B2B usage-based billing logic, explained.

Usage-based billing turns product activity into invoice-ready revenue through event ingestion, aggregation, rating, tax calculation, and audit trails.

Core mechanics

A reliable usage-based billing system needs idempotent event recording, deterministic period aggregation, customer-specific rating, invoice traceability, and operational exception review.

1

Usage event

Product emits customer activity with idempotency and meter metadata.

2

Rating engine

Floatless applies tiers, commits, credits, and billing-period rules.

3

Invoice state

Usage, subscriptions, tax, and adjustments become auditable invoice lines.

4

Revenue control

Finance reviews exceptions, payment state, exports, and audit trails.

await floatless.usage.record({
  customerId: "cus_329",
  meter: "api_calls",
  quantity: 540,
  timestamp: "2026-06-17T10:00:00Z",
  idempotencyKey: "api_540_20260617"
});

await floatless.billing.preview({
  customerId: "cus_329",
  period: "2026-06"
});