Set up credit-based billing for agency clients

Configure per-client AI credit management with low-balance alerts, price-per-minute markups, and portal visibility controls.

Who this is for

This playbook is for agencies that:

• Resell AI voice agent services to multiple clients
• Want usage-based billing rather than flat-rate subscriptions
• Need per-client credit controls to prevent runaway spend

Business goal

Without credit controls, a single high-volume client can drain your account. This playbook sets up:

• Per-client credit balances so each client pays for what they use
• Profit margins via price-per-minute markups
• Low-balance alerts so neither you nor your client gets surprised
• Portal visibility so clients can self-serve top-ups (optional)

Prerequisites

• At least one customer onboarded in the Partner Portal
• Your own Knotie Credits balance topped up
• (Optional) Stripe Connect configured for metered billing

Step 1 — Enable AI credits for a customer

1. Partner Portal → Customers
2. Open the customer’s Manage panel
3. Go to the Credits & AI Credit Management section
4. Toggle AI Credits Enabled to on

This activates per-call credit deductions for this customer. Without it, calls use your partner balance directly.

Step 2 — Set the price per minute

In the same section:

1. Set AI Credit Price Per Minute — this is what the customer is charged per minute of AI agent usage
2. Set Grace Period (seconds) — allows calls to complete slightly over the credit limit rather than cutting off mid-sentence

Pricing example:

Your cost	Customer price	Your margin
$0.08/min	$0.12/min	50% markup
$0.08/min	$0.15/min	87.5% markup

Tip: Use Agent Analytics to understand your actual per-minute costs before setting markups.

Step 3 — Configure low-balance alerts

Still in the customer’s credit settings:

1. Set Low Credit Threshold — the balance level that triggers a warning (e.g., 100 credits)
2. Toggle Low Credit Notifications Enabled — sends alerts when the threshold is reached

This prevents calls from silently failing when a client runs out of credits.

Step 4 — Add initial credits

1. In the customer Manage panel, go to Credits
2. Add credits to the customer’s balance
3. The customer’s AI agent calls will now deduct from this balance

Step 5 — (Optional) Let clients see their balance

Control what the client sees in their portal:

Setting	Effect
Show Pricing Information	Client can see their rate and balance
Customer Portal Enabled	Client can log in to their portal
Restrict Credit Plan Visibility	Limit which top-up plans the client can see

To configure:

1. In customer Manage panel → Features & Add-ons
2. Toggle portal and pricing visibility as needed

Step 6 — (Optional) Set up credit plans for self-serve top-ups

If you want clients to buy credits themselves:

1. Partner Portal → Settings → Customer Credit Plans
2. Create plans (e.g., “100 minutes — $15", "500 minutes —$60”)
3. Optionally restrict per-customer which plans are visible using Visible Customer Credit Plan IDs in the customer settings

Verification checklist

• AI credits enabled for the customer
• Price per minute set with your desired margin
• Low credit threshold configured
• Notifications enabled
• Initial credits added
• (Optional) Portal access enabled with pricing visibility
• (Optional) Credit plans created for self-serve

How credits flow

Partner buys Knotie Credits
       ↓
Partner allocates credits to Customer
       ↓
Customer's AI agent makes/receives calls
       ↓
Credits deducted at Customer's price-per-minute rate
       ↓
Low-balance alert fires when threshold is hit

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause
Calls fail with “insufficient credits”	Customer balance is zero — add credits or enable grace period
Client doesn’t see their balance	Show Pricing Information is off in their portal settings
No low-balance alerts	Notifications not enabled, or threshold set too low
Credits deducting from partner instead of customer	AI Credits Enabled is off for that customer

Next steps

• Explore Metered Billing for Stripe-based automated invoicing
• Set up automated onboarding to provision credits via API
• Review Agent Analytics to optimize your pricing