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Overview

Monitoring your billing and usage is essential for managing finances and ensuring accurate client invoicing.

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Table of Contents

  1. How Billing Works
  2. Setting Up Your Stripe Account
  3. Pricing Your Services
  4. Managing Client Balances
  5. Understanding Profitability
  6. Billing Best Practices
  7. Frequently Asked Questions

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How Billing Works

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The Big Picture

As a Vapify agency, you have complete control over how you charge your clients:
  • You set the prices - Choose your markup and billing model
  • Your clients pay you directly - Through your branded Stripe checkout
  • We handle the infrastructure - Voice AI processing and call management
  • You keep the profit - The difference between what you charge and provider costs
Your Client → Pays You (via Stripe) → You manage their account
                ↓
        Vapify tracks usage & handles billing
                ↓
        Voice Provider (Vapi/Retell) processes calls

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What Gets Billed

Every voice call your clients make or receive has a cost:
  • Provider Cost: What the voice AI service (Vapi, Retell, Eleven Labs) charges
  • Your Markup: What you add on top of the provider cost to make profit
  • Total Price: What your client pays
Example:
  • Provider charges: $0.30 per minute
  • You charge your client: $0.50 per minute
  • Your profit: $0.20 per minute (40% margin)

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Setting Up Your Stripe Account

Before you can charge clients, you need to connect your Stripe account. This lets clients pay you directly while seeing your branding (not Vapify’s).

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Step 1: Connect Stripe

  1. Go to Billing & usage Settings
  2. On the Connect Stripe Account Setup card, Click Get Started
  3. You’ll be redirected to Stripe to create or connect your account
Billing & Usage

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Step 2: Complete Stripe Onboarding

Stripe will guide you through providing:
  • Business information
  • Banking details (for payouts)
  • Identity verification
This typically takes 5-10 minutes.

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Step 3: Verify Connection

Once connected, you’ll see:
  • ✅ Connected Account ID
  • Your account status
  • Link to Stripe Dashboard
Billing & Usage Important: Your clients’ payments go directly to your Stripe account. Vapify never holds your funds.

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Managing Your Stripe Account

View your Stripe Dashboard:
  1. Go to Billing & Usage
  2. Click Stripe Dashboard
  3. See payments, payouts, and customer data
Disconnect Stripe (if needed):
  1. Go to Agency Settings → Billing
  2. Click Disconnect Stripe
  3. Confirm disconnection
⚠️ Warning: Disconnecting Stripe will prevent new client payments and subscriptions.

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Pricing Your Services

You have two main billing models to choose from. Pick the one that fits your business:

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Billing Model Comparison

FeatureMonthly Fee + Per-MinuteMonthly Packages
Best ForSimple, flexible pricingPredictable monthly costs
Client PaysMonthly fee + usage chargesOne monthly price (includes minutes)
OverageNo concept of overageCharge extra for minutes over limit
ComplexitySimple to explainSlightly more complex
Example49/mo+49/mo + 0.40/min for all calls99/mofor200min+99/mo for 200 min + 0.60/min overage

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Which Model Should You Choose?

Choose Monthly Fee + Per-Minute if: ✅ You want simple, transparent pricing
✅ Client usage varies widely month to month
✅ You want clients to pay for exactly what they use
✅ You prefer SaaS-style “base + usage” pricing Choose Monthly Packages if: ✅ You want predictable monthly revenue
✅ Clients want to know their base cost upfront
✅ You offer tiered plans (Starter/Pro/Enterprise)
✅ You want to encourage higher usage with included minutes You can also offer both! Different clients can use different models based on their needs.

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Billing Model 1: Monthly Fee + Per-Minute

Simple, flexible pricing: charge a monthly platform fee plus usage-based per-minute charges.

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How It Works

Monthly Platform Fee: $49/month (via Stripe subscription)
         +
Per-Minute Charges: $0.40/minute (deducted from prepaid balance)
         =
Total Monthly Bill: $49 + usage charges
Example Month: Client makes 150 minutes of calls 
Charges:
├── Monthly Platform Fee: $49.00 (auto-charged by Stripe)
└── Usage Charges: 150 × $0.40 = $60.00 (deducted from balance)

Total: $109.00

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Setting Up This Model

Billing & Usage

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Step 1: Configure Monthly Fee

  1. In your subaccount billing settings, enable the monthly billing option (if your plan allows)
  2. Set Monthly Subscription Fee: eg. $49.00
  3. This creates a Stripe subscription for the monthly fee

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Step 2: Set Per-Minute Rate

  1. In your subaccount billing settings.
  2. Set Price per Minute: eg. $0.40
  3. This applies to ALL calls made by this assistant

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Step 3: Client Loads Balance

Your client needs prepaid balance for per-minute charges:
  1. Client logs into their dashboard
  2. Clicks Top up Balance
  3. Pays via Stripe
  4. Balance available immediately

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How Billing Works

Monthly Subscription (Automated):
  • Stripe auto-charges client on billing anniversary
  • Example: If client subscribes on Nov 15, charges every month on the 15th
  • Handles failed payments, retries, notifications
  • You see revenue in your Stripe Dashboard
Per-Minute Charges (Real-Time):
  • After each call, system calculates: minutes × per-minute rate
  • Amount deducted from client’s prepaid balance
  • Client sees transaction in their billing history
  • Happens instantly when call ends

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Client Balance Management

Client dashboard shows: 
💰 Account Balance
─────────────────────────
Balance: $150.00
Credits: $25.00 (bonus)
Total Available: $175.00

Monthly Subscription:
Next charge on Dec 15: $49.00
What happens if balance runs low: 
⚠️ Low Balance Warning

Your balance is running low ($8.50 remaining).
Add funds to continue making calls.

[Add Funds]
What happens if balance hits $0: 
🔒 Insufficient Balance

Cannot place call - balance is $0.00.
Please add funds to continue.

[Add Funds Now]

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Variations of This Model

Pure Per-Minute (No Monthly Fee): 
Monthly Fee: $0
Per-Minute: $0.50
Simple pay-as-you-go with no recurring charges. High Monthly Fee, Low Per-Minute: 
Monthly Fee: $199
Per-Minute: $0.20
Premium plan with low usage costs. Low Monthly Fee, High Per-Minute: 
Monthly Fee: $29
Per-Minute: $0.60
Affordable entry, pay more for heavy usage.

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When to Use This Model

✅ Perfect for clients who:
  • Have unpredictable call volumes
  • Want to pay for exactly what they use
  • Prefer clear, itemized billing
  • Are comfortable loading prepaid balance
❌ Not ideal for clients who:
  • Want one predictable monthly charge
  • Don’t want to monitor balance
  • Make consistent monthly call volumes
  • Prefer “all-inclusive” packages

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Billing Model 2: Monthly Packages

Predictable monthly pricing with included minutes and overage charges.

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How It Works

Monthly Package: $99/month
Includes: 200 minutes
Overage Rate: $0.60/minute
         ↓
Client uses 230 minutes
         ↓
Charges:
├── Base Package: $99.00 (includes first 200 min)
└── Overage: 30 min × $0.60 = $18.00

Total: $117.00

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Usage Dashboard

Client sees in real-time: 
📊 Current Month Usage
─────────────────────────────────
Used: 187 / 200 minutes (94%)
Remaining: 13 minutes
Resets in: 12 days

Overage charges this month: $0.00
When approaching limit: 
⚠️ Approaching Monthly Limit

You've used 195 of 200 included minutes.
Overage rate: $0.60/minute

Need more minutes? Upgrade your plan or add
prepaid balance to cover overage charges.
After exceeding limit: 
📊 Current Month Usage
─────────────────────────────────
Used: 227 / 200 minutes
Overage: 27 minutes × $0.60 = $16.20

Next charge on Dec 15:
├── Monthly Package: $99.00
└── Overage: $16.20
Total: $115.20

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Managing Client Balances

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Understanding Balance Types

Your clients have two “wallets” for prepaid funds: Balance 💰 (Green wallet)
  • Loaded by client via Stripe payments
  • Client controls when to add funds
  • Self-service, automated
Credits 🎁 (Blue wallet)
  • Added manually by you
  • Promotional, bonus, or compensation
  • Your discretion
How they’re used: 
Credits are always used FIRST, then Balance

Example:
Credits: $25.00
Balance: $75.00
Total Available: $100.00

After $30 charge:
Credits: $0.00 (used first)
Balance: $70.00 ($5 deducted after credits)
Total Available: $70.00

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When Balance Is Needed

Monthly Fee + Per-Minute Model: ✅ Required for all per-minute charges
Client must load balance before making calls Monthly Package Model: ⚠️ Only required for overage charges
If client stays within included minutes, no balance needed
If client exceeds, balance must cover overage Demo Accounts: ❌ Not required - demo calls are free

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Low Balance Alerts

Automatic client warnings: At $20 remaining: 
📧 Email: "Low Balance Alert"

Your Vapify account balance is running low ($18.50).
Add funds to avoid service interruption.

[Add Funds]
At $10 remaining: 
⚠️ Dashboard Banner:
"Low Balance: $8.50 remaining. Add funds to continue service."

[Add Funds]
At $0: 
🔒 Service Suspended

Your balance is $0.00 and you cannot make calls
until you add funds to your account.

[Add Funds Now]
You can customize thresholds:
  1. Go to Agency Settings → Notifications
  2. Set warning levels:
    • Warning threshold: $25
    • Critical threshold: $10
    • Suspend at: $0

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Refunding Balance

If you need to refund a client:
  1. Go to Clients → Select client → Billing
  2. Click Issue Refund
  3. Enter details:
Issue Refund
─────────────────────────
Amount: $50.00

Refund Method:
○ Stripe Refund (money returned)
○ Account Credit (stays as balance)

Reason:
[ Service issue - refunding unused balance ]

[Process Refund]
Stripe Refund:
  • Money returned to client’s payment method
  • Shows in their bank/card statement
  • Deducts from your Stripe balance
Account Credit:
  • Stays in client’s Vapify balance
  • Can use for future calls
  • No Stripe transaction

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Understanding Profitability

Make sure you’re making money on every call!

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The Profitability Formula

Your Profit = What You Charge - Provider Cost

Example:
You charge: $0.50/minute
Provider costs: $0.30/minute
Your profit: $0.20/minute (40% margin)

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Real-World Example

10-minute call: 
Provider charges Vapify: $3.00
You charge your client: $5.00
Your profit: $2.00
Profit margin: 40%

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Profitability Checks

Vapify automatically prevents unprofitable calls: Scenario 1: Profitable Call ✅ 
Provider cost: $3.00 (10 minutes)
Your price: $5.00 (10 × $0.50/min)
Profit: $2.00 ✅
Result: Call processes normally
Scenario 2: Unprofitable Call ⚠️ 
Provider cost: $6.00 (10 minutes)
Your price: $5.00 (10 × $0.50/min)
Loss: -$1.00 ⚠️
Result: Call blocked, assistant flagged
💡 Pro tip: Set prices at $0.50 or higher to maintain healthy margins as provider costs fluctuate.

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Billing Best Practices

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1. Choose the Right Model for Each Client

Monthly Fee + Per-Minute:
  • Medical offices with varying call volumes
  • Seasonal businesses
  • Testing new clients
  • Clients who want flexibility
Monthly Packages:
  • Established clients with consistent usage
  • Clients who value predictability
  • Higher-value clients
  • When you want recurring revenue

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2. Set Competitive but Profitable Prices

Research your market:
  • Check what competitors charge
  • Consider your client’s industry
  • Factor in your service value-adds
  • Always maintain 30%+ margin
Example pricing by industry: 
Medical Practices: $0.60 - $0.80/min
  → High value, regulatory compliance

Dental Offices: $0.50 - $0.70/min
  → Moderate volume, appointment scheduling

Real Estate: $0.40 - $0.60/min
  → High volume, lead qualification

General Business: $0.50 - $0.70/min
  → Varies by use case

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FAQs

Can I mix billing models?

Yes! Different clients can use different models:

  • Client A: Monthly package (99/mo,200minutes)</li><li>ClientB:Per−minuteonly(99/mo, 200 minutes)</li> <li>Client B: Per-minute only (0.50/min)
  • Client C: Monthly fee + per-minute (49/mo+49/mo + 0.40/min)

What if I only want to charge per-minute with no monthly fee?

Set monthly fee to $0 and just set the per-minute rate on each assistant.

What happens if a client’s payment fails?

For subscriptions:

  • Stripe automatically retries failed payments
  • Client receives email from Stripe
  • After multiple failures, subscription cancels
  • You receive notification to follow up

For balance top-ups:

  • Payment fails immediately
  • Client sees error message
  • Balance not added
  • Client must try again

Can I offer refunds?

Yes:

  1. Go to your stripe dashboard
  2. Choose the transaction to refund
  3. Process refund

Stripe refunds typically take 5-10 business days to appear in client’s bank account.

Do I pay any fees to Vapify?

No platform fees on payments! You pay:

  • Stripe processing fees (~2.9% + $0.30 per transaction)
  • Your Vapify subscription

All client payments go directly to your Stripe account.

What’s the difference between Balance and Credits?

  • Balance: Client loads via Stripe (self-service)
  • Credits: You add manually (bonuses, promotions)
  • Both used for per-minute charges (Credits used first)

Can I remove credits from a client?

No - credits are non-refundable once added. Only add what you intend to give away.

What happens to unused balance if client cancels?

Options:

  • Let them use it down to $0 before canceling
  • Issue Stripe refund for remaining balance

Check your service agreement and local regulations.

How quickly are calls billed?

Immediately when call ends:

  1. Call finishes
  2. System calculates cost
  3. Balance deducted instantly
  4. Client sees transaction in billing history

Real-time billing prevents billing disputes.

Can clients see itemized call logs?

Yes! Clients can view:

  • Date/time of each call
  • Duration
  • Cost
  • Which assistant was used
  • Call recordings (if enabled)

Full transparency builds trust.

What happens during system downtime?

Calls continue to work! Voice providers (Vapi/Retell) handle calls independently. Billing may be delayed slightly but all calls are eventually billed correctly.

Questions? Contact [email protected] or chat with us in your dashboard.