# Getting paid

URL: /systems/finance/getting-paid · Id: `page:systems/finance/getting-paid`

> How an accepted Offer becomes an Invoice, a charge, and collected cash, for subscriptions, usage, outcomes, and agent buyers alike.

A [Startup](/business/nouns/startup) gets paid when an accepted [Offer](/business/nouns/offer) turns into collected cash. [Billing](/systems/billing) does the work, and the [Billing Specialist](/agents/finance/billing-specialist) owns the result.

## Four ways to charge
Every Offer's [Price](/business/nouns/price) sets how it bills. The four shapes share one ledger and one checkout.

| Shape | [Bills](/business/nouns/bill) | Earned |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Once | An [Order](/business/nouns/order) at checkout | On delivery |
| Recurring | A [Subscription](/business/nouns/subscription), each billing period | Day by day across the period |
| Usage | Each period, from a [Meter](/business/nouns/meter) | As the usage happens |
| Outcome | After the [Customer](/business/nouns/customer) accepts the result | On acceptance |

A [Headless SaaS](/products/templates/headless-saas) that quotes freight rates for online stores charges $29 a month plus $0.01 per quote above 2,000. Its Meter counts quotes from every [Interface](/business/nouns/interface) the same way. At renewal, one [Invoice](/business/nouns/invoice) carries both the plan and the overage.

## Bill on acceptance
An outcome bills only after the Customer accepts it. A [Services-as-Software](/products/templates/services-as-software) Startup that drafts grant applications charges $400 per draft the nonprofit approves. Done is the Startup's claim; accepted is the Customer's, and only acceptance earns the fee.

The terms come from the Offer's [Outcome Contract](/business/nouns/outcome-contract). When the Customer stays silent, the contract's acceptance window decides, and the fee earns when it closes.

## Checkout and the first charge
Checkout shows the Price, the renewal terms, and every merchant of record before the Customer pays. A recurring Offer takes a separate yes to renew, following the [renewal-disclosure floor row](/systems/legal-and-corporate/floor/renewals) for each [Renewal](/business/nouns/renewal).

Payment turns on the [Entitlements](/business/nouns/entitlement) the Offer grants. Cancellation turns them off at the end of the paid period, and canceling takes no more steps than signing up.

Prepaid credits are cash on purchase and deferred revenue until used. A $500 credit pack for an image-tagging API earns as each tag consumes it.

## Agents that buy
A Customer can be an [Agent](/business/nouns/agent) paying for a [Human](/business/nouns/human) or a business. It pays under its principal's [Mandate](/business/nouns/mandate), within that Mandate's [Limits](/business/nouns/limit), through [Agent payments](/systems/finance/agent-payments). The Invoice records the agent as `by` and the principal as `for`, so every charge has an accountable payer.

## Invoices and collection
A business Customer on terms receives an Invoice due in 30 days and pays by card or bank transfer. [Invoice.collect](/business/nouns/invoice/collect) marks it paid once the [Transaction](/business/nouns/transaction) reconciles.

[Card](/business/nouns/card) payments that fail run through [Dunning](/workflows/processes/billing/dunning). Each unpaid Invoice retries on a schedule, and the Customer hears once per retry with a link to update payment. Access pauses only after the last attempt fails.

An unpaid terms Invoice gets reminders at due, 7 days late, and 21 days late, then goes to the [Finance Lead](/agents/finance/finance-lead).

## Refunds and Disputes
[Issue a refund](/workflows/processes/billing/issue-refund) returns money within the Billing Specialist's Limit at once. Above it, the refund becomes an [Approval](/business/nouns/approval) for the Finance Lead. Every refund is a one-way decision, so it also waits out a delay window that any watcher can use to pause it.

A refund before a complaint costs less than a chargeback. When a card [Dispute](/business/nouns/dispute) arrives anyway, the Billing Specialist answers it with the Order, the acceptance record, and the delivery log.

## Next
- [The funds flow](/systems/finance/funds-flow): where the money goes after the charge.
- [Revenue recognition](/systems/finance/revenue-counting): when a charge becomes revenue.