Credits and billing
We spent three times more this month
Four possible causes, and how to tell them apart in ten minutes.
Consumption jumps and the first reaction is to assume something is broken. It rarely is: it is almost always one of these four, and all four are told apart by looking at the breakdown rather than the invoice.
The four causes, by frequency
| Cause | How to recognise it | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A campaign or activity peak | The rise concentrates in a few days | Nothing: it was expected, and worth noting for next year |
| A new automatic rule | The rise starts the day it was switched on | Check how often it fires |
| An expensive channel set as default | One specific action type rises | Keep the expensive channel only where needed |
| Resends and repeats | Many actions of the same type to the same recipient | Check the status before resending |
Important
The second surprises most and is easiest to miss: a rule that looked harmless can fire hundreds of times a month. Each firing consumes exactly as if a person did it, and nobody sees it because nobody is doing it.
How to look, in order
- 1
The breakdown by action type
It says what rose: sends, reads, uploads, certifications.
- 2
Then by area or process
It says who did it, usually one place.
- 3
And the date it started
If it started on a specific day, find what was switched on that day.
Watch out
Beware jumping to "someone is misusing this". In the vast majority of cases it is a well-meaning automation or a campaign nobody announced, and starting by blaming a person spoils the conversation without fixing anything.
What to leave in place afterwards
With that, an expensive month stops being a surprise and becomes something you already knew was coming.
Worth knowing
If the rise comes from a bulk send, remember a send to two hundred counts as one action. If you are seeing two hundred, it was not a bulk send: it was two hundred sends, and that is a method problem, not a pricing one.
›Can a spending limit be set?
You control top-ups and review the breakdown; the real brake is knowing what consumes.
›Does the assistant's work consume?
Yes, exactly as if a person did it.
›What about failed actions?
It depends on the type; the breakdown shows it, and it is worth checking.
A real case
The situation
A company sees consumption triple and suspects a fault.
What you do
- Checks the breakdown by type and by date
- Finds a rule switched on the 3rd that fires hourly
What you get
Adjusts the rule and consumption returns to normal, with nobody blamed.
The situation
Consumption triples and nobody knows why.
What you do
- Compares the breakdown with the previous month
What you get
The difference is located.
The situation
A new process came in without flagging its impact.
What you do
- Reviews which activities it added
What you get
The rise has a cause.
The situation
A one-off campaign explains the spike.
What you do
- Separates campaign consumption from the ordinary
What you get
The month reads correctly.
The situation
Somebody repeats actions out of unfamiliarity.
What you do
- Checks consumption by user
What you get
Training goes where it is needed.
The situation
The rise is discovered on the invoice.
What you do
- Reviews consumption during the month
What you get
The correction arrives in time.
This article answers
- credit consumption has spiked
- why did we spend more this month
- unexpected platform consumption
- controlling a rising spend