Budget flexibility is designed for subscriptions where the cost varies by usage.
It allows you to still set an expected budget for that subscription, but add additional room for leverage by adding an approved percentage variation that will be authorised and paid for. Here's an example below.
Case Study
Take Twilio, whose base subscription fee is, say, £100, but the total invoice amount varies on the usage, which can raise your invoice amount to £110 or even £120 when used heavily.
This is how to set up your fixed-budget application:
- Fixed budget at £100
- Budget flexibility activated
- Percentage of variation at 20%
Say by next month the charge adds up to £118. When Twilio tried to charge your card, Cledara sees that the payment is higher than the budget set, we will then compare the amount against the 20% flexibility.
Once we see that the cost is within 20% over the budget of £100, Cledara will push an extra £18 from your account onto the card so that the payment goes through successfully.
But if the month after, Twilio is used in excess and the bill adds up to £200, the payment for the subscription will not be executed as it exceeds the room for leverage set (£200 being 100% more than your budget).
Upon being notified of the failed payment, you can then review the payment amount and decide whether this should be approved.
What should I expect?
When your payment is requested, if payment amount is higher than the budget set, your first attempt to pay will be declined because of the insufficient funds on the card, respecting your fixed budget setting.
But fret not, because having received the payment amount, we compare it against the budget and check to see if the flexibility is on. If the amount is within what the flexibility allows, we will immediately top up your card to the required amount automatically. The whole process is within minutes.
Now with the exact amount of funds you need on the card, simply make another attempt to pay, and the payment will go through successfully.