Every text your client's workspace sends, every email and every call it makes costs a little. Today that comes out of your agency wallet. Spread across a dozen clients, it turns into a real line on your own bill that nobody is paying you back for.
Rebilling fixes that. You decide what each activity costs your client, switch billing on, and Inflowave charges the client's card for what they used, on your own Stripe account. You can pass usage through at cost or add a margin on top.
What rebilling means for an agency
In payments, "rebilling" usually means charging the same customer again, like a subscription renewal. For an agency it means something more specific: charging a client back for usage you paid for on their behalf, usually with a markup.
Agencies already do this informally. Some add a "software and messaging" line to the retainer and hope it covers the month. Others absorb it and watch margin leak. Rebilling replaces the guess with the real number: what the client actually used, priced the way you chose.
How it works in Inflowave
The app sums it up in four steps:
- Your clients use things. Texts, calls, emails and AI replies each cost you a little. It comes out of your wallet.
- You set the price. Pick a markup on top of your cost, or set a price for one activity on its own.
- You switch billing on for a workspace or a single client. The client needs a card on file.
- They get charged. Usage is billed on a regular schedule, and you keep the difference.
Two things worth knowing up front:
- The money goes to your Stripe account, not ours. Charges are made on the Stripe account connected to the client's workspace. Inflowave takes nothing from them.
- Stripe charges its normal card fee (about 2.9% + 30¢ per charge in the US) on each client charge. You choose whether you absorb it or add it to the client's charge.
Here is the example the app uses. A text costs you $0.04. With a +50% markup your client pays $0.06 and you keep $0.02. Over 1,000 texts that is $60.00 from the client: $40.00 covers your cost and $20.00 is yours.
Before you start
- A Pro, Max or Enterprise plan. Billing lives in the agency admin area, which Business accounts do not have. See pricing.
- You are the agency owner. Only the owner can turn billing on, set prices or charge a client.
- Stripe is connected for the workspace, or at agency level. It is the same connection you use for invoices. Rebilling runs on Stripe only.
- Each client has at least one person with an email address. That is who receives the link to add a card, and the reminders.
Step 1: open Billing
In the agency admin area, open Billing in the sidebar. You see every workspace with its current state, such as Not billed yet, No price set or Cost plus 30%. Pick the workspace you want to bill.
Each workspace has five tabs: Overview, Pricing, Clients, History and How it works.
Step 2: set your markup
On Overview, turn on Bill clients for what they use. Inflowave asks you to confirm and sets the base rule: your clients pay what it costs you, plus the percentage you enter. Enter 0% and clients pay exactly what you pay.
Before it switches on, the confirmation tells you what will happen: clients are charged at the prices on Pricing, and clients without a card on file are asked to add one.
Step 3: fine-tune prices per activity
What rebills per client today: usage that is tied to a specific client, which means texts, emails and calls. Other activity on the Pricing tab (AI, social, content) is priced per workspace and is not yet split per client.
The Pricing tab lists every billable activity, grouped into messages and calls, AI, social, content and websites, and more. Each one shows your cost and what the client pays. Click any price to change it:
- Not billed: you absorb this cost.
- At cost: your client pays exactly what you pay.
- Add a markup: cost plus a percentage, up to 900%.
- Set a fixed price: a flat price per unit, whatever it costs you.
- Use the workspace price: go back to the workspace markup.
The profit calculator on the same tab starts from what your clients actually used last month, or the last 30 days. Try a different markup and it shows what clients would pay, what it costs you and what you keep, before you save anything.
Phone number fees are separate. Carriers charge one-off and monthly fees to approve a business for text messaging, and your markup does not cover them. Decide once whether you absorb them, pass them on at cost, or pass them on with a markup.
Step 4: add your client's card
Open Clients, then the client. Each client shows whether Bill this client is on, and the card status. While there is no card yet, you have three ways to get one on file:
- Send link. Inflowave emails the person on the client's team a secure link. It opens a Stripe page where they save a card. They do not need an Inflowave login. Use Add a person first if the client has nobody on their team yet.
- Copy link and send it yourself, by text or in your own email. The link works for 30 days.
- Enter it yourself. If the client gives you their card details, this opens the Stripe card form inside Inflowave.
By saving the card, the client authorises it to be charged automatically for their workspace usage until they remove it. Once it is saved, the client shows Card on file with the card brand and last four digits.
Clients who log in to their own portal also see a Billing page there, with their current usage, their payment method and past charges.
Step 5: decide what happens if there is no card
Under If a client has no card, choose how firm to be:
- Pause after a number of days, or
- Pause once they owe a set amount, or
- Never pause, just remind.
Inflowave handles the chasing. The client is emailed the link, then reminded every couple of days. If your threshold passes, their paid activity pauses: texts, emails, AI replies and calls go on hold until a card is added. Activity resumes when the card arrives.
Step 6: watch the money come in
Each client page shows Unbilled so far and a Bill now button if you want to charge before the normal schedule. Small amounts roll over to the next run instead of being charged, so you are not paying Stripe's fixed fee on a few cents.
History shows each month: what clients used, what it cost you, what was charged, and every individual charge with its status (Paid, Payment failed, Scheduled). You can export it as a CSV for your books.
Optional: billing automations
Billing already sends the card link, reminders and pause notices. If you want more, three workflow triggers are available: Billing turns on, A client adds a card and A client is paused. For example, text a paused client the card link and create a task for someone on your team to call them.
Is rebilling worth it?
If your clients use texting, email or calling inside the workspaces you run, yes. Without it, every extra campaign a client asks for raises your costs and nobody else's. With it, usage becomes a line that pays for itself and earns a margin, and the client sees exactly what they used.
It also changes the conversation at renewal. A client who can see their own usage understands why heavy months cost more. Pair it with a white-label CRM and the whole thing carries your brand, not ours. If you are weighing platforms, our GoHighLevel alternatives guide covers how others handle client billing, and these questions to ask about agency costs help you price your services around it.
Frequently asked questions
What does rebilling mean? In general payments it means charging a customer again, such as a renewal. For agencies it means charging a client back for usage you paid for on their behalf, such as texts, calls and AI replies, usually with a markup.
Where does the money go? To the Stripe account connected to the client's workspace, or your agency-level Stripe account. Inflowave does not take a cut of what you charge clients.
Can I charge one client differently from another? Yes. Prices follow the workspace, and you can set different prices for a single client, or switch billing off for one client while the rest of the workspace is billed.
What can I charge for? You can price every activity in the Pricing tab, including messaging, calls, AI replies, social, content and websites, and each one shows your cost. Per client, today, the charges that go through are the ones tied to that client: texts, emails and calls. See what each covers on SMS and email, the AI chatbot and the power dialer.
What does the client see? A secure Stripe page to add a card, emails about their card and charges, and a Billing page in their client portal with their usage and charges.
Who pays the card processing fee? You do by default. Turn on Client pays the card fee to add it to the client's charge instead. Card surcharge rules vary by country and US state, so check yours first.
Which plans include rebilling? Pro, Max and Enterprise. See pricing or the agency CRM overview.
