Create Billing Run for a Single Subscription

Overview

Billing Runs are Ordway’s mechanism for generating invoices. A Billing Run creates Invoices for:

• Fulfilled Orders
• Active Subscription Billing Schedules

By default, Billing Runs are processed asynchronously and placed in a queue. However, when a Billing Run is filtered to a single Subscription or a single order and Real Time Invoice Generation is enabled, the Billing Run may execute immediately and generate Invoices in real time.

This capability enables faster, targeted billing actions where immediate invoice feedback is required.

Real Time Billing Runs

Billing Runs created for a single Subscription or Order can now execute in real time and return Invoices instantly.

When Real Time Invoice Generation is enabled and the Billing Run meets system limits:

• The Billing Run bypasses the billing queue
• Invoice generation begins immediately
• The Invoice response is available as soon as processing completes

This capability is ideal for operational workflows that require quick validation, immediate invoicing, or API-driven billing actions.

Real Time Eligibility

• A Subscription or Order filter must be used to qualify for Real Time execution.
• Customer-related filters (such as Customer ID, Customer Name, or any other Customer field) cannot be used alone, even if the Customer has only one Subscription or Order.
• Real Time execution works when a Subscription/Order filter is used by itself, or when it is combined with Customer-related filters.

Enable Real Time Invoice Generation

1. Go to Setup> Settings. The General Settings page is displayed.
2. Under Invoice section, click Real Time Invoice Generation toggle. 
3. Click Save to enable the feature. 
   

Preconditions

To generate an Invoice using a Billing Run, the following conditions must be met:

• The Customer Account has either:
  • An active Subscription with Plan Charges
  • An Order with a Fulfilled status

Create a Billing Run

Step 1: Navigate to Billing Runs

1. In the left navigation menu, click Operations > Billing Runs. The Billing Runs page is displayed. 
   
2. Click Add. The Add Billing Run page is displayed.
   

Step 2: Define Billing Run Details

Billing Run ID

• Automatically generated by the system when the Billing Run is created.
• Used for tracking, audit, and reporting purposes.
• Cannot be edited.

Target Date (Required)

The Target Date determines which charges are included in the Billing Run.

• All charges with a Charge Ready Date on or before the Target Date are billed
• Only Billing Schedule Lines (BSL) that have not already been invoiced are included

Invoice Date

Select one of the following options:

• Same as Target Date
• Select Different Date, then choose a date using the calendar

Step 3: Select Charge Types

Choose one or more charge types to include:

• One Time
• Recurring
• Usage Based

Charges of unselected types are excluded from the Billing Run.

Step 4: Filter to a Single Subscription

Use filters to restrict the Billing Run to a specific Subscription or Order.

1. Click Filter.
2. Apply at least one Subscription-related or Order-related filter.
3. Select Filter to further refine the Billing Run to the single Subscription. Click Apply Filter when finished. 

Example filter isolating a single Customer & Order: 

4. Filtering to a single Subscription or Order using a Subscription/Order filter is required to enable Real Time Billing Runs.

Configure Processing Options

• Exclude $0 Billing Lines: When enabled, Billing Lines with a value of $0 are excluded from invoice generation.

Auto-Post on Completion

When enabled:

• All Invoices generated by the Billing Run are automatically posted
• Invoice status changes from Draft to Posted
• Posted Invoices:
  • Are eligible for payment
  • Are included in financial period reporting

Deliver Invoices by Email

When enabled, posted Invoices are automatically emailed to Customers. Additional email suppression options are available to reduce unnecessary notifications:

• Auto-pay is on with a payment method on file: Suppresses invoice emails for Customers with Auto-Pay enabled
• The total invoice amount is equal to zero: Suppresses invoice emails for zero-amount invoices
• Invoice total is zero and prior customer balance is also zero: Suppresses invoice emails when there is no outstanding balance

Approval Workflow

Send Invoice for Approval

When Send Invoice for Approval is enabled, the Billing Run follows an approval-based workflow.

Behavior changes when enabled

• Invoices are created in a Pending Approval state
• Invoices are not posted automatically, even if Auto-Post is enabled
• The approval workflow must be completed before Invoices can be posted

UI behavior when Approval is enabled

When Send Invoice for Approval = Yes:

• Auto-Post on Completion is disabled
• Posting is controlled by the approval process
• Email delivery options are hidden
• Invoices cannot be emailed until they are approved and posted

This ensures a mandatory review step before financial finalization.

Running the Billing Run

Click Run to execute the Billing Run.

• Standard Billing Runs: The run is queued and processed asynchronously
• Single-Subscription Billing Runs with Real Time Invoice Generation enabled: The Billing Run executes immediately and generates Invoices in real time

Billing Run Processing — Important Note

• Scheduled Billing Runs always follow the standard queued processing flow, even when Real Time Invoice Generation is enabled.
• For workflow-triggered Billing Runs, Wait for completion must be enabled for Real Time Invoice Generation to apply.
• In addition, all customer usage must be fully processed. No usage records should be in a pending or processing state before the Billing Run executes.

If these conditions are not met, the Billing Run follows the default queued processing behavior.

Completion and Results

After the Billing Run completes:

• A notification appears in Ordway’s Notification Center
• The Billing Run details page displays:
  • Status
  • Execution summary
  • Generated Invoices and their states:
    • Draft
    • Pending Approval
    • Posted

Use Cases

Use case 1: error when running multiple Billing Runs for the same Subscription

Scenario

• You run a Billing Run for a Subscription with: Target Date = April
  • The Billing Run completes successfully and generates invoices.
    
• You then run a second Billing Run for the same Subscription with: Target Date = May
  • The second Billing Run completes with an error such as: “Billing scheduled lines were already invoiced”
    

You expect the May invoice to be generated, but it is not.

Why this happens

Billing Runs, select charges based on Billing Schedule Lines, not calendar months.

Each Billing Schedule Line has:

• A Charge Ready Date
• An Invoiced / Not Invoiced state

When the April Billing Run completes:

• All Billing Schedule Lines with a Charge Ready Date on or before April are marked as Invoiced
• Those lines are no longer eligible for future Billing Runs

If the May Billing Run:

• Encounters Billing Schedule Lines that were already invoiced (Example, overlapping dates, misaligned billing schedules, or retroactive charge changes),
• The system detects that there are no new eligible lines to invoice

As a result

• The Billing Run completes
• No new invoices are generated
• A warning or error message is displayed indicating that billing lines were already invoiced

Validate before running the Billing Run

Before running the second Billing Run:

• Review the Subscription’s Billing Schedule
• Confirm that:
  • New Billing Schedule Lines exist for May
  • Those lines have not already been invoiced
• Verify there are no retroactive changes that caused earlier invoicing

Use Case 2: Warning when running a Billing Run for a single Subscription with multiple charges or multiple billing schedule lines

Scenario

• You run a Billing Run filtered to one Subscription
• That Subscription has:
  • Multiple charges, or
  • A single charge with multiple Billing Schedule Lines (Example: monthly, quarterly, or usage-based billing)
• When you trigger the Billing Run, the system displays a warning message.
  

Why this warning appears

Even though the Billing Run is filtered to one Subscription, the Subscription may still generate:

• Multiple Billing Schedule Lines
• Multiple invoice line items
• Multiple billing periods being processed in a single run

The warning is informational and indicates that:

• More than one billing line will be processed
• The Billing Run is not limited to a single charge or a single invoice line

This is common when:

• Subscriptions have multiple charge components
• Billing frequency results in multiple schedule lines
• Usage or prorated charges are present

Relationship to Real Time Billing Runs

• Real Time Billing is based on Subscription scope, not charge count
• A single Subscription with multiple charges can still qualify for Real Time execution
• The warning does not mean Real Time billing will fail.