Stripe Billing

CIC bills usage via Stripe. Setting a customer up means making sure they exist in Stripe and have a payment method on file before the next billing cycle runs.

Setting up Stripe billing for a new company

1. Open the company's detail page.
2. Find the Payment methods section.
3. The portal automatically creates a Stripe customer for the company the first time it's needed (you don't manually do this).
4. Click Add payment method to walk through Stripe's secure card form. The card data goes directly to Stripe.
5. Once added, mark the card as the default payment method.

The company is now ready to be billed automatically on the next cycle.

Setting up Stripe billing at the organization level

For organization-billed customers, the payment method goes on the organization, not the individual companies:

1. Open the organization's detail page.
2. Find the Payment methods section.
3. Add the card and mark it as default.
4. The constituent companies' billing rolls up to this organization automatically — they do not need their own card.

Switching billing levels

If a customer initially had per-company billing and now wants org-level (or vice versa):

1. Set up the payment method at the new level.
2. Move the companies into or out of the organization (see Organizations).
3. The next billing cycle uses the new arrangement.

When billing is failing

Past-due invoices appear flagged in the Invoices list. The portal also surfaces them via notification. To resolve:

1. Identify the affected company or organization.
2. Check whether their payment method is still valid (Stripe will report expired cards).
3. Have the customer add a fresh card via the portal, or add it on their behalf if they've authorized you to.
4. Trigger a retry or wait for the next automated retry cycle.

How metered billing works

The portal tallies calls handled per period and pushes that usage to Stripe. Stripe then issues a periodic invoice using the customer's contracted rate. The portal pulls invoices back from Stripe and surfaces them in the Invoices (opens in a new tab) sidebar item.

This means:

• The portal is the source of truth for usage
• Stripe is the source of truth for amounts charged and payment status
• Disputes about call counts → check the portal's call history
• Disputes about charge amounts → check Stripe directly

Updating contracted rates

Rate changes happen in Stripe's dashboard, not the portal. Coordinate with whoever manages Stripe price configuration. Once the rate is updated in Stripe, the next invoice cycle uses the new rate automatically.

Multi-card customers

A company or organization can have multiple cards on file. Mark one as default — Stripe will charge that one for new invoices. Customers may want a second card as backup; that's fine and works as expected.

Refunds and credits

Refunds and credits are issued through the Stripe dashboard, not the portal. The portal will reflect the resulting invoice/payment state on the next sync.

Billing notifications

Customers get notifications for:

• New invoice issued
• Past-due invoice
• Payment method expired
• Payment retry succeeded / failed

These are configurable per user in Settings.

Next

• Invoices — issuing, tracking, and triaging
• Organizations — the multi-company setup