Create minute packs

A minute pack is a bundle of extra minutes, such as 200 minutes for £40, that a client can get on top of their plan. Packs also let you bill clients who have no plan at all: they buy packs and use them as they go.

Before you begin

Owner or admin. Agency owners and admins can create and edit packs.
To let clients buy packs by card, or use auto top-up, connect Stripe first. See Connect Stripe.

The Minute packs tab

Go to Client billing, then Minute packs. “Extra minutes clients can request. Pack minutes are used after plan minutes, earliest expiry first.”

The table lists each pack’s Minutes, Price and Expires after. Tags show Plan clients only and Auto top-up where they apply, and Archived for packs you no longer offer.

Create a pack

Go to Client billing, then Minute packs, and select New pack.
Fill in the fields below.
Select Create pack. You see Pack created.

Field	What to enter	Notes
Name	For example `200 minutes`	Shown to the client. Up to 80 characters.
Minutes	Whole minutes, at least 1
Price	For example `40` or `40.50`	At most 2 decimals.
Currency	One of 44 currencies	Starts on your Default currency. Use the currency your clients are billed in: a pack in another currency cannot be sold to them.
Minutes expire after	30 days, 90 days, 6 months, 12 months, 2 years or Never expire	Default 12 months, counted from when the minutes are added.
Only for clients with a plan	On or off	“Off: clients on packs only can request it too.” Default off.
Can be used for auto top-up	On or off	“Clients paying by card can have this pack bought automatically when minutes run low.” Default off.

Editing a pack changes it for future sales only: “Minutes already granted keep their own expiry date.” Select Archive to stop offering a pack, and Restore to offer it again.

Example packs

Name	Minutes	Price	Minutes expire after	Auto top-up
100 minutes	100	£22	90 days	Off
200 minutes	200	£40	12 months	On
500 minutes	500	£90	Never expire	Off

How pack minutes are used

Pack minutes are used after the client’s plan minutes (and any trial minutes), and before minutes you added by hand and overflow. When a client has several packs, the one that expires first is used first. See Client billing overview.

Adding pack minutes to a client whose calls stopped because its minutes ran out lets calls start again within a minute.

How clients get packs

Way	Who starts it	When the minutes arrive
Request minutes	The client, on their Billing page	When you mark the payment paid, or straight away if you choose Grant minutes now, collect later
Buy now by card	The client, on their Billing page	As soon as the card payment goes through
Request payment for a pack	You, on the client’s Billing page	When you mark it paid, or straight away with Grant minutes now, collect later
Auto top-up	Automatically, once the client turns it on	When each top-up payment goes through
Add minutes	You, on the client’s Billing page	Straight away

Clients see packs under Need more minutes? on their Billing page while Clients can request minute packs is on for them, and only packs they can use: in their currency, and plan-only packs when they have a plan.

Request minutes (no card payments)

While your Stripe account is not taking payments, each pack shows Request minutes.

The client selects Request minutes on a pack. They see Request sent to your provider.
A payment request for the pack appears in the client’s Payments and on your Payments due tab. Your team is emailed that the client requested minutes (in the daily digest, if you use it). The client’s billing contacts and billing email addresses get an email with your payment instructions, the reference and a link to the payment page. See Get paid without Stripe.
When the money arrives, select Mark as paid on the request. The pack’s minutes are added straight away.

If you want the client to have the minutes before they pay, open the request and choose Grant minutes now, collect later. The request stays open until you mark it paid.

Buy now by card

Once your Stripe account is taking payments, each pack shows Buy now instead. The client pays in Stripe Checkout, and the minutes are added as soon as the payment goes through. The client sees Payment received. Adding your minutes… when they return. The purchase appears on your side under Card purchases on the client’s Billing page, and its invoice under Invoices.

Request payment for a pack

To bill a pack yourself, for example after a phone call with the client:

Open the client and select Billing in the Agency only box.
In Payments, select Request payment for a pack.
Choose the Pack and select Create request.

This creates a payment request and emails the client’s billing contacts. The minutes are added when you mark it paid, or straight away with Grant minutes now, collect later. For a client on Stripe invoices, the request becomes a Stripe invoice, numbered and emailed by Stripe.

Auto top-up

Auto top-up buys a pack automatically when a client’s minutes run low, so calls never stop for lack of minutes. It works with card payments through Stripe.

What you do: turn on Can be used for auto top-up on the packs you offer for it.

What the client does: on their Billing page, the Auto top-up card (“Never run out: buy a pack automatically when your minutes run low.”) lets a billing contact:

Choose the Pack to buy.
Choose When minutes fall to, in minutes (30 to start with).
Read the terms, for example: “When my minutes fall to 30 or fewer, buy 200 minutes for £40.00 with this card, at most 5 times a calendar month, until I turn auto top-up off.”
Select Agree, buy now and turn on. They pay for the first pack in Stripe Checkout, and the card is saved for top-ups.

The exact terms the client agreed to are stored with their consent. Once it is on, the card shows On and the terms on both your view and the client’s.

How it runs:

When the client’s minutes fall to the threshold, the pack is charged to the saved card and the minutes are added once the payment goes through.
At most one top-up is in progress at a time, and never more than 5 in a calendar month.
If the bank asks the client to confirm a payment, the client is emailed. A payment not confirmed within 3 days counts as failed.
After two failed top-ups in a row, auto top-up switches off. The card shows The last top-up didn’t go through. Update the card to keep it working. after a failure.
If you change the pack’s name or price, auto top-up switches off for clients using it, and the client is emailed to turn it on again under the new terms.

Either side can stop it: the client, or you on the client’s Billing page, with Turn off auto top-up.

Refund a pack bought by card

Open the client’s Billing page. Under Card purchases, find the pack and select Refund.
Enter the Amount (leave empty for the full amount). The dialog shows how many unused minutes the refund takes back.
Select Refund. You see Refund sent to Stripe.

Stripe returns the money to the client’s card. The refunded share of the pack’s minutes is taken back, never more than the client has left unused. A half refund of a 200-minute pack takes back up to 100 minutes. You can refund in parts: the purchase shows Part refunded and the amount refunded so far, then Refunded once it is refunded in full.

Refunds you make in your Stripe Dashboard are handled the same way. A credit note takes back only the part not already refunded to the card.

Add or remove minutes by hand

For a cash payment, a goodwill gesture or a correction, use the Minutes card on the client’s Billing page.

Add minutes. Enter the Minutes and a Reason, then select Add minutes. “For example after a cash payment, or as goodwill.” Added minutes don’t expire. If the client was over the limit, that is recovered first.
Remove. Enter the Minutes and a Reason, then select Remove minutes. Unused minutes are removed newest first: minutes you added, then packs, then plan minutes. Overflow is never removed.

The reason is saved in the audit log and shown under Source as Added by agency.

Troubleshooting

Problem	What to do
The client does not see Need more minutes?	Check Client can request minute packs in the client’s Client settings, and that you have an active pack in the client’s currency. Plan-only packs need the client to have a plan.
This pack is priced in one currency but this client is billed in another	Create a pack in the client’s currency.
The client sees Request minutes, not Buy now	Your Stripe account is not taking payments yet. See Connect Stripe.
The client does not see Auto top-up	Turn on Can be used for auto top-up on at least one pack the client can buy, and check your Stripe account is taking payments and Client can request minute packs is on for the client.
Refund is missing on a purchase	Only paid and part-refunded card purchases can be refunded.