Getting Started - Account & Finance Teams

What you will learn

This guide takes Account and Finance teams through the setup and day-to-day operation of Prolifi from a billing operations and financial reporting perspective. By the end of this guide you will have:

• Configured payment collection preferences and operating entities
• Set billing preferences and invoice settings
• Understood how to manage all billing artefacts — invoices, credit notes, transactions, and refunds
• Established the reconciliation workflow
• Configured revenue recognition settings
• Set up operational preferences — user roles, approval workflows, and notification emails

Finance teams often share configuration responsibilities with Marketing & Strategy (for product and pricing) and Developer (for payment gateway connection). This guide focuses specifically on the Finance team’s configuration domain.

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Prerequisites

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Platform Flow Position

Finance teams are primarily responsible for Phase 1 (Platform Initialisation) configuration and all of Phase 5 (Billing Cycle) and Phase 6 (Reporting & Reconciliation Cycle) operation. Finance also provides governance over Phase 4 (Customer Lifecycle Events) through approval workflows.

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Section 1 — Setting Up Payment Collection Preferences

1.1 Configuring operating entities

An Operating Entity (Glossary: Operating Entity) represents a legal business unit in a specific jurisdiction. You need one operating entity per country in which you legally operate and issue invoices.

For each operating entity, configure:

1.2 Connecting payment gateways

Each operating entity must be connected to at least one payment gateway to enable automated payment collection. Prolifi connects to your existing payment gateways — it does not process payments directly.

For each gateway connection, you will need:

• Gateway API credentials (from your payment gateway provider)
• The gateway’s merchant account identifier for this entity
• Confirmation of which payment methods the gateway supports in this entity’s country

After connecting a gateway, confirm the connection is active by verifying that test mode credentials work before switching to live credentials.

1.3 Payment collection modes per entity

For each operating entity, configure the default collection mode:

• Automatic (recommended): Prolifi attempts to collect payment automatically when an invoice is finalised. The payment is attempted against the customer’s default payment method.
• Manual: Invoices are generated and sent but not auto-collected. Payment is expected via bank transfer or other offline method.
• Hybrid: Auto-collection for card payments; manual collection for bank transfer customers.

You can override the collection mode at the customer or subscription level, so a business customer paying by bank transfer can be set to manual while consumer customers on cards are on automatic.

1.4 Collection timing

Configure when auto-collection is triggered relative to invoice finalisation:

• Immediately on finalisation: Payment is attempted as soon as the invoice is created and finalised
• Offset (e.g., 3 days after invoice date): The invoice is generated and sent first, then payment is collected N days later — useful for providing customers time to review before collection
• On due date: Collection is triggered on the configured payment due date

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Section 2 — Billing Preferences and Settings

2.1 Invoice settings

Configure the following at the account level (defaults) and per operating entity (overrides):

Invoice numbering:

• Prefix format (e.g., INV-, [ENTITY_CODE]-, or custom)
• Starting number
• Sequence length (e.g., 6 digits: INV-000001)

Payment terms:

• Standard number of days to pay (e.g., Net 7, Net 14, Net 30)
• Whether payment terms differ for specific customer segments

Invoice display:

• Inclusive or exclusive tax display (Glossary: Inclusive Pricing, Exclusive Pricing)
• Line item grouping (by product, by billing period, or ungrouped)
• Custom fields to display on invoices (purchase order number, cost centre code, etc.)

Invoice delivery:

• Automatic email delivery to the customer’s billing email on finalisation
• PDF attachment on email delivery
• Invoice portal link in email (linking to the customer portal invoice view)

2.2 Billing period preferences

For recurring billing:

• Default billing anchor behaviour: Whether new subscriptions are anchored to the subscription start date or to a fixed date (e.g., 1st of each month for all customers)
• Trial period behaviour: Whether invoices are generated during trials or only on trial conversion
• Grace period: The number of days after payment failure before a subscription action (pause or cancellation) is triggered by the dunning configuration

2.3 Credit note settings

Configure credit note behaviour:

• Whether credit notes are automatically applied to the next invoice or held as a balance
• Whether credit notes can be converted to refunds automatically
• Credit note numbering sequence

2.4 Currency and rounding

For each currency:

• Rounding rule (up, down, nearest)
• Decimal places displayed on invoices
• Tax rounding behaviour (sum of rounded line items vs. round the total)

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Section 3 — Managing Billing Artefacts

3.1 Invoices

An Invoice (Glossary: Invoice) is the primary billing artefact. Finance teams manage invoices through their lifecycle:

Invoice creation: Invoices are typically auto-generated by Prolifi based on billing cycle events (subscription period end, one-off order, etc.). Finance teams can also create invoices manually for ad-hoc charges.

Invoice review: Before auto-collection, Finance teams can review and approve invoices in a draft state (if approval workflow is configured). This is particularly relevant for high-value invoices or invoices with manual adjustments.

Invoice actions available to Finance teams:

3.2 Credit notes

A Credit Note (Glossary: Credit Note) is a negative billing artefact that reduces what a customer owes. Issue credit notes for:

• Billing errors (incorrect amount charged)
• Cancellation credits (refund for unused service period after immediate cancellation)
• Goodwill credits (commercial gesture to a dissatisfied customer)
• Disputed invoice resolution

When creating a credit note:

• Link it to the relevant invoice (recommended for audit traceability)
• Specify the reason code
• Specify whether to apply it to the next invoice or return as a cash refund

3.3 Transactions

A Transaction record in Prolifi represents a specific payment attempt — whether successful or failed. Each transaction carries:

• Transaction amount and currency
• Payment method used (card type, last four digits, or bank account reference)
• Gateway transaction reference (the identifier from the payment processor)
• Transaction status (succeeded, failed, pending)
• Failure reason (for failed transactions)
• Timestamp

Transaction records are immutable — they cannot be edited, only annotated with notes. They form a core part of the audit trail.

3.4 Refunds

A refund is the return of collected funds to a customer. Refunds can be:

• Full refund: Return the entire collected amount to the original payment method
• Partial refund: Return a portion of the collected amount
• Credit refund: Converted credit note returned as account credit rather than cash

Refunds are typically accompanied by a credit note to maintain accounting balance. Configure whether refund requests require approval before processing.

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Section 4 — Reconciliation Workflows

4.1 What reconciliation covers

Prolifi’s reconciliation process matches:

• What Prolifi expected to collect: Invoice amounts for a given period
• What the gateway settled: Settlement records from your connected payment gateways

Discrepancies between these two datasets are flagged for review. Common sources of discrepancies include:

• Gateway fees deducted from settled amounts (Prolifi records gross amounts; the gateway nets its fee from settlement)
• Currency conversion differences on FX transactions
• Refunds processed outside of Prolifi (e.g., directly in the gateway dashboard)
• Timing differences (invoices collected near period end may settle in the next period)
• Failed collections that show as attempted in Prolifi but may not appear in gateway records

4.2 Running the reconciliation report

Prolifi generates reconciliation reports per operating entity per period. To run a reconciliation:

1. Select the reporting period (typically the previous month or week)
2. Select the operating entity to reconcile
3. Prolifi matches Prolifi invoice collection records against gateway settlement records
4. The report shows:
   • Matched records: Invoice collections confirmed against gateway settlements
   • Unmatched Prolifi records: Amounts collected in Prolifi with no corresponding gateway settlement record
   • Unmatched gateway records: Gateway settlements with no corresponding Prolifi invoice collection

4.3 Resolving discrepancies

For each unmatched record:

• Unmatched Prolifi record: Investigate whether the gateway fee is the source of the difference; check if the collection arrived in a different settlement batch
• Unmatched gateway record: Check for refunds or payouts processed directly in the gateway; confirm the record relates to a Prolifi-managed invoice

Mark resolved discrepancies with a resolution note in Prolifi. Unresolved discrepancies should be escalated to your payment gateway account manager or finance controller.

4.4 Reconciliation workflow best practices

• Run reconciliation weekly during the month to catch issues early, not only at period end
• Match in one direction first: Start with Prolifi records and find their gateway counterparts, then sweep the unmatched gateway records
• Maintain a discrepancy log for recurring patterns — they indicate a structural issue in the integration
• Establish a close-off procedure: A formal sign-off that reconciliation is complete for each period before financial statements are produced

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Section 5 — Reporting and Revenue Recognition

5.1 Revenue recognition configuration

For each product type, configure the recognition rule:

• Immediate recognition: Revenue is recognised in full on the invoice date. Appropriate for one-off products that are delivered at point of sale.
• Deferred recognition (straight-line): Revenue is recognised evenly over the service period. Appropriate for subscription products where service is delivered continuously over the subscription term.
• Event-based recognition: Revenue is recognised when specific milestones or delivery events occur. Appropriate for professional services or milestone-based contracts.

5.2 Revenue recognition schedules

For every finalised invoice, Prolifi generates a Recognition Schedule (Glossary: Recognition Schedule) — a period-by-period breakdown of when revenue will be recognised. For a 12-month annual subscription invoiced upfront:

Recognition schedules are generated automatically at invoice finalisation based on the configured recognition rule for the relevant product.

5.3 Period-end revenue recognition run

At the end of each accounting period:

1. Review the recognition schedule for the period — confirm the recognition entries match expectations
2. Export the recognition entries for the period (as a journal entry file in CSV or the required accounting format)
3. Import the recognition entries into your accounting system
4. Verify that the deferred revenue balance in Prolifi matches the deferred revenue account in your accounting system

5.4 Financial reporting

Prolifi provides the following financial reports:

Reports are accessible in the Prolifi reporting module and exportable in CSV format for import into accounting or BI tools.

5.5 Audit trail access

The complete Audit Trail (Glossary: Audit Trail) for all billing events is accessible in Prolifi and exportable for archival or audit purposes. The audit trail includes:

• Every invoice created, modified, finalised, voided, or paid
• Every payment attempt and its outcome
• Every entitlement change
• Every subscription lifecycle event
• Every credit note and refund
• Every user action (who performed what action and when)

The audit trail is immutable — records cannot be altered or deleted. It is the authoritative record for billing dispute resolution and financial audits.

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Section 6 — Operational Preferences

6.1 Users and roles

Prolifi supports role-based access control. Define which Prolifi roles are appropriate for each team member:

Assign roles based on the principle of least privilege — team members should have only the access they need for their role.

6.2 Approval workflows

Configure approval workflows for actions that require authorisation before execution:

Subscription-level approvals:

• New subscriptions above a defined contract value
• Discounts above a defined percentage
• Price overrides below a defined threshold
• Contract terms that deviate from standard

Invoice-level approvals:

• Manual invoices above a defined amount
• Credit notes above a defined amount
• Voids of finalised invoices

Quote approvals:

• Quotes with non-standard terms
• Quotes with discounts above the sales team’s authority level

For each approval type, configure:

• The threshold that triggers the approval requirement
• The approver (specific user or role)
• The notification method (email, in-app notification)
• The escalation path if the approver is unavailable

6.3 Notification emails

Configure the automated emails that Prolifi sends. Finance teams typically manage:

Customer-facing notifications:

• Invoice issued notification
• Payment confirmation
• Payment failure notification (first failure)
• Dunning recovery emails (subsequent failures) — See: Dunning & Payment Recovery
• Final payment failure notification (before subscription action)
• Cancellation confirmation
• Subscription resumption confirmation

Internal notifications:

• Disputes flagged on invoices
• Large credit notes issued
• High-value invoice approvals pending
• Reconciliation discrepancies above threshold

Each email type can be customised with your branding, subject line, and message content. Email delivery is through Prolifi’s delivery infrastructure using your configured sender domain.

6.4 Branding

Upload company branding for use across all customer-facing Prolifi materials:

• Company logo (used on invoices, email headers, customer portal)
• Brand colours (for customer portal)
• Custom domain for the customer portal (e.g., billing.yourcompany.com instead of portal.prolifi.io)
• Custom sender email address for automated emails

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What comes next

With Finance configuration complete:

• Developer integration: Confirm with the Developer team that payment gateway connections are working correctly in integration testing
• First billing cycle: Monitor the first real billing cycle carefully — watch invoice generation, collection attempts, and reconciliation
• Reconciliation cadence: Establish a weekly reconciliation run as a recurring Finance team responsibility
• Month-end close: Establish the sequence for period-end recognition, reconciliation, and financial reporting using Prolifi’s outputs

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Cross-references

• Prolifi Glossary
• Billing Models Reference
• Multi-Country Setup
• Tax Management
• Dunning & Payment Recovery
• Reconciliation Workflows