Check a client's next bill

The Next bill card shows what a client’s next invoice will charge if nothing changes before it is drafted. Outpost builds the estimate with the same code that builds the invoice, from the same counts, so the two agree line for line. Use it after you change an agreement, and before a client asks why their bill moved.

Before you begin

• Reading the estimate needs psa:read.
• The estimate reads what is saved. Save the agreement first.

Open the estimate

The card appears in two places:

• On a saved agreement, below Save.
• On the client’s Client billing > Agreements page, for the active agreement.

Read the estimate

The top of the card shows the total and the period it covers. Prorated shows when the period is part of a month, such as an agreement’s first. Counts taken at gives the time the counts were read. The invoice is built from the counts on its own run date, so the estimate moves as devices and people come and go.

The table lists each line the invoice will carry:

Column	Shows
Line	The line’s description and kind, such as Per device, Per seat, Discount, or Usage true-up.
Counted	The usage method for a counted line, and Show to list the devices or people it counted.
Quantity	The count, or a decimal for a daily true-up such as 0.3333.
Unit	The unit price in force for the period.
Amount	The line’s total. Discounts and credits are negative.

Subtotal, Tax, and Total follow.

Since the last invoice compares the estimate with the client’s last invoice for this agreement. Each changed line shows the quantity before and after, how many members were added and removed, the change in amount, and the names under Added and Removed. When there is no earlier invoice, it says so.

Act on the warnings

The card shows	What to do
N devices are not billed by any line	No line’s device filter matches them. Select Show them, then widen a filter or add a line if they should be billed. See Bill by device type and seat.
N Linux/BSD devices are classed as workstations	A line filters on servers, and these machines have no server role. Tag them or add them to a device group, and filter on that.
A line is measured by peak or daily and there is no earlier invoice	Expected after a switch to peak or daily. The true-up starts on the invoice after next. See Bill seat and device changes.
A line has no usage recorded	Outpost has no daily counts for that period, so the line is not trued up.
A usage credit … was larger than this invoice	Part of a credit was left off so the invoice stays at zero or above. Issue a credit note for the rest. See Invoice clients.

What the client sees

When the client portal is on for the client, members with the Next bill page see the same estimate, with two differences:

• Devices no line bills are never shown to the client.
• Of the warnings, only the one about a usage adjustment still being measured is shown. The others are advice for you.

See Client portal.

Next steps

• Bill by device type and seat
• Invoice clients