A billing run is the process of preparing and sending a batch of invoices. Most businesses run billing monthly, but you can run multiple times in a month if needed. The platform guides you through each run using the Next Steps panel, which tracks your progress and shows what to do at every stage.
Accessing billing runs
Open the Billing Run menu from the main navigation. This gives you access to:
- Billing Runs / Cycles — view, edit, and manage your billing runs and billing cycle schedules
- CDRs — view, upload, and process call data record files
- Billing Errors — review errors from CDR processing
- Payment Runs — manage Direct Debit and card payment collection runs
If there are pending CDR files that need attention, a warning banner appears at the top of the menu showing the count and status of those files.
Click a billing run from the list to open its detail page. The Next Steps panel appears here, guiding you through the entire billing process.
Billing run fields
Each billing run has four key fields that control how invoices are produced:
- Invoice Date — the date shown on invoices
- Cutoff Date — the last date that charges apply. Call charges with a start date before this date are included, along with non-call charges whose bill date (or transaction date, if no bill date) falls before this date. If this date is in the future, the platform generates recurring charges ahead of time based on their bill dates so they are available to bill
- Transaction Cutoff Date — an optional second cutoff for non-call charges. When set, non-call charges are included when their transaction date is on or before this date, ignoring the bill date advance/arrears mechanism. If this date is in the future, the platform generates recurring charges early so they are available to bill. This is for more complex billing setups; most businesses only need the standard cutoff date
- Due Date — the payment due date printed on invoices (optional)
- Invoice Message — an optional override message printed on invoices. Useful for seasonal messages or significant announcements. The default message is usually set per-customer
These fields lock once billing is requested. See Request Bills for more detail.
Billing preview
The Billing Preview tab gives you a live look at which customers will appear in the run and what their projected charges look like. Use it to spot anything unexpected before you request bills.
When it appears
The tab appears on billing runs with a status of Pending or Requested, once a cutoff date is set. You need list access to both Customers and Invoices to see it.
What it shows
The preview grid lists each customer expected in the run. Columns are grouped into two sets:
Base projected totals show the charges the platform expects to produce for this run:
- Total
- One-Off
- Recurring
- Calls
- Refunds
- Late Fees
- Interest
- Carrier Provided
- Manual Billing
- Low Usage
- Manual
- Non-Call
Only charge types that are enabled on your platform appear. If you do not use late fees, for example, that column is hidden.
Previous invoice totals show the same breakdown taken from each customer’s most recent normal invoice in the same billing cycle. This makes it easy to compare projected charges against the last period.
Projected Outcome
The Projected Outcome column shows whether each customer’s invoice will be included or excluded from the run. Possible values include:
- Included — the invoice will be produced as normal
- Below empty threshold — the invoice total is zero and the customer’s empty invoice setting will suppress it
- Below low threshold — the invoice total falls below the customer’s low invoice threshold and will be suppressed
- Low usage fee — the invoice total falls below the threshold but a low usage fee will be added instead of suppressing
- Thresholds ignored — the customer has threshold settings, but they are set to produce the invoice regardless. This most likely applies to customers on a final bill
Things to keep in mind
Base projected totals reflect charges calculated at the time you view the preview. They do not include amounts added later in the billing process, such as uplift charges or manual fees. Treat the figures as a useful guide rather than a final total.
The Next Steps panel
When you open a billing run, the Next Steps panel appears on the detail page. It shows what to do next, with a confirmation button for each step. Steps turn green as you complete them, and the panel adapts based on the run’s current status.
Pre-billing steps
Before you request bills, the panel walks you through these checks:
Set dates — the panel alerts you if the invoice date or cutoff date is missing. Set these before anything else. If you need a separate cutoff for non-call charges, set the optional Transaction Cutoff Date as well.
Check payments — a table compares unallocated payments against the previous run, broken down by payment type. If you use Xero, it warns you if payments haven’t been fetched recently. Click Confirm Payments when you’re satisfied. See Enter Payments.
Check CDRs — shows a carrier-by-carrier comparison of CDR files and line counts against the previous period. You can check for new files by email or FTP directly from the panel. If any CDRs are missing or still being processed, the panel offers options to ignore them or process them first. Click Confirm CDRs Processed when done. See Supply Files.
Check billing errors — appears after CDRs are confirmed. Links to the billing errors page where you can review and resolve issues. Click Confirm Errors Checked when done. See Billing Errors.
Check fixed fee errors — only appears if your platform uses wholesale fixed-fee processing. Works the same way as billing errors. Click Confirm Fixed Fee Errors Checked when done.
Pre-billing report — request and review the pre-billing report. Click Confirm Pre-Billing Report Checked when done. See Pre-Billing Report.
Request bills — once all steps are confirmed, the panel shows “Billing run is ready!” with a Request Bills button. See Request Bills.
Expert Mode users can skip the pre-billing checks and request bills directly from the Actions menu.
Post-billing steps
After invoice production completes, the panel shows the remaining steps:
Post-billing report — confirm you’ve reviewed the post-billing report. See Post-Billing Report.
Bill production progress — while PDFs are being generated, shows how many are ready. This resolves automatically once all bills are produced.
Send to Xero — if you use Xero, shows how many customers and invoices still need sending. See Xero Integration.
Email bills — shows how many bills need emailing to customers. See Email Bills.
Print bills — shows how many bills need printing into bundles.
Collect by Direct Debit — shows invoices that need manual Direct Debit collection. If you use auto-collection (recommended), this step resolves on its own. See Payment Runs.
Collect by Card — shows invoices that need manual card collection. If you use auto-collection (recommended), this step resolves on its own. See Payment Runs.
When all steps are done, the panel shows Run Complete.
Billing run status
Each billing run progresses through a series of statuses as it moves from setup to completion.
New runs start as Pending. Depending on your workflow, a run may move to Ready or Approved if your organisation uses sign-off steps before billing. The pre-billing report runs automatically when a run is marked Ready or Approved.
When you request bills, the run moves to Requested. Once invoice production begins, it moves to Running, and when all invoices are produced it moves to Completed. From there, the post-billing steps in the Next Steps panel guide you through sending and collecting.
In this section
- Enter Customers — check customer setup before billing
- Enter Payments — review and confirm payments
- Supply Files — upload and process CDR files
- Billing Errors — review and resolve billing errors
- Pre-Billing Report — check the pre-billing report
- Request Bills — trigger invoice production
- Post-Billing Report — review the post-billing report
- Email Bills — send invoices to customers by email
- Payment Runs — collect payments by Direct Debit or card
Spending too long producing invoices or chasing billing errors every month? see how SAFE Billing Platform automates the entire billing cycle