Products Management
Contents
Adding Products/Services
- To add products/services to a clients account, the add order process has to be used
- You can do this from the Client Summary page by clicking the Add Order link in the Actions panel
Managing a Clients Products/Services
You can locate products/services to manage in a number of ways:
- Search for the Client in Clients > View/Search Clients, and then from the Client Summary page click the ID of the product you want to manage from the list
- Search for the Product in Clients > List All Products/Services > Search/Filter, then click the product ID or domain to be taken to the product details
- Using the Intelligent Search
The Products/Services details page inside a clients profile allows you to view and modify all of a products settings. After making any changes, you need to click the Save Changes button to save your edits.
Running Module Commands
If the product/service is linked to a module, you will have a Module Commands row towards the bottom of the page. This allows you to execute any of the commands available in that module. Modules can have custom functions but the most common ones are:
- Create - runs the creation routine and sets the product status to active
- Suspend - runs the suspension routine and sets the product status to suspended. You will be prompted to enter a suspension reason, leave it blank if the client has an unpaid invoice and you want the account automatically unsuspended when paid.
- Unsuspend - runs the unsuspension routine and sets the product status back to active
- Terminate - runs the termination routine and sets the product status to terminated
- Change Package - runs the upgrade/downgrade routine for the selected product
- Change Password - runs the password modification routine for the last saved password value
Addons
- Product addons allow you to bill for additional items related to the main product but on independant billing cycles from the product (unlike Configurable Options which have to bill on the same cycle)
- Addons can be preconfigured in Setup > Product Addons but you can also create custom addons for specific clients which aren't predefined for flexibility
- Preconfigured addons can be ordered by clients from the client area product details page
Mananging Addons
- The Products/Services details page shows the number of addons a product has with a Click here to Manage link just below the domain field
- To view/edit or delete addons you need to click that link and a popup will open
- Any existing addons will be displayed with edit and delete icons for managing them
Adding Addons to Users
- To add a new addon, click Products/Services in Clients Profile.
- Next click on the link Click here to Manage beside the Addons label, and then click Add New Addon button.
- If using a predefined addon, simply choose it from the dropdown and leave the name, price and billing cycle fields empty as they will all be automatically set
- Alternatively, if adding a custom addon specific to this client, leave the Predefined Addon set to None and enter a custom name, price and cycle
- If you would like to invoice for the new addon immediately then you don't need to do anything as that will happen by default, or alternatively if you don't want to invoice yet you can just untick the generate invoice checkbox
- Once happy with the selections, click Save Changes to complete the process
Auto Recalculate Recurring Price on Save
- This checkbox option located to the bottom right of the product details screen updates the recurring amount field when checked
- It can be used after changing the product, configurable options or billing cycle to auto calculate the new recurring price
- It is off by default so that any discounted rates or custom pricing are not overwritten as these aren't taken into account by it
Overide Auto Suspension
- This option can be used to allow extra time for payment to be made for specific individuals
- It allows you to set a date to hold the suspension until and then it will only suspend if it's still unpaid when that date is reached
- The checkbox to enable it is at the bottom of the Products/Services details tab under a Clients Profile
- Tick that box and then in the date field that appears, choose the date you want to overide the auto suspension until
- Entering the date 00/00/0000 will permanently prevent the product from being suspended.
Invoicing Early
There may be times where a client asks for you to invoice them for the next renewal date early. To do this in WHMCS,
- Begin by navigating to the Clients Summary page for the client you want to invoice
- Now tick the boxes of the Products/Services/Addons and/or Domains you want to generate an invoice for
- To complete, click the Invoice Selected Items button to create the invoice(s) for them
- Multiple invoices may be created if the due dates and payment methods differ as invoicing rules are obeyed as normal
Note: You won't be able to generate another invoice if an invoice has already been made for the next due date.
Upgrades/Downgrades
Admin Area
If you would like to change the product/service a client is assigned to and automatically charge or credit the difference for that change then you need to use the Upgrade/Downgrade process. You'll find the option for this next to the Products/Services dropdown menu on the Products/Services Details page within the clients profile. To use it, simply navigate to the product you want to change, click the Upgrade/Downgrade link, and in the popup that appears make the new product & billing cycle selections as required and it will give you a preview of what the charge will be for the remainder of the current cycle and allow you to create an order/invoice for that change if happy.
We have created a Video Tutorial demonstrating exactly how this feature can be used and works @ http://www.whmcs.com/tutorials.php?i=adminupgrade
There will no immediate changes to the product after creating an upgrade order, the actual product or config option changes won't take effect until the invoice is paid. But as soon as the invoice is paid the product will be updated, the new recurring amount will be set, and with most supported control panels the upgrade is fully automated with the new package details/changes being passed over to the server module being used. Finally the upgrade email specified in the product configuration is sent to the user advising them of the new products details.
The same process can also be used for configurable options changes and billing the difference for those if the product contains them.
Client Side
Clients can also place orders for upgrades & downgrades themselves if you have permitted it in the product configuration. This allows clients to order upgrades/downgrades and complete them automatically without the need for any staff involvement.
For more information, including how to allow clients upgrades and how the upgrade charges are calculated, please refer to the Automated Upgrades and Downgrades section
Mass Updating Services/Addons/Domains
The mass update tool in WHMCS allows you to perform changes to 2 or more products inside a clients profile at the same time. The changes can consist of changes in the price, billing cycle, next due date, status and/or payment method and setting an override auto-suspend date. For example you can use this if you want to reduce a clients price on a number of separate products to the same level, execute module commands in bulk or if you would like to bring multiple services in line to a matching due date.
To use this feature, from the Clients Summary page, simply tick the checkboxes next to the Products/Services, Addons and/or Domains you want to update, and then below the item lists click the Mass Update Items button which will reveal the options which you can set. Now make your selections (leaving blank any fields you don't want to change), and finally submit to complete the changes.
We have created a Video Tutorial to fully demonstrate the use of this feature which you can watch @ http://www.whmcs.com/tutorials.php?i=massupdate
Create Prorata Invoice
This useful feature means that when changing the Next Due Date of a product/service/addon/domain a pro-rated invoice is created covering the period between the current next due date and the new one. It even works when the various products have different next due dates to start with and will pro-rate each accordingly as separate line items on the invoice.
To use simply specify the new Next Due Date and tick the Create Prorata Invoice checkbox before clicking Submit.
For example take two products that the client now wishes to pay on the 10th of the month going forward:
Product A - Next Due Date 01/01/2012 @ $30/month Product B - Next Due Date 05/01/2012 @ $60/month
Set the Next Due Date to 10/01/2011 and tick the checkbox, an invoice with the following line items will be generated:
Product A (01/01/2012 - 09/01/2012) $8.00 Product B (05/01/2012 - 09/01/2012) $10.00 Total Due Today $18.00
Only once paid will the Next Due Dates for both products be updated and in future both products would be invoiced on the 10th January.
Cancelling a Product/Service
Auto Terminate/Fixed Term
You can setup products to automatically terminated after a set number of days from the date of signup. This can be used to offer free trial products for a certain period of time, or time limited products that should only recur for a certain number of cycles before stopping.
To enable it for a product, you simply need to navigate to Setup > Products/Services > Edit > Pricing tab and then enter both the number of days to wait before terminating, and choose an email template to be sent to the client when the termination occurs (for example an up-selling email to promote your paid products in the case of a trial, or confirmation of payment completing for installment payment situations). Set the Auto Terminate/Fixed Term value to 0 to disable this feature.
Clients Self Service
By enabling the Show Cancellation Link option in Setup > General Settings > Other, clients can request cancellation of any of their products & services directly from the client area. The user is provided 2 choices for the cancellation - either Instant (on next cron run) or at the End of the Current Billing Cycle. Any unpaid invoices for the product will be cancelled. When requested by a user, you will receive notification by email and you will be able to review the reason provided in Clients > Cancellation Requests.
The cancellations process can be fully automated by enabling the appropriate setting in Setup > Automation Settings and will result in cancellation requests being actioned when the daily automation cron runs. However, if you would prefer to do it manually then you can review pending requests by going to Clients > Cancellation Requests periodically. The requests are divided into two categories - Open & Completed - and you would just need to manually terminate any Open requests listed there.
Admin Scheduled Cancellations
As an admin user, you can schedule the termination of a product at the end of the currently active period by going to the Products/Services tab, ticking the Auto-Terminate End of Cycle option and optionally entering a reason/note for it. Any unpaid invoices for the product will be cancelled and will suppress any further renewal invoices from generating for this product and terminate it when the next due date is reached. The "Cancellation Requests" setting in Setup > Automation Settings must also be enabled.
Admin Immediate Cancellation
Finally, if you want to cancel or terminate a product or service immediately then you simply need to locate the item you wish to cancel, and from the Products/Services page, click the Terminate button if the product is linked to a module or if not, manually change the dropdown status from Active to Cancelled. Once you've done this, no further invoices will generate for the item.
Moving a Product/Service to another Client
- From the Products/Services details page of the product you want to move, click Move Product/Service to Another Client located at the top-right of the page
- A popup box will appear (you will need popup blockers disabled to use this)
- In the popup enter the ID of the new owner. If you don't know the client's ID the Search field can be used to search by name, company or email address. Click the client's name and the ID will be filled in.
- After selecting the desired click, click the Transfer button
- The item will then be transferred, the window will close, and the original window will refresh to show the product under its new owner.
Deleting a Product/Service from a Client
- From the Products/Services details page of the product you want to delete, scroll to the bottom and click the red Delete link
- After clicking this link, you will be asked to confirm if you are sure you want to delete the item
- If you click No you will be returned to the page, if you click Yes, the item will be deleted and you will be taken to the next product/service under that client
Note: Deleting a product from WHMCS will not terminate it on the server. If you wanted to remove it from the server aswell, you need to run the Terminate Module Command as explained above before deleting the record from WHMCS.
Resending Product Welcome Email
To re-send a product welcome email simply navigate to the client's Products/Services tab and click the "Resend Product Welcome Email" button at the bottom of the page.