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OverviewHow Airwallex Billing worksGet started with billing
Choose your billing solutionConfigure your billing settingsSupported currencies
Invoicing
Test and go live

Get started with billing

We know every business is unique. Whether you're a product-led startup or a sales-led enterprise, and whether you offer simple one-time purchases or complex hybrid subscriptions, your specific approach to billing will be slightly different. Airwallex is built to handle the variations while keeping the core process simple.

  1. Set the foundations right:
    • Configure your default billing settings, used to specify which emails to send your customers, what should happen to subscriptions when payments fail, and to pre-fill fields with default value for newly created invoices or subscriptions.
    • If you want to accept payments online, activate Airwallex Payments.
  2. Choose your billing solution:
    • (i) Decide whether your customer relationship requires a one-off payment or a long-term, automated subscription. This will determine whether you use invoicing, or subscription management.
    • (ii) Confirm whether you will enter customer information manually, or collect it from customers directly. This will determine whether you should create customer details manually via API or web app, or use hosted checkout to collect customer information.
  3. Create your products & prices: Your products define what you are selling, and prices define how you charge for it, e.g., one-off, recurring or usage-based. See more about billing models.
    • Note that the names on your products & prices are visible on the invoice to your customers. See more on best practices for naming products and prices.
    • Record the price ID generated for each Price you create. This ID is a key resource used by the Billing APIs.
  4. Create an invoice or subscription: Create an invoice if you want to bill a customer for a one-off purchase; create a subscription for recurring payments.
    • These can be created via the web app (no-code), through Embedded Elements or APIs, or by using Hosted Billing Checkout to direct customers to a secure, Airwallex-hosted page that handles customer creation, and invoice or subscription setup for you.
    • If using web app, Embedded Elements or API to create an invoice or a subscription, you are required to create a customer. The customer resource holds the necessary information to bill a customer correctly, including contact details, payment methods and billing history.
  5. Calculate fees and deliver invoices: Airwallex delivers the invoice for one-off purchases and subscriptions to the customer based on the provided e-mail address. For subscriptions, Airwallex automatically generates the invoice and calculates the fees (fixed or usage-based) for each billing cycle.
  6. Process payments: Payments may be processed automatically using saved card details (for example, a saved card on a subscription) or manually — via checkout or through out-of-band methods such as bank transfer or cheque.
    • Learn more about how Airwallex simplifies your customer's payment experience by storing payment details with payment sources.

Billing models

Airwallex Billing supports multiple pricing models. Choosing the right one depends on your product type, customer expectations, and growth strategy.

One-off Invoicing Flat Price Subscriptions Per Unit Subscriptions Tiered Pricing Subscriptions
Description Customers are issued a one-time invoice outside of a subscription flow. Customers are charged the same fixed amount each billing cycle, regardless of their usage. Customers are billed based on the number of seats, licenses, or units they commit to at the start of the subscription. Customers pre-select a quantity (e.g., seats, credits). The unit price varies by the quantity purchased based on a defined tier table. Charges remain fixed until the subscription is updated.
Variants Not applicable. Not applicable. Not applicable. Volumed Tiering: A single unit price applies to all units based on the tier the total quantity falls into.

Graduated Tiering: Each tier has its own unit price; the total charge is the sum across tiers up to the purchased quantity.
Best Suited For Setup fees, onboarding packages, or professional services. Standard SaaS tiers, or services with predictable, fixed value per period. Software where value is tied directly to the number of licenses purchased up front. Encouraging larger upfront commitments with price breaks, or products whose value scales with quantity (e.g., API calls bundles, storage, devices).
Example Scenario A SaaS vendor charges a $200 setup fee as a one-off invoice before subscription billing begins. Standard SaaS tiers, or services with predictable value per period. Software where value is tied to number of licenses that are purchased up front. Volumed Tiering Example ("Data Credits"):
Tiers: 1–100: $2/unit; 101–500: $1.50/unit.
Customer commits to 120 units → all 120 units are priced at $1.50 each → $180/month.

Graduated Tiering Example ("Data Credits"):
Tiers: 1–100: $2/unit; 101–500: $1.50/unit.
Customer commits to 120 units → 100×$2 + 20×$1.50 = $230/month.
Setup Product: "Onboarding Package"
Price:$200, one-time invoice only.
Product: "Pro Plan"
Price: flat pricing model, $20/month, recurring monthly.
Product: "Team Workspace"
Price: per_unit pricing model, $10/month per seat, quantity selected at signup.
Product: "Data Credits" (the asset sold in quantities).
Price: pricing model set to volume or graduated. Define tier ranges and their unit prices.

Best practices for naming products and prices

Names on Products and Prices are visible to customers on their invoices. Getting these right ensures accuracy and clarity for your customers.

  • Product: This simply represents what you sell (e.g., "SaaS Pro Plan").
  • Price: This defines how you charge—the amount, currency, and the billing cycle (e.g., "$50 USD, charged monthly").

Following these best practices will help you keep things clear, professional, and consistent:

  • Use clear, customer-friendly names like "Pro Plan – Monthly" instead of generic labels like "Plan A." Descriptive names reduce confusion and eliminate customer questions.
  • If you need a label for internal or operational use (like for a back-office system), assign a distinct internal name and keep it separate from the customer-facing name.
  • Ensure your SKUs or identifiers are consistent across systems. This is crucial for accurate syncing of product data with your accounting or ERP systems.

Examples

You can attach multiple prices to a single product to offer customers flexibility:

Resource Example Value Description
Product Analytics Platform The core service being sold.
Price 1 Analytics Platform – Monthly ($30/month) A price defining monthly billing.
Price 2 Analytics Platform – Annual ($300/year) A price defining yearly billing (at a discount).
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  • Billing models
  • Best practices for naming products and prices
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