Automated Billing For Digital Business Models

Taxes, invoice formats and archiving obligations differ depending on the country and industry.

High requirements apply to payment data in particular, e.g. in accordance with PCI-DSS or GDPR.

Credit card, SEPA, wallets, internal billing - all payment types must be able to be processed flexibly.

Usage data is generated in large quantities and at high frequency - daily or hourly billing runs are becoming the norm.

Customers expect detailed invoices with itemized bills, discount lists and usage-related items.

Rabatt- und Promotionsregeln gehören zu den vielseitigsten Bestandteilen eines Subscription-Geschäftsmodells. Je nach Geschäftsmodell und Anforderungen können sie sehr einfach oder auch anspruchsvoller ausfallen. Während eine individuell entwickelte Discount Engine bei komplexen Szenarien schnell zu hohen Entwicklungs- und Wartungskosten führen kann, bieten moderne Subscription-Systeme mit integrierten Rabattfunktionen oder etablierten Promotion-Plattformen oft bereits geeignete Lösungen.

Deshalb lohnt sich eine fundierte Make-or-Buy-Analyse: In vielen Fällen genügt ein schlanker Subscription-Adapter, der vorhandene Rabattlogiken orchestriert und kampagnenspezifische Szenarien flexibel abbildet – ohne zusätzlichen Entwicklungsaufwand. So lassen sich sowohl einfache als auch komplexe Anforderungen effizient und mit minimalem Overhead umsetzen.

In the context of digital services, billing & payment refers to the automated process of usage-based billing and payment processing. It covers all steps from the collection of usage data to the integration of external payment providers and ensures that recurring and transaction-based revenues are processed correctly and in an audit-proof manner.

Our billing solutions have a modular structure and integrate seamlessly into ERP, CRM and subscription management systems. Even complex requirements such as multi-client environments, country logics or internal billing can be easily taken into account.

Our monetization solution integrates billing engines that map country- and industry-specific requirements such as tax logic, invoice formats or archiving obligations - e.g. ZUGFeRD, reverse charge or GoBD.

A multi-client-capable setup enables the separate management of regions, brands or business units - with individual billing and tax profiles.

Payment service providers can be connected in a modular and flexible way. Payment methods, billing cycles and country-specific framework conditions are taken into account. We integrate interfaces to international PSPs as well as options for internal billing.

Our systems are designed for high data volumes and parallel billing paths. They support, for example, subledger/general ledger separation, multi-client capability and country-specific differentiation - for growth without system changes.

A professional billing process is typically divided into four phases:

• Mediation: Usage data (e.g. events, API calls, machine hours) is processed in a standardized way.
• Rating: This data is converted into billable units with price and discount logic.
• Invoicing: This results in legally compliant invoices with tax and format specifications.
• Payment: The invoice triggers the connection to payment service providers - depending on the payment method, region and customer type.

Typical challenges in companies are

• High transaction volumes with granular usage data
• Different regulatory requirements (e.g. tax law, archiving obligation)
• Integration of different payment methods (credit card, SEPA, wallets, etc.)
• Security requirements (e.g. PCI-DSS, GDPR)
• Transparency and traceability for customers

Usage data is collected, validated and enriched as part of the mediation process. It is then converted into billable items via pricing logic and discount rules. This basis is used for automated invoicing and to initiate the payment process.

Our architecture takes into account common security and data protection standards such as PCI-DSS and GDPR. All relevant process steps are logged in an audit-proof manner and are fully traceable.

Internal control systems (ICS) are supported to ensure compliance with legal requirements and internal guidelines - for example through automated checking rules, dual control approvals and clearly defined role and authorization concepts.

An automated billing process reduces manual errors, accelerates cash flows and ensures compliance. At the same time, it enables flexible business models - whether usage-based, hybrid or subscription-based - and creates transparency for internal and external stakeholders.