The Credits resource represents a customer's credits. Credits are created when a customer's invoice is paid, and are updated when a customer's transaction is refunded.
- add_by_external_id - Add credit ledger entry by external customer ID
- create - Add credit ledger entry
- fetch - Retrieve credit balance
- fetch_by_external_id - Retrieve credit balance by external customer ID
- fetch_ledger - View credits ledger
- fetch_ledger_by_external_id - View credits ledger by external customer ID
This endpoint's resource and semantics exactly mirror Add credit ledger entry but operates on an external customer ID rather than an Orb issued identifier.
import orb
import dateutil.parser
from orb.models import operations, shared
s = orb.Orb(
security=shared.Security(
api_key_auth="",
),
)
res = s.credit.add_by_external_id('reiciendis', shared.NewCreditLedgerEntry(
amount=6667.67,
block_id='mollitia',
description='laborum',
entry_type=shared.EntryType.INCREMENT,
expiry_date=dateutil.parser.parse('2023-01-01').date(),
invoice_settings=shared.NewCreditLedgerEntryInvoiceSettings(
auto_collection=False,
memo='dolorem',
net_terms=3581.52,
),
metadata={
"nobis": 'enim',
},
per_unit_cost_basis='omnis',
target_expiry_date=dateutil.parser.parse('2023-02-01').date(),
))
if res.credit_ledger_entry is not None:
# handle responseThis endpoint allows you to create a new ledger entry for a specified customer's balance. This can be used to increment balance, deduct credits, and change the expiry date of existing credits.
- After calling this endpoint, Fetch Credit Balance will return a credit block that represents the changes (i.e. balance changes or transfers).
- A ledger entry will be added to the credits ledger for this customer, and therefore returned in the View Credits Ledger response as well as serialized in the response to this request. In the case of deductions without a specified block, multiple ledger entries may be created if the deduction spans credit blocks.
- If
invoice_settingsis specified, an invoice will be created that reflects the cost of the credits (based onamountandper_unit_cost_basis).
Adding credits is done by creating an entry of type increment. This requires the caller to specify a number of credits as well as an optional expiry date in YYYY-MM-DD format. Orb also recommends specifying a description to assist with auditing. When adding credits, the caller can also specify a cost basis per-credit, to indicate how much in USD a customer paid for a single credit in a block. This can later be used for revenue recognition.
The following snippet illustrates a sample request body to increment credits which will expire in January of 2022.
{
"entry_type": "increment",
"amount": 100,
"expiry_date": "2022-12-28",
"per_unit_cost_basis": "0.20",
"description": "Purchased 100 credits"
}Note that by default, Orb will always first increment any negative balance in existing blocks before adding the remaining amount to the desired credit block.
By default, Orb manipulates the credit ledger but does not charge for credits. However, if you pass invoice_settings in the body of this request, Orb will also generate a one-off invoice for the customer for the credits pre-purchase. Note that you must provide the per_unit_cost_basis, since the total charges on the invoice are calculated by multiplying the cost basis with the number of credit units added.
Orb allows you to deduct credits from a customer by creating an entry of type decrement. Orb matches the algorithm for automatic deductions for determining which credit blocks to decrement from. In the case that the deduction leads to multiple ledger entries, the response from this endpoint will be the final deduction. Orb also optionally allows specifying a description to assist with auditing.
The following snippet illustrates a sample request body to decrement credits.
{
"entry_type": "decrement",
"amount": 20,
"description": "Removing excess credits"
}If you'd like to change when existing credits expire, you should create a ledger entry of type expiration_change. For this entry, the required parameter expiry_date identifies the originating block, and the required parameter target_expiry_date identifies when the transferred credits should now expire. A new credit block will be created with expiry date target_expiry_date, with the same cost basis data as the original credit block, if present.
Note that the balance of the block with the given expiry_date must be at least equal to the desired transfer amount determined by the amount parameter.
The following snippet illustrates a sample request body to extend the expiration date of credits by one year:
{
"entry_type": "expiration_change",
"amount": 10,
"expiry_date": "2022-12-28",
"block_id": "UiUhFWeLHPrBY4Ad",
"target_expiry_date": "2023-12-28",
"description": "Extending credit validity"
}import orb
import dateutil.parser
from orb.models import operations, shared
s = orb.Orb(
security=shared.Security(
api_key_auth="",
),
)
res = s.credit.create('nemo', shared.NewCreditLedgerEntry(
amount=3250.47,
block_id='excepturi',
description='accusantium',
entry_type=shared.EntryType.DECREMENT,
expiry_date=dateutil.parser.parse('2023-01-01').date(),
invoice_settings=shared.NewCreditLedgerEntryInvoiceSettings(
auto_collection=False,
memo='culpa',
net_terms=9883.74,
),
metadata={
"architecto": 'mollitia',
"dolorem": 'culpa',
"consequuntur": 'repellat',
"mollitia": 'occaecati',
},
per_unit_cost_basis='numquam',
target_expiry_date=dateutil.parser.parse('2023-02-01').date(),
))
if res.credit_ledger_entry is not None:
# handle responseThis paginated endpoint can be used to fetch the current state of credit balance for the specified customer_id.
Orb keeps track of credit balances in credit blocks, where each block is optionally associated with an expiry_date. Each time credits are added, a new credit block is created. Credits which do not expire have an expiry_date of null. To aid in revenue recognition, credit blocks can optionally have a per_unit_cost_basis, to indicate how much in USD a customer paid for a single credit in a block.
Orb only returns unexpired credit blocks in this response. For credits that have already expired, you can view this deduction from the customer's balance in the Credit Ledger response.
import orb
from orb.models import operations
s = orb.Orb(
security=shared.Security(
api_key_auth="",
),
)
res = s.credit.fetch('commodi')
if res.credits is not None:
# handle responseThis endpoint's resource and semantics exactly mirror Retrieve credit balance but operates on an external customer ID rather than an Orb issued identifier.
import orb
from orb.models import operations
s = orb.Orb(
security=shared.Security(
api_key_auth="",
),
)
res = s.credit.fetch_by_external_id('quam')
if res.credits is not None:
# handle responseThe credits ledger provides auditing functionality over Orb's credits system with a list of actions that have taken place to modify a customer's credit balance. This paginated endpoint lists these entries, starting from the most recent ledger entry.
More details on using Orb's real-time credit feature are here.
There are four major types of modifications to credit balance, detailed below.
Credits (which optionally expire on a future date) can be added via the API (Add Ledger Entry). The ledger entry for such an action will always contain the total eligible starting and ending balance for the customer at the time the entry was added to the ledger.
Deductions can occur as a result of an API call to create a ledger entry (see Add Ledger Entry), or automatically as a result of incurring usage. Both ledger entries present the decrement entry type.
As usage for a customer is reported into Orb, credits may be deducted according to the customer's plan configuration. An automated deduction of this type will result in a ledger entry, also with a starting and ending balance. In order to provide better tracing capabilities for automatic deductions, Orb always associates each automatic deduction with the event_id at the time of ingestion, used to pinpoint why credit deduction took place and to ensure that credits are never deducted without an associated usage event.
By default, Orb uses an algorithm that automatically deducts from the soonest expiring credit block first in order to ensure that all credits are utilized appropriately. As an example, if trial credits with an expiration date of 2 weeks from now are present for a customer, they will be used before any deductions take place from a non-expiring credit block.
If there are multiple blocks with the same expiration date, Orb will deduct from the block with the lower cost basis first (ex. trial credits with a $0 cost basis before paid credits with a $5.00 cost basis).
It's also possible for a single usage event's deduction to span credit blocks. In this case, Orb will deduct from the next block, ending at the credit block which consists of unexpiring credits. Each of these deductions will lead to a separate ledger entry, one per credit block that is deducted from. By default, the customer's total credit balance in Orb can be negative as a result of a decrement.
The expiry of credits can be changed as a result of the API (See Add Ledger Entry). This will create a ledger entry that specifies the balance as well as the initial and target expiry dates.
Note that for this entry type, starting_balance will equal ending_balance, and the amount represents the balance transferred. The credit block linked to the ledger entry is the source credit block from which there was an expiration change.
When a set of credits expire on pre-set expiration date, the customer's balance automatically reflects this change and adds an entry to the ledger indicating this event. Note that credit expiry should always happen close to a date boundary in the customer's timezone.
import orb
from orb.models import operations, shared
s = orb.Orb(
security=shared.Security(
api_key_auth="",
),
)
res = s.credit.fetch_ledger('molestiae', shared.EntryStatus.COMMITTED, 'error', 1589.69)
if res.credit_ledger_entries is not None:
# handle responseThis endpoint's resource and semantics exactly mirror View credits ledger but operates on an external customer ID rather than an Orb issued identifier.
import orb
from orb.models import operations, shared
s = orb.Orb(
security=shared.Security(
api_key_auth="",
),
)
res = s.credit.fetch_ledger_by_external_id('quis', shared.EntryStatus.COMMITTED, 'laborum', 6563.3)
if res.credit_ledger_entries is not None:
# handle response