WHMCS automation settings: when invoices go out, reminders, suspension and termination

Choosing the Right Plan·· 8 views· 4 min read

This article is for resellers who run their own WHMCS. WHMCS is another company’s product: we neither sell nor resell licences, as explained in what WHMCS is. Menu names change from one WHMCS version to the next. The short answer: the Automation Settings screen (Configuration > System Settings) is where you decide how far ahead each invoice is raised, when reminders go out, how long an unpaid service runs before it is suspended, and when it is terminated. None of these values ships right for your business: they ship as the maker set them. And none of it happens unless the cron job runs.

The settings that matter most

Setting What it decides, and what to think about
Cron status and time of day The top of the screen shows when the cron job last ran and the line to put in cPanel. The time of day picks when the daily tasks run (invoices, suspensions). Choose a quiet hour.
Invoice generation How many days before the due date the invoice is created. Too little notice leaves customers who pay by bank transfer no time to pay.
Payment reminders One notice before the due date and up to three after it. Each uses an e-mail template you can rewrite.
Late fees Optional. Only switch them on if your terms say so.
Suspension Turns automatic suspension on or off and sets how many days overdue it happens. Another option unsuspends on its own once payment arrives.
Termination Turns automatic termination on or off and sets when. Terminating deletes the account in WHM, files and mail included.
Cancellation requests Whether cancellations requested “at the end of the billing period” are carried out on their own.

Matching the calendar to your business

1 Write your rules down first, in the terms your customers accept: when you bill, when you suspend, when you terminate. WHMCS only carries out what is there. See reseller hosting: starting out, pricing and billing.
2 Confirm the cron job runs, at the top of the automation screen and on the automation status screen. If it does not, nothing else counts: cron jobs.
3 Choose the invoice lead time with your slowest accepted payment method in mind. Someone paying by bank transfer needs more time than someone paying by card.
4 Space out the reminders: one before the due date, one right after, and the last shortly before suspension, giving the exact date it will happen.
5 Leave room between suspension and termination. Suspension can be undone; termination cannot. Many resellers keep automatic termination off and terminate by hand after a look.
6 Test with a dummy customer: place an order for yourself, let the invoice go overdue, and watch each e-mail and each suspension happen on the expected day.
Your reseller account has a calendar too, and it is ours. WHMCS and your customers’ accounts live on the reseller plan you pay us for. If that invoice goes unpaid, the reseller account is suspended and, with it, WHMCS and every one of your customers’ sites, however well tuned your own calendar is. Set your reseller renewal for a date when your customers have already paid you.
Do not run the cron job more often to “speed up” invoices. The lead time is changed on this screen, not in cPanel. Extra runs only trip over each other, as explained in the most common WHMCS problems.

Want to know when your reseller plan renews, or why one of your customers’ accounts was suspended on our side? Ask us.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

The most common WHMCS problems, and what causes them

Cron jobs: what they are for and how to create one

Connecting WHMCS to WHM so accounts are created on their own

Reseller hosting: starting out, pricing and billing

Recurring invoices and payment reminders: automating the follow-up for a service business

First steps as a reseller (WHM)

RECOMMENDED PRODUCT

Web hosting with cPanel

Domain and SSL included, daily backups and the panel you already know. from $6.59/mo (3-year plan, with coupon)

See plans
Was this answer helpful? Your answer helps us improve this article.

Related Articles

Choosing the Right Plan 344 Shared hosting vs VPS: which one does your project need? The difference is not "better" and "worse": it is who administers the machine. On shared hosting, we do. On a VPS, you d...
Choosing the Right Plan 454 Shared hosting vs dedicated server: when the jump is worth it These are the two extremes: on one side, everything handled by us on a shared machine; on the other, an entire physical...
Choosing the Right Plan 520 Shared hosting vs Cloud: what actually changes "Cloud" is so worn out in advertising that it has stopped meaning anything. In our catalogue it means something concrete...
Choosing the Right Plan 494 VPS vs Cloud: the difference is the network, not the marketing They are close relatives: in both cases you get a virtual machine of your own, with root access and administration on yo...
Choosing the Right Plan 526 VPS vs dedicated server: virtual resources or the whole machine On a VPS the resources are yours, but the physical machine is divided between several virtual machines. On a dedicated s...
Choosing the Right Plan 4 Taxes and invoice numbers in WHMCS: tax rules, proforma invoices and repeated numbers This article is for resellers who run their own WHMCS. WHMCS is another company’s product: we neither sell nor resell li...