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Create ledger entry by external ID​

This 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.

Effects of adding a ledger entry​

  1. After calling this endpoint, Fetch Credit Balance will return a credit block that represents the changes (i.e. balance changes or transfers).
  2. 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.
  3. If invoice_settings is specified, an invoice will be created that reflects the cost of the credits (based on amount and per_unit_cost_basis).

Adding credits​

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.

Invoicing for credits​

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.

Deducting Credits​

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"
}

Changing credits expiry​

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"
}

Voiding credits​

If you'd like to void a credit block, create a ledger entry of type void. For this entry, block_id is required to identify the block, and amount indicates how many credits to void, up to the block's initial balance. Pass in a void_reason of refund if the void is due to a refund.

Amendment​

If you'd like to undo a decrement on a credit block, create a ledger entry of type amendment. For this entry, block_id is required to identify the block that was originally decremented from, and amount indicates how many credits to return to the customer, up to the block's initial balance.

Path Parameters
    external_customer_id string required
Request Body required
    oneOf
    metadata object nullable

    User-specified key/value pairs for the resource. Individual keys can be removed by setting the value to null, and the entire metadata mapping can be cleared by setting metadata to null.

    property name* string nullable
    currency string nullable

    The currency or custom pricing unit to use for this ledger entry. If this is a real-world currency, it must match the customer's invoicing currency.

    description string nullable

    Optional metadata that can be specified when adding ledger results via the API. For example, this can be used to note an increment refers to trial credits, or for noting corrections as a result of an incident, etc.

    entry_type string required

    Possible values: [increment]

    amount number required

    The number of credits to effect. Note that this is required for increment, decrement, void, or undo operations.

    expiry_date object nullable

    An ISO 8601 format date that denotes when this credit balance should expire.

    oneOf

    string

    An ISO 8601 format date that denotes when this credit balance should expire.

    effective_date object nullable

    An ISO 8601 format date that denotes when this credit balance should become available for use.

    oneOf

    string

    An ISO 8601 format date that denotes when this credit balance should become available for use.

    per_unit_cost_basis string nullable

    Can only be specified when entry_type=increment. How much, in the customer's currency, a customer paid for a single credit in this block

    invoice_settings object nullable
    auto_collection boolean required

    Whether the credits purchase invoice should auto collect with the customer's saved payment method.

    net_terms integer required

    The net terms determines the difference between the invoice date and the issue date for the invoice. If you intend the invoice to be due on issue, set this to 0.

    memo string nullable

    An optional memo to display on the invoice.

    require_successful_payment boolean

    Default value: false

    If true, the new credit block will require that the corresponding invoice is paid before it can be drawn down from.

Responses

Created

Response Headers
    Schema
      oneOf
      metadata object required

      User specified key-value pairs for the resource. If not present, this defaults to an empty dictionary. Individual keys can be removed by setting the value to null, and the entire metadata mapping can be cleared by setting metadata to null.

      property name* string
      id string required
      ledger_sequence_number integer required
      entry_status string required

      Possible values: [committed, pending]

      customer object required
      id string required
      external_customer_id string nullable required
      starting_balance number required
      ending_balance number required
      amount number required
      currency string required
      created_at date-time required
      description string nullable required
      credit_block object required
      id string required
      expiry_date date-time nullable required
      per_unit_cost_basis string nullable required
      entry_type string required

      Possible values: [increment]

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