--- name: billing-system-integration description: Enable support agents to view billing information and perform account operations including plan details, payment history, refunds, credits, plan changes, and subscription management directly from support platform. Use when integrating billing data into support, enabling agent billing actions, setting up refund workflows, managing subscription changes, or troubleshooting payment issues. Triggers on phrases like "billing integration", "Stripe integration", "refund workflow", "plan change", "subscription management", "payment support", "billing sidebar", "agent billing actions". --- # Billing System Integration Enable support agents to view complete billing information and perform authorized billing actions directly from the support platform, resolving billing inquiries without escalation. ## Workflow ### 1. Billing Data Display and Context 1. **Billing sidebar in ticket view**: ``` BILLING CONTEXT — Customer: Acme Corp ====================================== ACCOUNT BILLING: Current plan: Enterprise Pro ($2,400/month) Billing cycle: Monthly (renews Jan 28, 2026) Payment method: Visa ending 4242 (expires 03/2027) Billing email: billing@acme.com Billing address: 123 Enterprise Way, San Francisco, CA PAYMENT STATUS: Last payment: $2,400.00 on 2026-01-01 ✅ Success Next invoice: $2,400.00 on 2026-01-28 Outstanding balance: $0.00 Payment failures (last 12 months): 0 PAYMENT HISTORY (Last 6 Months): Date | Amount | Status | Method | Invoice ID --------------|-----------|----------|------------|------------ 2026-01-01 | $2,400.00 | ✅ Paid | Visa 4242 | INV-2026-01 2025-12-01 | $2,400.00 | ✅ Paid | Visa 4242 | INV-2025-12 2025-11-01 | $2,400.00 | ✅ Paid | Visa 4242 | INV-2025-11 2025-10-01 | $2,400.00 | ✅ Paid | Visa 4242 | INV-2025-10 2025-09-01 | $2,400.00 | ✅ Paid | Visa 4242 | INV-2025-09 2025-08-01 | $2,400.00 | ✅ Paid | Visa 4242 | INV-2025-08 CREDITS & ADJUSTMENTS: Available credit: $0.00 Credits applied this cycle: $0.00 Pending credits: None SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS: Start date: 2024-03-15 Contract end: 2026-03-15 (annual) Auto-renewal: Enabled Seats: 45 of 50 (90% utilization) Add-ons: - Advanced Analytics ($500/month) - Priority Support ($300/month) - API Extra Pack ($200/month) LIFETIME VALUE: Total revenue: $136,800.00 Months active: 22 MRR contribution: $3,400.00 ARR contribution: $40,800.00 Churn risk: Low (on-time payments, high usage) ``` 2. **Payment failure handling workflow**: - Customer contacts support about failed payment - Agent views: Failed payment details, decline reason, retry status - Agent actions: Generate new payment link, update payment method, apply grace period - Auto-communication: Customer receives payment update email - Dunning sequence: 3 retry attempts over 7 days (automated by billing system) ### 2. Agent Billing Actions and Approvals 1. **Agent-permitted billing actions** (role-based): ``` BILLING ACTION PERMISSION MATRIX ================================= Action | L1 Agent | L2 Agent | Manager | Billing Specialist --------------------------------|----------|----------|---------|------------------- View billing information | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ View payment history | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ Generate payment link | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ Resend invoice | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ Apply one-time credit (<$100) | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ Apply one-time credit ($100-500)| ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ Apply one-time credit (>$500) | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ (VP approval) Issue refund | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ (up to $1,000) Extend trial period | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ (up to 14 days) Pause subscription | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ Change plan (upgrade) | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ Change plan (downgrade) | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ Cancel subscription | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ (customer-requested) Force cancellation | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ (with legal approval) Update payment method | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ Adjust seat count | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ Apply discount | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ (up to 15%) Apply discount (15%+) | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ (VP approval) ``` 2. **Refund workflow**: - Agent identifies valid refund case (billing error, service outage, customer dissatisfaction) - Agent clicks "Process Refund" → enters amount and reason - System checks: Refund eligibility, approval threshold, refund history - If within agent's permission → auto-process refund - If exceeds threshold → route to manager approval (Slack notification, 24-hour SLA) - Refund processed → customer notified via email → credit applied to next invoice or refunded to card - Audit trail: Refund reason, amount, approver, timestamp logged in both systems 3. **Plan change workflow**: - Upgrade: Immediate effect, prorated charge, new features activated instantly - Downgrade: Effective next billing cycle, features disabled at cycle end - Mid-cycle: Proration calculated automatically - Customer notification: Email with plan change details and new pricing ### 3. Billing Dispute and Resolution 1. **Overcharge investigation**: - Customer reports unexpected charge - Agent views: Invoice breakdown, proration details, add-on charges - Agent compares: Current plan vs invoice line items - Root causes: Proration from previous change, added seats, new add-on, tax change - Resolution: Explain charge or issue credit if error 2. **Duplicate charge resolution**: - Detect: Two identical charges within 24 hours - Verify: Billing system shows successful payment + retry on false failure - Action: Immediate refund of duplicate amount - Prevention: Flag payment method for review (card issuer may have duplicate detection) 3. **Tax and compliance issues**: - Customer disputes tax calculation - Agent checks: Tax jurisdiction, tax rate applied, tax exemption status - Resolution: Update tax exemption certificate or adjust tax calculation - Escalation: Complex tax questions → finance team ## Templates & Frameworks ### Billing Support Dashboard ``` BILLING SUPPORT DASHBOARD — January 2026 ========================================== BILLING TICKET METRICS: Billing tickets this month: 890 (12% of total tickets) Billing tickets resolved without escalation: 756 (85.0%) ✓ Billing tickets escalated: 134 (15.0%) Average resolution time: 4.2 minutes (target: <5 minutes) ✓ CSAT for billing tickets: 4.4/5.0 TOP BILLING ISSUE CATEGORIES: Category | Tickets | % of Billing | Avg Resolution | Auto-Resolved --------------------------|---------|--------------|----------------|------------- Payment failed | 234 | 26.3% | 3.1 min | 67% Invoice discrepancy | 156 | 17.5% | 5.4 min | 45% Plan change request | 123 | 13.8% | 2.8 min | 89% Refund request | 89 | 10.0% | 6.2 min | 23% Overcharge dispute | 67 | 7.5% | 7.1 min | 34% Duplicate charge | 45 | 5.1% | 2.3 min | 91% Payment method update | 38 | 4.3% | 1.9 min | 95% Tax question | 34 | 3.8% | 8.5 min | 12% Other billing | 104 | 11.7% | 4.8 min | 56% AGENT BILLING ACTIONS (This Month): Action | Count | Success Rate | Avg Time --------------------------------|-------|--------------|---------- Generate payment link | 312 | 99.7% | 0.8 min Resend invoice | 187 | 100% | 0.5 min Apply credit (<$100) | 89 | 100% | 1.2 min Refund processed | 45 | 98.9% | 2.1 min Plan upgrade | 67 | 100% | 1.8 min Plan downgrade | 34 | 100% | 1.5 min Extend trial | 23 | 100% | 0.7 min Update payment method | 156 | 97.4% | 1.3 min Total agent billing actions: 913 Actions requiring approval: 134 (14.7%) Average approval time: 2.1 hours REFUND ANALYTICS: Refunds processed this month: 45 Total refund amount: $8,234 Refund reasons: Service outage credit: 18 ($3,420) Billing error: 12 ($2,340) Customer dissatisfaction: 8 ($1,560) Duplicate charge: 5 ($780) Other: 2 ($134) Refund approval breakdown: Auto-approved (within agent limits): 34 (75.6%) Manager-approved: 8 (17.8%) VP-approved: 2 (4.4%) Denied: 1 (2.2%) PAYMENT FAILURE TREND: Payment failures this month: 234 Recovery rate (after agent intervention): 78% Average recovery time: 1.3 days Most common failure reasons: Card expired: 89 (38.0%) Insufficient funds: 67 (28.6%) Card declined (bank): 45 (19.2%) Card not recognized: 23 (9.8%) Other: 10 (4.3%) Churn from payment failures: 12 accounts (5.1% of failures) Revenue at risk from failures: $34,800 MRR BILLING SYSTEM HEALTH: Stripe API connection: ✅ Operational Invoice generation: ✅ Operational Payment processing: ✅ Operational (99.97% uptime) Webhook delivery: ✅ Operational (99.9% success rate) Refund processing: ✅ Operational System response times: Billing data retrieval: 340ms avg (target: <500ms) ✓ Payment link generation: 280ms avg (target: <500ms) ✓ Refund processing: 1.2s avg (target: <3s) ✓ ``` ### Billing Inquiry Resolution Playbook ``` BILLING INQUIRY RESOLUTION PLAYBOOK ===================================== SCENARIO 1: "I was charged twice" Investigation: Check payment history for duplicate charges within 24 hours Root cause: Payment gateway retry on false failure OR card issuer duplicate Action: Issue immediate refund for duplicate amount Customer communication: "We found a duplicate charge of $X. We've issued an immediate refund. It will appear on your statement within 5-7 business days." Prevention: Flag account for payment monitoring (30 days) Resolution time: 2-3 minutes SCENARIO 2: "My payment failed" Investigation: Check failure reason, number of retries, account status Root cause: Expired card, insufficient funds, bank decline, gateway error Action: Generate new payment link, extend grace period if needed Customer communication: "Your payment of $X failed due to [reason]. Please update your payment method using this link: [link]. Your account will remain active for [X] days while you update." Escalation: 3 consecutive failures → account suspension warning → CSM outreach Resolution time: 3-5 minutes SCENARIO 3: "I want to change my plan" Investigation: Current plan, target plan, proration calculation Action: Process plan change (upgrade immediate, downgrade next cycle) Customer communication: "Your plan has been updated from [old] to [new]. Your new monthly charge is $X (effective [date]). Here's what's included: [features]" Follow-up: Schedule onboarding call for new features (if upgrade) Resolution time: 2-4 minutes SCENARIO 4: "I want a refund" Investigation: Refund eligibility, amount, reason, purchase history Action: Process refund (if eligible) or explain policy Customer communication (approved): "We've processed your refund of $X. The credit will appear within 5-7 business days. [Additional context]" Customer communication (denied): "Based on our refund policy, this charge isn't eligible for refund because [reason]. However, I can offer [alternative]" Escalation: Refund >$1,000 or pattern of refund requests → manager review Resolution time: 5-10 minutes SCENARIO 5: "I was overcharged" Investigation: Invoice breakdown vs plan pricing, proration details, add-ons Root cause: Proration from previous change, new add-on, seat increase, tax Action: Explain charge OR issue credit if genuine error Customer communication: "I reviewed your invoice. The $X charge includes: [breakdown]. This is because [explanation]. Your next invoice will be $Y." Prevention: Add invoice breakdown template for transparency Resolution time: 5-7 minutes SCENARIO 6: "I need a tax invoice" Investigation: Tax jurisdiction, invoice format, company details Action: Generate tax invoice PDF, resend with correct details Customer communication: "I've generated your tax invoice for [period]. You can download it here: [link]. If you need it in a specific format, let me know." Resolution time: 1-2 minutes ``` ## Integration Points - **Billing platforms** (Stripe, Chargebee, Recurly, Zuora, Paddle): Payment processing, subscription management, invoice generation - **Help desk** (Zendesk, Intercom, Freshdesk): Billing sidebar, agent actions, ticket routing - **CRM** (Salesforce, HubSpot): Revenue data sync, account value tracking, renewal forecasting - **Accounting** (QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite): Revenue recording, reconciliation, financial reporting - **Tax services** (Avalara, TaxJar): Tax calculation, exemption certificates, compliance - **Fraud detection** (Sift, Signifyd): Payment fraud monitoring, chargeback prevention - **Communication** (Slack, email): Approval notifications, payment alerts, refund confirmations ## Edge Cases - **Customer requests refund for multi-year contract**: Enterprise customer wants $24,000 refund from 2-year contract: - Check: Contract terms, cancellation policy, refund schedule in agreement - Escalation: Legal team review required, VP approval mandatory - Partial refund: Calculate pro-rated refund based on remaining contract months - Negotiation: Offer credit toward future services instead of cash refund - Timeline: 5-10 business days for legal review and processing - Documentation: Full audit trail of approval chain and justification - **Payment failure during system outage**: Billing platform API down, 50+ customers have pending payments: - Communication: Status page update, proactive email to affected customers - Grace period: Auto-extend payment deadline by 48 hours - Queue processing: Process payment retries once system recovers - Agent guidance: "Billing system currently unavailable — payment will retry automatically" - Monitoring: Track payment failure rate, alert when returns to normal - Prevention: Secondary billing platform for failover - **PCI compliance for payment data in support**: Customer accidentally shares full credit card number in ticket: - Auto-redaction: PII scanner detects and masks card number (show only last 4 digits) - Customer alert: "For your security, please don't share full card numbers. We can securely update your payment method via this link" - Audit: Redaction logged, security team notified - Training: Reinforce agent protocol — never request full card numbers in tickets - Compliance: PCI-DSS requires no storage of full card numbers - **Subscription downgrade with pending charges**: Customer downgrades but has already been charged for current cycle: - Proration: Calculate credit for unused portion of higher plan - Credit application: Apply credit to next invoice automatically - Communication: "Your plan has been downgraded effective [date]. We've applied a $X credit for the unused portion" - Feature deactivation: Disable premium features at billing cycle end - Prevention: Clear communication about downgrade timing during plan change - **Cross-currency billing disputes**: Customer in EU charged in USD but expected EUR, exchange rate dispute: - Currency verification: Check billing currency setting vs customer preference - Exchange rate: Document rate applied (Stripe/Chargebee rate on transaction date) - Resolution: Offer re-invoicing in customer's currency if setting was incorrect - Communication: "Your account is set to bill in [currency]. We can update this to [preferred currency] — the change takes effect next cycle" - Prevention: Currency setting displayed prominently on account page ## Output ### Monthly Billing Support Report ``` BILLING SUPPORT MONTHLY REPORT — January 2026 =============================================== VOLUME & PERFORMANCE: Billing tickets: 890 (12% of total) Resolved without escalation: 756 (85.0%) Average resolution time: 4.2 minutes CSAT: 4.4/5.0 FINANCIAL IMPACT: Refunds processed: $8,234 (45 refunds) Credits applied: $3,456 (23 credits) Plan upgrades: $23,400 MRR (67 upgrades) Plan downgrades: ($8,900 MRR) (34 downgrades) Net billing impact: +$14,500 MRR Revenue retained from payment recovery: $34,800 MRR (78% recovery rate) Churn from payment failures: $3,400 MRR (12 accounts, 5.1% of failures) BILLING SYSTEM HEALTH: Uptime: 99.97% API success rate: 99.8% Payment processing success: 97.2% Webhook delivery: 99.9% RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. Reduce payment failure churn: Add automated card update prompt (expected -40% failures) 2. Create self-service refund request flow (reduce agent time on refunds by 60%) 3. Add billing FAQ in-app widget (deflect common billing questions) 4. Implement invoice preview before plan changes (reduce overcharge disputes by 50%) ```