---
title: Billing
description: Manage the billing lifecycle of a customer: bill generation, delivery, and collection
---

Billing covers the whole billing lifecycle of a customer. It generates the bill, delivers it,
and collects the payment. A brand can bill on several cycles, and each customer can have their
own delivery preference.

## Billing entity

Billing in the API holds four parts:

- **Bill generation**: The bill is created from the subscription charges and the usage.
- **Billing cycles**: The cycle is monthly, quarterly, or annual.
- **Bill delivery**: The bill goes out by email, by SMS, on paper, or through the customer
  portal.
- **Payment collection**: Payment processing settles the bill.

## Key capabilities

- **Automated billing** — Generate a bill from the subscription charges and the usage of the customer.
- **Billing cycles** — Bill on the cycle that the customer and the business want.
- **Multi-channel delivery** — Deliver a bill by email, by paper mail, by SMS, or in the self-service portal.
- **Payment integration** — Collect a bill automatically, or take a manual payment for it.

## Common use cases

- **Subscription billing** — Bill a recurring telecom subscription or service plan.
- **Usage billing** — Bill variable usage: a data overage, or a premium service.
- **Bill delivery** — Send a bill on the channel and in the format that the customer selected.
- **Payment collection** — Collect a bill through the payment processing that the brand uses.

## Related resources

A billing entity connects to these API resources:

- **Customers**: The billing preferences and the billing relationship of one customer.
- **Subscriptions**: The service charges and the subscription fees on the bill.
- **Invoices**: The formal statement that the billing lifecycle generates.
- **Payments**: The payment that settles the bill.
- **Usage**: The consumption that a usage-based charge is calculated from.
- **Taxes**: The tax that the platform calculates and puts on the bill.

## Next steps

- [View invoices](/api-reference/invoices.md) — Read the invoice records and the billing statements.
- [Manage payments](/api-reference/payment-intents.md) — Track the payment transactions and the collections.