Set up credit-based billing for agency clients

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Who this is for

• Resell AI voice agent services to multiple clients
• Want usage-based billing rather than flat-rate subscriptions
• Need per-client credit controls to prevent runaway spend

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Business goal

• Per-client credit balances so each client pays for what they use
• Profit margins via price-per-minute markups
• Low-balance alerts so neither you nor your client gets surprised
• Portal visibility so clients can self-serve top-ups (optional)

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Prerequisites

• At least one customer onboarded in the Partner Portal
• Your own Knotie Credits balance topped up
• (Optional) Stripe Connect configured for metered billing

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Step 1 — Enable AI credits for a customer

1. Partner Portal → Customers
2. Open the customer’s Manage panel
3. Go to the Credits & AI Credit Management section
4. Toggle AI Credits Enabled to on

This activates per-call credit deductions for this customer. Without it, calls use your partner balance directly.

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Step 2 — Set the price per minute

1. Set AI Credit Price Per Minute — this is what the customer is charged per minute of AI agent usage
2. Set Grace Period (seconds) — allows calls to complete slightly over the credit limit rather than cutting off mid-sentence

Tip: Use Agent Analytics to understand your actual per-minute costs before setting markups.

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Step 3 — Configure low-balance alerts

1. Set Low Credit Threshold — the balance level that triggers a warning (e.g., 100 credits)
2. Toggle Low Credit Notifications Enabled — sends alerts when the threshold is reached

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Step 4 — Add initial credits

1. In the customer Manage panel, go to Credits
2. Add credits to the customer’s balance
3. The customer’s AI agent calls will now deduct from this balance

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Step 5 — (Optional) Let clients see their balance

1. In customer Manage panel → Features & Add-ons
2. Toggle portal and pricing visibility as needed

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Step 6 — (Optional) Set up credit plans for self-serve top-ups

1. Partner Portal → Settings → Customer Credit Plans
2. Create plans (e.g., “100 minutes — $15", "500 minutes —$60”)
3. Optionally restrict per-customer which plans are visible using Visible Customer Credit Plan IDs in the customer settings

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Verification checklist

• AI credits enabled for the customer
• Price per minute set with your desired margin
• Low credit threshold configured
• Notifications enabled
• Initial credits added
• (Optional) Portal access enabled with pricing visibility
• (Optional) Credit plans created for self-serve

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How credits flow

Partner buys Knotie Credits
       ↓
Partner allocates credits to Customer
       ↓
Customer's AI agent makes/receives calls
       ↓
Credits deducted at Customer's price-per-minute rate
       ↓
Low-balance alert fires when threshold is hit

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Troubleshooting

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Next steps

• Explore Metered Billing for Stripe-based automated invoicing
• Set up automated onboarding to provision credits via API
• Review Agent Analytics to optimize your pricing