How does usage-based billing and automatic invoice generation work?
DépensesAdministration
Kai can automatically generate invoices from usage logs based on your billing rules.
How it works
- Members log usage — flight hours, kilometres, nights, etc.
- Kai applies billing rules — calculates the charge for each entry
- Invoices are generated — manually or on a schedule
- Members pay — mark invoices paid to clear the balance
Billing rule types
Kai supports three rule types, each with multiple configuration options:
- Usage charge — rate per hour / kilometre / night, with optional per-member overrides, per-role overrides, owner exemptions, and minimum-charge floors
- Membership fee — recurring per-period fees per member or per member type
- Expense split rule — overrides how a specific expense category gets split
Invoicing modes
Set in Group settings → Financial → Billing:
- Disabled — no automatic invoicing; generate manually
- Per-usage — an invoice is created for each usage entry as it's logged
- Monthly — usage accumulates and is invoiced on a set day of the month
There is no automatic daily or weekly mode at the moment — use Monthly with manual top-ups if you need a custom cadence.
Usage-log states
- Uninvoiced — logged but not yet billed
- Invoiced — included on an invoice but not paid
- Paid — its invoice has been paid
Invoice statuses
- Draft — created, not sent
- Pending — queued for sending
- Sent — delivered to the member
- Paid — payment received
- Overdue — past the due date
- Cancelled — voided
Best practices
- Review usage logs before generating invoices, especially the first time
- Communicate the billing day clearly to members
- Reconcile invoice status regularly — overdue invoices age fast
Invoice payments and reimbursements
Invoices always go out gross: they bill usage and fees without deducting expenses you paid for the group. What changes with the group's reimbursement settlement setting is the payment itself:
- Separate transfers (default): you pay the full invoice amount, and reimbursements come back to you as their own transfer.
- Offset against invoice payments: your open reimbursements are subtracted at payment time. The QR code, the online checkout and the recorded payment all use the reduced amount, and the reimbursement settles in the same step.
Your group's mode is under Group settings, Financial. The article on reimbursement settlement explains both flows with diagrams.