Billing Model explains how software and subscription businesses price their products, bill their customers and get paid. It is written for founders, finance and operations people, freelancers and anyone who has stared at an invoice or a pricing page and wondered how it works.
What we cover
- Pricing models — usage-based, tiered, flat-rate, freemium and value-based pricing, with worked examples.
- Subscription billing — billing periods, recurring invoices and charges, failed payments, and setting up recurring payments.
- Invoices and payment terms — net 30, late fees, credit memos, reminders and aging reports.
- Payments and chargebacks — what payments cost a business and how chargebacks work from the merchant side.
- SaaS metrics and revenue — MRR, churn, retention, deferred revenue and revenue recognition.
Who writes it
Billing Model is run by Md Sayful Islam, a web developer from Bangladesh who has built and run websites since 2017. He also runs Themeve, a store that sells WordPress themes and plugins, some of them by subscription, which is where his interest in pricing and billing comes from. He researches and writes the guides. He is not an accountant, lawyer or payment processor, so he doesn't ask you to take his word for anything: every guide shows where its facts come from.
How we research and write
- Primary sources first. Accounting topics are checked against the standards themselves (FASB ASC 606, IFRS 15). Card and bank payment topics are checked against the card networks' and Nacha's published rules. Platform guides are checked against the platform's own documentation and pricing pages.
- Worked examples. Formulas come with numbers you can recalculate yourself, and we show each step.
- Dated figures. Fees and limits change. Where we quote one, we link to the official page and say when we checked it.
- Updates and corrections. When a rule, fee or product changes, or a reader points out a mistake, we update the article and show the "Updated" date.
- No paid placements. Nobody pays us to mention or recommend a product. We don't sell billing or payment software.
What this site is not
Nothing here is accounting, tax, legal or financial advice. The guides explain how things generally work; your contracts, your jurisdiction and your accountant's judgment decide how they apply to you. See our Disclaimer.
Billing Model is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any payment processor, card network, accounting standard-setter or software company named on the site. Their names are used only to identify their products and rules.
Get in touch
Found an error, an out-of-date fee, or a topic we should cover? Use our contact page or email hello@billingmodel.com.