Prepaid credit billing for agency services
AgencyPro lets clients prepay for your agency's work in credits. They buy a credit package in your portal, each credit-based request deducts its cost, and both of you see the balance and every transaction. If the balance is too low, the request is not created and the client is offered more credits.
Credit billing at a glance
- Credit packages (top-ups) with a name, number of credits, price and currency, and an optional expiry in days.
- Credit-based services: each request for the service costs a set number of credits.
- One balance per client organization, shared by every contact at that company.
- Credits are checked and deducted when the request is created. If the balance is short, the request is not created and the client is offered more credits.
- A transaction history of purchases, usage, manual changes, expirations and refunds that you can filter and export.
How prepaid credits work for an agency
The client pays up front for a block of credits, and each service has a price in credits. Every request draws down the balance. You are paid before the work starts, and the client chooses how to spend what they bought without a new quote for each small job.
The model only works if the balance is enforced and visible. If credits are tracked in a spreadsheet, the agency ends up doing work the client has not paid for, and the client argues about what is left.
AgencyPro enforces it at the point of request: the balance is checked when the client submits, and the deduction is written to a history both sides can see. Whether credits are the right package for you at all is covered under productized services.
What credit billing includes
Packages, pricing in credits, balances, enforcement and adjustments. All on Pro and Plus.
In Top-ups, create packages with a name, credits included, price and currency. Optional settings: description, expiry in days, active, and featured. Clients buy them from Top-ups in the portal or through a direct checkout link, and coupon codes work on top-ups.
Set a service's pricing to credit-based and enter the credits each request costs, for example 5 credits for a social graphic and 40 for a landing page design. Request limits on the service still apply.
Credits belong to the client organization, so every contact at that company draws on the same balance. Your team sees the balance and history on the client or organization profile.
When a client submits a credit-based request, AgencyPro checks the balance. If it is enough, the request is created and the credits are deducted at once. If not, no request is created and the client is offered a package to buy.
From the organization profile, team members can add credits (a bonus or correction) or deduct them, with a reason recorded each time. Credits can also be transferred between organizations or refunded.
Choose no expiry, expiry per package, a workspace-wide default, or rolling expiry from the purchase date. Clients see expiry dates and are warned before credits expire, expired credits are recorded in the history, and you can set a grace period.
Example: a design agency selling credit packs
A hypothetical agency and client, from package setup to a month-end review. The prices are invented; the behaviour is how AgencyPro handles credits.
Example: a design agency on Pro creates two packages: "Starter 100" (100 credits for $1,000, expiring after 180 days) and "Studio 300" (300 credits for $2,700). It prices three services in credits: social graphic 5, logo concept 25, landing page design 40.
A client's marketing lead opens Top-ups in the portal, buys Starter 100 and pays $1,000. The credits are added as soon as the payment completes, and the history shows a purchase of +100 with a balance of 100.
Over three weeks the marketing lead and her colleague submit a landing page (40), a logo concept (25) and three social graphics (5 each). Each request deducts its credits when it is created: 80 used, 20 left, visible to both of them in the portal.
She submits another landing page design (40) with 20 credits left. The request is not created and she is offered a package instead. She buys Studio 300, the balance becomes 320, and she resubmits: 280 left.
At month end the account manager filters the organization's transactions, exports them for the client's finance team, and adds 10 bonus credits with the reason "Late delivery on logo concept". The addition shows in the history with his name.
Every credit change is recorded
Each entry shows the date and time, type, amount, new balance, a description, the related service or package, and the team member who processed it. Filter and export the history from the Credits tab.
| Transaction type | Recorded when |
|---|---|
| Purchase | The client buys a credit package |
| Usage | A credit-based request is created |
| Manual addition | A team member adds credits, with a reason |
| Manual deduction | A team member deducts credits, with a reason |
| Expiration | Credits pass their expiry date |
| Refund | Credits are refunded; the balance drops and the payment is refunded |
Clients see their own balance, expiry dates, transaction history and the packages they can buy in the portal, so most “how many credits do we have left?” questions answer themselves.
Prepaid packs, retainer credits and AI credits
Prepaid packs or credits included in a retainer
Credits can come from one-off packages the client buys when they need them, or be included in each period of a recurring service, with optional rollover of unused credits. The renewal schedule, rollover settings and payment collection for retainers are covered on retainer billing. Clients buy packages from Top-ups in the portal or through a direct checkout link.
Service credits are not AI credits
Service credits are what your clients buy from you. AI credits are AgencyPro's monthly allowance for its AI features: 500 on Basic, 2,000 on Pro and 10,000 on Plus, with extra packs of 1,000 for $10. The two balances are separate. See how AI credits work.
Which plan includes credit billing
Credit-based services, including credit packages and portal top-ups, are on Pro ($79/mo), Plus ($149/mo) and Enterprise. Basic does not include them; on Basic you can sell fixed-price and subscription services with request limits.
To use credits, turn on the credit system and billing modules and connect Stripe or set up manual payments. AgencyPro adds no transaction fee to top-up purchases; your payment provider charges its usual processing fee.
Clients are unlimited. Team seats cost extra: 3 people on Pro pay $79 + 2 x $20 = $119/mo. To work out what a monthly credit allowance should cost the client, try the retainer pricing calculator.
When credit billing in AgencyPro is not the right fit
The cost of a job is only known after the work
Credits are deducted when the request is created, at the service's set price. If effort varies a lot from job to job, bill hours instead with hourly services and time tracking, or correct the balance with a manual adjustment.
Each person at the client needs their own budget
Balances are per organization, shared by all its contacts. If two departments need separate budgets, set them up as separate organizations.
You meter software usage
AgencyPro credits pay for requests to your team. Usage-based billing for API calls or seats in your own product needs a billing platform built for that.
You plan to stay on Basic
Credit-based services need Pro. On Basic, use fixed-price services or a fixed-fee retainer with a monthly request cap.
Frequently asked questions
The client pays up front for a block of credits, and each service has a price in credits. When the client requests work, the credits for that service are deducted from their balance. The agency is paid before the work starts, and the client can spend the credits on whichever services they need.
When a client submits a credit-based request, AgencyPro checks the organization's balance. If there are not enough credits, the request is not created, the client sees an error, and they are offered a package to buy. Once they top up, they can submit the request again.
Only if you set it up that way. Choose no expiry, expiry per package, a workspace-wide default, or rolling expiry from the purchase date. Clients see expiry dates in the portal and get warnings before credits expire, and expired credits are deducted and recorded in the history. You can also set a grace period.
Yes. Credits belong to the client organization, so every contact in that organization draws on the same balance and sees the same history in the portal.
Yes. Team members can add credits as a bonus or correction, deduct credits, transfer credits between organizations and refund credits. Additions and deductions are made from the organization profile and need a reason, and each one is recorded with the team member who made it.
Start from what each service costs you to deliver. For example, if a social graphic takes about 30 minutes and you bill $100 an hour, price it at 5 credits with credits at $10 each. Then offer a larger package at a lower price per credit to reward prepaying more, and keep the service list short enough that clients can predict what they will spend.
No. Service credits are what your clients buy from you to pay for your agency's work. AI credits are AgencyPro's monthly allowance for its own AI features (500 on Basic, 2,000 on Pro, 10,000 on Plus). The two are separate balances.
Credit-based services are on Pro at $79/mo, Plus at $149/mo and Enterprise. They are not on Basic. Team seats cost extra: 3 people on Pro pay $79 + 2 x $20 = $119/mo. Clients are unlimited on every plan.