Billing and automation software

1 Overview of billing and automation software
2 Commercial billing and automation software
3 Features
4 Billing and automation software
5 Commonly integrated payment gateways
6 Commonly integrated server modules
7 See also

Overview of billing and automation software

There are many types of billing and automation software. They automate common tasks for web hosting companies and other companies that provide services online.

Billing software is software that assists companies in billing their customers, for example, through online orders and invoices. It also helps integrate payment gateways and terminals for processing online payments and credit cards.

Billing software comes in different forms, for example:

Downloadable software, which you install onto your server
Hosted application solutions
Desktop software that interfaces with a third party processor or payment gateway to automate payments

A lot of the common tasks involved in accepting payments online are entirely or partially automated for companies. For instance, some automation software can accept orders, create and monitor invoices, screen fraud, and communicate with gateways and credit card processors. Moreover, some automation software can enable web hosting companies to automatically provision accounts and resources to new and existing customers.

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Commercial billing and automation software

In general, if the billing or automation software is commercial, there are two types of licensing or payment methods for you to pay for the software:

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Perpetual license

A perpetual license is also known as an "owned" license. This means you usually pay a one-time fee for a license to use the software, with usually one or two years of updates and support. You then pay for additional years of support and/or updates when they expire. A perpetual license is generally more expensive then a leased license.

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Leased license

With a leased license, you usually pay a recurring fee (for example, once a month, quarterly, annually, etc.) to use the license for as long as you renew your lease. A leased license is generally cheaper then a perpetual license.

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Where to purchase?

With all billing software, you can (obviously) purchase direct from the creator. With some, you can also buy from resellers, which is normally cheaper.

An example of software with resellers is ClientExec, which can be purchased at ClientExec.com, or from an authorized reseller.

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Features

Billing and automation software often comes with a multitude of different and sometimes unique features. For instance, some pieces of billing software are labelled as "cart systems." These systems let you allow your end users to add the products they want into a "cart" and then pay the total price at once, instead of having to order the products one by one.

In contrast, some billing and automation software only allows users to purchase one item, product, or service at a time. Normally, however, such systems can integrate with third-party technology to set up or provision accounts, resources, and services, though often the cart systems can do the same.

Many billing and automation software programs include additional features, for example:

Support desks
E-mail managers
Download managers
Client licensing
Product licensing
API access to internal workings for programmers

Many pieces of software do not include download managers, client licensing, e-mail managers, API access, product licensing, or a support desk. Often these features are included only if the software is targeted for a particular audience. For instance, some billing and automation software is targeted at web hosting, including automation of ordering, invoicing, and account provisions, with a support desk and online client area with payment gateway integration.

Other pieces of software are targeted towards both web hosts and software developers. These pieces of software might include ordering, invoices, account provisioning, support desk, and product/client licensing.

Many pieces of billing and automation software include automatic account provisioning and automated billing and payment integration. The most commonly integrated products and services are listed below, though many others are integrated in some products. This list is only the most commonly seen throughout web-hosting-specific billing and automation software.

Further, below is a list of billing and automation software. If the software you use or develop is not listed below, please insert it correctly via the alphabetical listing. If your software is in development, please add a note next to the name that it is in development and, if possible, include a release date.

For a larger list of payment gateways, processors and merchant providers, please see the payment gateways and processors page.

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