How monthly invoice billing works

This page explains how billing works for accounts on the monthly invoice option. If you pay by credit card, see Plans and Billing for how credit-card subscriptions are charged and prorated.

The short version

You pay in full for each billing period's token allotment, because you receive the entire allotment the moment your plan starts or renews. Your invoice date is simply the day we collect. It falls partway through each period, so your final period stays active for a couple of weeks after your last invoice at no extra charge.

Two dates, not one

There are two separate dates that govern your account, and keeping them apart explains everything else on this page.

Your plan date is the day you upgraded, and the same day of the month each month after. On this date your full token allotment is granted and any plan change takes effect. Each plan date starts one billing period, and each period carries one full plan charge. There is no proration on monthly invoice billing, because you receive the whole allotment immediately rather than earning it over the month.

Your invoice date is the day of the month we agreed on with you for collection. On this date we add up every charge that has accrued since your last invoice and bill it. The invoice date does not start or end a period. It only collects.

A worked example

Suppose your invoice date is the 28th, and on March 14 you upgrade to the Business plan.

After April 28 you still have an active plan until May 14. That is not free usage. It is the remainder of the period you already paid for on April 28. Each period runs from one plan date to the next, and your invoice for that period lands on the 28th, partway through. The stretch from the 28th to your next plan date is the back half of an allotment you have already paid for in full.

Mid-cycle plan changes

Upgrades take effect immediately. You get access to the larger token allotment right away, and the charge for it appears on your next invoice.

Downgrades take effect on your next plan date. When you request a downgrade in your plan manager, Claira confirms it on the spot and schedules it for your next plan date. You keep the larger allotment you already paid for until the current period ends, then the lower plan begins automatically. You don't need to contact us. If you change your mind before the period ends, request your current plan again in the plan manager to cancel the scheduled downgrade; requesting an upgrade also overrides the pending downgrade and takes effect immediately.

Overages

If you run through your token allotment before the current period ends and overage is enabled in your case settings, scans keep working and the excess is tracked as overage at a flat rate of $0.10 per token. Overage is not blocked, so a bulk task started near the bottom of the tank will finish; the tokens beyond your balance simply accrue as overage instead of failing the run. If overage is disabled, Claira blocks any task that would exceed your current balance and prompts you to top up or upgrade.

On monthly invoice billing, overage accrues continuously through the period, the same way your plan charge does. It is not collected on your plan date — it collects with everything else on your invoice date, as a separate line item on your next invoice. If your invoice date falls partway through the current period (as it usually does), overage incurred between your last plan date and your invoice date appears on that invoice; overage incurred after the invoice date carries into the following invoice.

A worked example: with an invoice date of the 28th and a plan date of the 14th, overage tokens consumed between April 14 and April 28 are billed on the April 28 invoice. Overage tokens consumed between April 28 and May 14 are billed on the May 28 invoice. Cancelling does not waive overage already accrued — anything tracked before cancellation is still collected on the next invoice.

For the per-token rate and how overage interacts with case settings (including Allow overage and Allow auto upgrade), see Plans and Billing — Overage.

Cancelling

Cancelling stops your plan from renewing on your next plan date. Your current period stays active until that date, because you have already paid for it. You will not be billed again unless a charge accrued before you cancelled.

One case to note: if you cancel after your plan date but before your invoice date, you will still receive that invoice. For example, if your plan renews on April 14 and you cancel on April 20, the April 28 invoice still collects the April 14 charge, because the token allotment for that period was already issued to you.

How this differs from credit card billing

Credit card accounts pay in advance on the day they upgrade, and the billing cycle runs from that date each month. There is no separate collection date and no trailing period, because the charge and the plan date are the same day. Credit-card upgrades are also prorated by Stripe — your remaining days on the old plan are credited against the new plan on the next invoice. See Plans and Billing for the credit-card details.

Monthly invoice billing separates the two: your plan still starts and renews on your plan date, but charges are collected on the fixed invoice date we agreed on with you. The monthly invoice option is available on approved accounts only — if you do not see it offered in your plan manager, contact support@claira.to about eligibility.

Questions

Why was my first invoice the full plan price when I only had the plan for two weeks before it arrived?

Because you received the full token allotment the moment you upgraded. The plan price covers the allotment, not the number of days elapsed before your invoice date.

I cancelled but my plan is still active. Why?

You paid in full for the current period, so it runs until your next plan date. Cancelling only stops the renewal after that.

What happens to the token allotment I did not use in my final period?

It stays available until the period ends on your next plan date. It is part of the allotment you already paid for.