Run the monthly PPPoE billing cycle

PPPoE customers are usually billed monthly. ISPMan can do most of the cycle for you: send reminders before a subscription ends, renew automatically when the customer pays, and switch off accounts that stay unpaid. This page shows you how to set that up once, and what to check each month.

How a PPPoE month works

Each customer has a package (for example Home 10Mbps – 1 month) and an expiry date.
Before the expiry date, reminder SMS go out at the times you chose for that package.
The customer pays to your Paybill using their account number. The money goes to their wallet.
When the subscription ends, ISPMan renews it automatically if the wallet holds enough to cover the package.
If not, the customer is cut down to a limited connection, and their browser shows your Expired PPPoE notice with a way to pay.
If the account stays unpaid past your grace period, it’s deactivated.

One-time setup

1. Turn on reminders on each package

Go to Services → PPPoEs → Packages and edit each monthly package. Under the expiry alerts, tick the reminders you want, for example 1 week before expiry, 1 day before expiry and When Expired. The list only offers reminders shorter than the package’s validity.

2. Make sure PPPoE SMS are on

Go to Comms → SMS → Settings and check that PPPoE Expiry SMS and PPPoE Payment Confirmation are turned on.
Optionally, go to Comms → SMS → Templates and write your own wording for PPPoE Expiry Reminder, PPPoE Expired and PPPoE Payment Confirmation (use Configure Event Bindings to link a template to an event). Include the customer’s account number and your Paybill so they can pay straight from the message.

3. Design the expired notice

Go to Settings → Captive Theme and open the Expired PPPoE tab. This is what an expired customer sees when they open a browser: why they’ve lost service, and a button to their account so they can pay.

4. Set your grace period

In Settings, open PPPoE Deactivation Policy and set the Grace period (days). This is how long an expired account stays active before it’s deactivated. Leave it blank to use the default of 7 days.

Every month

Before month-end: chase upcoming expiries

On Services → PPPoEs, use the filters (Expired, Unpaid, Active, Inactive, Connected) to see who’s due. For anyone you want to nudge:

STK Push, on the customer’s page, sends an M-Pesa payment prompt straight to their phone.
Send SMS sends a personal reminder.
For a group, use Comms → SMS → Send SMS with the PPPoE Customers filter.

Issue invoices (for businesses or one-off charges)

Some customers, such as offices, need a formal invoice:

Go to PPPoE → Invoices and click New Invoice.
Choose the customer and add line items (for example Subscription, Installation, Router replacement or Site visit), each with a description and Unit price.
Open the invoice to print it, email it to the customer, or Record payment when they pay. Invoices move through unpaid, partially paid and paid. You can cancel an invoice, but you can’t undo the cancellation.

You can choose between three invoice designs (classic, modern and minimal), and your logo comes from your branding settings.

Handle special cases

Customer promises to pay next week: on their page, click Connect and choose Grace Period, then set Grace Period Ends.
Customer paid cash or by cheque: click Connect, choose Normal, set the Package Expiry Date, and record the payment as Cash or Cheque.
Outage during the month: see Compensate customers after an outage.
Many customers at once: Services → PPPoEs → Bulk Actions lets you assign a package or device, compensate, reset connections, deactivate or delete a selected group.

After month-end: review

Payments → Received, filtered to the PPPoE service: what came in.
Wallets → Loaded: customers whose money is sitting in their wallet and hasn’t paid for a package yet. Check these customers. A partial payment is a common reason.
Services → PPPoEs, Expired filter: who still hasn’t paid.
Billing: your own ISPMan invoice for the period.