Payment Modes

A payment mode (also called billing mode in CMP) defines how customers pay for services. CMP supports three payment modes:

Mode	Summary
Prepaid	Wallet top-up; usage deducted in real time
Postpaid	Invoice at period end; card can auto-charge
Manual	Offline payment; admin verifies and marks invoices paid

Payment mode is separate from billing cycles (hourly, monthly, yearly) and billing rules (how charges are calculated).

Set per customer: Clients → Register Client (new onboarding) or Clients → [Customer] → Billing Setup (existing account)

Quick start

Goal	Payment mode
Wallet top-up, real-time deduction	Prepaid
Saved card, auto-charge at invoice time	Postpaid
Bank transfer / offline payment	Manual
Service contracts (DATE_TO_DATE term, monthly installment)	Prepaid, Postpaid, or Manual — enable per mode on Update Billing Rule
Assign payment mode (admin)	Clients → Register Client — see Admin registration flow
Assign payment mode (self-registration)	Public signup — see Registration flow
Configure platform payment modes	Settings → Billing Setup → Payment Mode Settings — StackConsole team only; configure before go-live
Review live portal billing config	Billing → Invoices → Billing Settings
Change payment mode after onboarding	Only Manual → Postpaid is supported — see Changing payment mode

Pages in this section

• Prepaid — wallet, two billing models (infra credit vs service usage), low-balance handling, upgrades
• Postpaid — threshold, auto-charge, frozen invoices, consolidated billing
• Manual — registration workflows, offline payment, admin verification

Also related: Low Infra Credit Notifications (prepaid-only; under Billing & Invoicing)

The three payment modes

Mode	How customer pays	Card auto-charge?
Prepaid	Wallet top-up	No
Postpaid	Invoice settlement	Yes — when card on file and gateway supports variable recurring charges
Manual	Outside CMP (bank, cheque, cash, UPI)	No — admin marks paid

Prepaid:  Top up wallet  →  Provision  →  Wallet deducted  →  Month-end invoice (record)
Postpaid: Provision  →  Usage tracked  →  Invoice  →  Card auto-charge or portal pay
Manual:   Provision  →  Usage tracked  →  Invoice  →  Offline pay  →  Admin marks paid

Payment Mode vs. Catalogue Pricing

Does Assigning Prepaid vs. Postpaid Change the Service Price?

No. The underlying catalogue price configured in the Rate Card remains the single source of truth for base service costs, regardless of whether an account is provisioned as Prepaid or Postpaid.

The payment mode primarily governs timing and collection — when and how the financial obligation is realized:

• Prepaid: The obligation is settled in advance (before or at the start of the billing period via wallet/gateway).
• Postpaid: The obligation is settled in arrears (after consumption, at cycle end, or via Threshold triggers).

Important: Account Conversion (Prepaid → Postpaid) is Not Supported

Account mode conversion from Prepaid to Postpaid is NOT currently supported in CMP.

• This capability is on the product roadmap for a future release, but is not yet available.
• Payment mode is fixed at customer registration (only Manual → Postpaid auto-conversion upon saving a card is supported).
• Admins and customers cannot switch an existing Prepaid account to Postpaid. Do not raise support tickets for account mode changes; if a customer requires postpaid billing, a new postpaid client account must be onboarded.

Pricing Comparison: Monthly Prepaid vs. Monthly Postpaid

Consider a VM package priced at $100/month on the active Rate Card:

Dimension	Scenario A: Monthly Prepaid Account	Scenario B: Monthly Postpaid Account
Billing Cycle	Monthly (1-month commitment)	Monthly (1-month commitment)
Rate Card Price	$100.00	$100.00
When Billed	Upfront (at service creation or cycle renewal)	In arrears (after the service month completes)
Collection Trigger	Prepaid wallet deduction / immediate gateway payment	Invoice generated → saved card auto-charged or portal settlement
Interim Invoicing	N/A (wallet balance checks block creation if low)	Subject to Threshold spending caps (e.g. $500 interim invoice)

Independent Billing Dimensions

To see how payment modes combine with billing cycles, collection triggers, and calculation rules, see the CMP Billing Model in Billing Overview.

Assigning payment mode

Payment mode is set when the account is created — either by an admin during onboarding or by the customer during self-registration. Choose carefully: payment mode is effectively fixed after onboarding and cannot be changed except Manual → Postpaid.

Path	Who selects payment mode	CMP entry point
Admin onboarding	Admin selects mode and rate card	Clients → Register Client — see Admin registration flow
Self-registration	Customer selects mode (if multiple enabled)	Public signup form — see Registration flow

Admin onboarding — Register Client

When an admin onboards a new customer, payment mode is selected in the Register Client wizard. This is a one-time decision — prepaid and postpaid accounts cannot be converted later.

CMP path: Clients → Register Client

Admin registration flow

Step	Name
1	Basic Details — customer account information
2	Payment Mode & Pricing Settings — payment mode, rate card, and mode-specific fields
3	Quota Management — assign account quotas
4	Success — onboarding complete

On Step 2 — Payment Mode & Pricing Settings, the admin selects the payment mode and Price Rate Card. Mode-specific fields (threshold, status, payment method) appear based on the selection.

Select payment mode carefully on Step 2

Payment mode conversion is not supported for prepaid ↔ postpaid or prepaid/manual ↔ postpaid/manual changes. Only Manual → Postpaid can be done later. Choose the correct mode before the customer provisions services.

Step 2 — Payment Mode & Pricing Settings

Shared fields on Step 2 for all modes:

Field	Required	Description
Payment Mode	Yes	PREPAID, POSTPAID, or MANUAL
Price Card Type	Yes	Select Rate Card
Price Rate Card	Yes	Rate card for this customer (for example, default). Use + Add for additional rate cards

Mode-specific fields and screenshots:

Step 2 — Manual (admin)

Field	Required	Description
Threshold	Yes	Spending cap (for example, 2000) — see Manual — Threshold
Status	Yes	For example, Active. CMP shows: "This is a manual account. Please select the appropriate status manually."

Account is typically activated immediately when status is Active — no card or wallet payment required.

Step 2 — Postpaid (admin)

Field	Required	Description
Payment Method	Yes	Credit Card. CMP shows: "This account will be activated once the credit card is attached."

Account stays pending until the customer attaches a credit card.

Step 2 — Prepaid (admin)

CMP shows: "This account will be activated once the payment is completed."

Account stays pending until the customer completes the initial wallet top-up. No Threshold or Status on Step 2.

Behaviour by mode (admin onboarding)

Mode	Admin sets on Step 2	Account activation
Manual	Threshold, Price Rate Card, Status	Immediate when status is Active
Postpaid	Payment Method (Credit Card), Price Rate Card	Pending until customer attaches card
Prepaid	Price Rate Card only	Pending until customer completes initial payment

Admin selects the Price Rate Card during onboarding — self-registered customers get the default rate card automatically. See How customers get a rate card.

Self-registration

When self-registration is enabled, end customers complete a multi-step signup flow. Payment mode is selected on Step 2 — Complete Payment — but only if more than one mode is enabled for Customer in Payment Mode Settings.

Visible modes on signup	Customer experience
One mode only	That mode is assigned automatically — no choice on the form
Multiple modes	Customer selects PREPAID or POSTPAID (or MANUAL if enabled for Customer)

Registration flow

Step	Name
1	Verify Email Address
2	Complete Payment — billing details, payment mode selection, and initial payment

On Step 2 — Complete Payment, the customer provides billing details, selects a payment mode, and completes the required payment action before the account is activated.

Step 2 — Complete Payment fields

Section / field	Description
I'm signing up as an	Individual or Company
Billing Details	Currency, Country, State, City, Address, Postal Code
I want my account to be*	Payment mode selection — radio buttons for each mode enabled for Customer (for example, PREPAID, POSTPAID). Modes marked Recommended in Payment Mode Settings show a badge. Use Compare to view mode differences
Buy Infra Credits	Shown when PREPAID is selected — customer must purchase initial wallet credits to activate the account
Select Amount*	Predefined top-up amounts configured in Settings → Billing Setup → Currencies → Configure (for example, $10, $20, $30)
Choose a payment method	Active payment gateway for the selected currency (for example, Stripe)
Coupon	Optional coupon code entry
Summary	Cost of Infra Credits, Total Payable Amount, Effective wallet balance
Proceed	Completes payment and activates the account

Which modes appear on signup

Modes disabled for Customer in Payment Mode Settings do not appear on the self-registration form. For example, if MANUAL has Disable for → Customer checked, customers only see PREPAID and POSTPAID — manual mode is available only when an admin assigns it during admin onboarding.

Behaviour by mode (self-registration)

Mode	Self-registration behaviour
Prepaid	Customer selects a top-up amount and pays via the configured gateway. Account activates after payment — wallet balance shown as Effective wallet balance
Postpaid	Customer adds and validates a saved card (requires a gateway with Has Save Card and auto-charge support). Account activates after card attachment
Manual	Registration is sent for admin approval — account stays pending until approved. Only shown if Manual is not disabled for Customer

Self-registered customers are automatically assigned the default rate card — there is no rate card selection on the signup form. See How customers get a rate card.

Payment Mode Settings (platform-wide)

CMP path: Settings → Billing Setup → Payment Mode Settings

This screen controls which payment modes are available platform-wide — including which account types can select each mode during admin onboarding and self-registration.

The listing shows each payment mode with its current configuration. Click Actions → Update Mode on any row to edit.

Update Mode

Field	Required	Description
Name	Yes	Internal mode identifier — PREPAID, POSTPAID, or MANUAL. Shown in the list Name column and on the edit form
Display Name	Yes	Label shown in the CMP UI — list column and edit form
Description	Yes	Short description (for example, Prepaid System, Postpaid System, Manual Payment System) — list column and edit form
Disabled For / Disable for	No	List column: account types that cannot select this mode. Edit form: checkboxes for Admin, Customer, Vendor, Reseller — checked types are hidden from onboarding and registration. For example, MANUAL disabled for Customer means only admins can assign manual mode
Recommended	No	List column: Yes/No. Edit form: toggle — when enabled, CMP highlights this mode as the recommended option where a choice is offered
Status	Yes	Active or inactive — inactive modes are not available for new assignments. List column and edit dropdown
Actions	—	List only — open menu → Update Mode to open the edit panel

StackConsole team only — configure before go-live

Payment Mode Settings is a platform-level configuration. Changes are reserved for the StackConsole team, or should be made only with StackConsole support.

Do not change these settings after go-live or while customers are actively using the platform. Mid-stream changes can break billing workflows, cause provisioning errors, and leave existing accounts in inconsistent states.

Plan your payment mode strategy before launch — which modes are available to customers, resellers, and vendors — and treat this configuration as fixed once production onboarding begins.

How this affects registration

• If a mode is disabled for Customer, it does not appear on the self-registration form for end customers.
• If multiple modes are enabled for Customer, the signup form shows a choice; if only one is enabled, that mode is assigned automatically.
• Recommended affects which mode is pre-selected or highlighted when a choice is shown.

Related billing setup

Configure payment gateways, currencies, and top-up amounts alongside Payment Mode Settings — but before go-live:

Area	CMP path	What to configure
Payment gateways	Settings → Billing Setup → Payment Setting	Credentials + branch assignment; Disable on Registration; Has Save Card; Is Default for Postpaid — see Payment Gateways
Currency gateways	Settings → Billing Setup → Currencies → Configure (Step 2)	Mandatory — assign payment gateways to each currency — see Assign gateway to currency
Payment providers	Settings → Billing Setup → Payment Provider	Per-gateway Has Autocharge, logos — see each gateway page (for example, Stripe)
Currency & top-up	Settings → Billing Setup → Currencies → Configure	Add Top-Up Amount — predefined wallet amounts for prepaid registration

CMP does not convert prepaid accounts when a customer adds a card. Manual accounts do auto-convert to postpaid when a card is saved — see Changing payment mode.

Changing payment mode

Payment mode conversion is limited. Most modes cannot be changed after onboarding.

Conversion	Supported?	How
Prepaid → Postpaid	❌ Not supported	Planned on product roadmap (not currently available)
Prepaid → Manual	❌ Not supported	Not planned
Postpaid → Prepaid	❌ Not supported	Not planned
Postpaid → Manual	❌ Not supported	Not planned
Manual → Postpaid	✅ Only supported conversion	Automatic when the customer saves a credit or debit card

Manual → Postpaid (automatic on card save)

When a manual customer adds and saves a credit or debit card, CMP automatically converts the account to postpaid. No separate admin action is required.

After conversion:

• The account payment mode changes from Manual to Postpaid
• Unpaid invoices can be auto-charged to the saved card
• Future invoices follow standard postpaid auto-charge behaviour

Prepaid and postpaid accounts are not affected

Adding a card does not convert prepaid or postpaid accounts to another payment mode. Only manual accounts auto-convert to postpaid when a card is saved.

Manual accounts cannot be converted to prepaid.

Choosing a payment mode

Scenario	Recommended mode
Self-service wallet top-up	Prepaid
Self-service with saved card	Postpaid
Enterprise bank transfer / purchase order	Manual

Hourly invoices (all modes)

For hourly services, invoices are generated at the end of the month or on the 1st of the following month — regardless of payment mode. All hourly usage in the month is consolidated into a single invoice.

See Billing Cycles for fixed-cycle and mandatory-hourly service rules.

Shared invoicing topics

Topic	Summary
VM upgrade billing	Prepaid: separate payable invoice per upgrade. Postpaid: line items on period-end invoice
Early deletion (fixed cycle)	No refund — full period still charged; admin may grant free credits
Admin-generated custom invoices	Do not auto-charge postpaid cards; for non-catalogue items
Free credits & discounts	Discounts at service creation only; free credits settle existing invoices
Partial payment	Admin marks invoices paid — especially in manual mode
One consolidated invoice	One Account One Invoice (OAOI) — postpaid/manual; DATE_TO_DATE not supported

Related

• Billing Settings (admin) — see enabled modes and prepaid receipt flag on this portal
• Billing Overview
• Billing Cycles
• Billing Rules
• Billing FAQs