All help articles

Billing and tax

Your organization's owners and billing members handle its billing on the account page (/account), under the organization:

• the balance (credit in your favour, or owed), and every change to it;
• the invoices, with Pay now on an open one, which opens the payment provider's own page (card details never reach us);
• the saved payment method, which pays renewals by itself while Pay invoices automatically is on. Add a payment method opens the payment provider's page. When you finish there, you come back to Organizations & billing, which says the method was saved and names it;
• coupons;
• the billing address and tax number.

While a Test mode notice shows there, payments go through the payment provider's test mode: only test cards work, no real money moves, and your saved card is kept for later.

Besides your subscriptions, an invoice can carry other charges our staff agreed with you, such as setup or migration work or a monthly support fee. They show as their own lines, with the quantity and price, on the invoice for your subscriptions or on one of their own.

Paying several invoices, or from credit

Tick the open invoices you want to pay and choose Pay N invoices to pay them together on the payment provider's page, or Pay from credit to pay them from your balance's credit, oldest first, as far as it goes. Credit also pays open invoices by itself when you add funds, and when we bill.

Adding funds

Where we offer it, owners and billing members can add funds: under the organization's billing on the account page, enter an amount and choose Pay, then pay on the payment provider's page. When it brings you back to the account page, the payment is checked with the provider and your balance is credited at once (only once, with what was paid); it pays your open invoices at once, as far as it goes, and your next invoices by itself. The page says the least and most you can add, and how much credit a balance can hold.

Credit that covers a new plan's or server's first charge pays it, so you can order with credit alone, without saving a payment method. Later charges are paid from credit too while it lasts; save a payment method so renewals don't go unpaid when it runs out.

Quotes

When we agree work or services with you, we may send a quote first: the owners and billing members are emailed it, and it shows under your organization's billing on the account page with what the first invoice comes to and what is billed each month or year after.

• Accept it before it expires and it is invoiced straight away; pay that invoice like any other. Monthly or yearly lines are then billed each period until you ask us to stop.
• Decline it, with a reason if you like, and we are told.

A quote can be answered once. If it has expired or we withdrew it, ask us for a new one.

Credit notes

When we cancel an invoice, refund a payment or credit part of an invoice to your balance (after an outage, say), you get a credit note (CN-12) for the amount, under your organization's billing with the invoice it is for. It puts the amount back on your balance; a refund also takes the money we gave back off it, so a refund leaves your balance as it was. Credit on your balance pays your next invoices.

PDF copies

Every invoice, quote and credit note can be downloaded as a PDF file, to keep, print or send to your accounts team: on the account page, click the invoice or credit note number under your organization's billing, or PDF beside a quote. The PDF is made when you download it, so it shows whether the invoice is paid, open or overdue at that moment. Only owners and billing members can download them.

Tax

Where sales tax or VAT applies, it is added to each invoice as its own line (such as "VAT 19.0% (DE)") and the invoice shows "incl. ... tax". It is worked out from your billing address and, for a business, your tax number: give the country as two letters (US, DE, GB) and the tax number's type (such as eu_vat, gb_vat, au_abn) and number. A business with a valid VAT number in another country may be charged no VAT. Change them before your next invoice; issued invoices do not change.

Paying late

New orders and plans are billed at once. If your saved payment method fails to pay an invoice, it is tried again on the following days (by default 1, 3, 5 and 7 days after the invoice), and the owners and billing members are emailed after each failure. Saving a new payment method under Billing charges the open invoices with it straight away.

Each of these emails is kept as a support request on your account page (Support), named in the email, so you can see what was sent and ask us about it there; an unpaid invoice's messages share one request, which is closed once the invoice is paid.

Emails we sent. Every automatic email (invoices, payment failures, notices, a server ready) is listed with when it went, to whom and its text: an organization's under Organizations & billing (for its owners, admins and billing members), and your own under Security → Emails we sent you. Every invoice is emailed to the owners and billing members when it is issued.

Every invoice says when it is due. If it is still open close to then, the owners and billing members get a reminder; once it is late, overdue notices. Depending on the provider's settings, an invoice that stays unpaid can also bring:

• a late fee, on an invoice of its own that names the late one;
• the services it is for suspended: your Mailocity team, desk or domains stop working until it is paid (the account page says "suspended: an invoice is unpaid"). A server first loses its network but keeps running, and is shut down and then, depending on the provider, removed with what is on it as more days pass;
• later, those services canceled.

Each notice says which of these are coming and when. Pay now on the invoice ends it: a suspension is lifted the moment the payment is recorded, with nothing else to do. A late fee is not taken back by paying; ask billing support if you think it should be.

Disputes

If a payment is disputed with your bank, the invoice shows disputed and the amount taken back is on your balance until the dispute is settled. If the payment was not yours, tell billing support as well.