. Usage is tracked against the allowance but never billed.
What your clients can do#
Client admins manage their own billing in “Usage & Billing” in their portal. They can:
- See usage meters for the current period and their invoices.
- Subscribe to a plan with “Subscribe”, or change plan with “Switch to this plan”.
- Open your Stripe customer portal with “Manage billing” or “Update payment method” to change their card, download invoices or cancel, depending on your customer portal settings.
Other client members see “Contact your workspace administrator.” instead. Clients never see your Retell cost or margin. See The client portal.
Failed payments#
If a client’s card is declined, their subscription becomes past due. Service continues while Stripe retries the card. What happens next:
- You get a notification that a client’s payment failed.
- The client gets a payment-failed email in your brand.
- The client sees “Payment past due” in Usage & Billing, telling them calls continue for now but may pause if it isn’t resolved.
Ask the client to update their card through “Update payment method”. Stripe’s retry schedule and what happens after the final retry follow your Stripe settings.
Revenue and profitability#
Client BillingOverview shows paid revenue and recorded costs for the period you choose (“Current month”, “Last 90 days” or “All recorded time”).
| Metric | What it shows |
|---|---|
| “Monthly recurring revenue” | Recurring revenue from your client subscriptions. |
| “Recorded gross margin” | Paid invoices minus the Retell cost recorded for those clients. Shown for USD only. |
| “Recorded Retell cost” | What your clients’ calls cost you in Retell. |
| “Outstanding invoices” | Client invoices not yet paid. |
| “Client profitability” | Each client ranked by margin for the period. |
Invoices and usage
The Client BillingInvoices & usage tab has two parts:
- Invoices, searchable by client and filterable by status (Paid, Open, Past due, Void).
- Usage ledger, one row per charge with Client, Period, Usage, Billed, Cost, Margin and State. State is rebilled once the charge is on the client’s Stripe customer, or pending while it waits.
Use “Export CSV” on the usage ledger, or “Export billing” at the top of Client Billing, to take the data into a spreadsheet or your accounting tool.
Troubleshooting#
| Problem | Likely cause and fix |
|---|---|
| A call has no usage row | The call hasn’t ended yet, its agent isn’t assigned to a client, it was inside the included minutes, or a multiplier plan is still waiting for Retell to report the cost. Check again later. |
| A usage row says pending | It will be retried within the next hour. If it stays pending, check for failed events on the Stripe row in Provider Connections. |
| The payment link email never arrived | Check the client has a client admin with the right address, then use “Copy link” and send it yourself. |
| Client stuck in Awaiting payment | They didn’t finish checkout. Send a “Create new payment link” or “Cancel pending”. |
| Gross margin shows Unavailable | Margin is calculated for USD only. |
| Actions fail with “An active client subscription is required for this action” | Subscribe the client or activate a free plan first. |