---
id: KB-CD-018
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/credits-and-billing/the-spend-that-runs-on-its-own
idioma: en
categoria: creditos
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-CD-013, KB-CD-003, KB-CD-021]
citadoPor: [KB-CD-006]
---

# The spend that runs on its own

_What gets consumed with nobody clicking anything, and why automating well starts with knowing what repeats._

**Responde a:** credits used without doing anything · how much does automating notices cost · do webhooks use credits · why does usage climb every month

What you click by hand is easy to estimate: you know how many documents you request a month. What is configured once and then runs on its own is estimated badly, because nobody triggers it and nobody counts it. It is not expensive: it repeats.

## What runs on its own, and what it costs

| What is automated | When it consumes | Worth knowing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Notice to your system on each event | Once per delivered event | If the rule fires on every status change, it multiplies |
| Automatic process rules | Each time the rule applies | A loosely scoped rule applies more often than you think |
| Daily summary | When it is produced | Sending it adds nothing |
| Sync with your folder | Per sync requested | Not per document copied |
| Automatic reminder to a signer | Does not consume | One of the few repeating things that is free |
| Reminder to a contact | Does consume | And that is the contrast almost nobody expects |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Those last two rows sum up the whole criterion: **chasing someone already signing costs nothing; asking a third party again does**. It is not arbitrary — the first closes something already under way, the second is a fresh outward communication. If you automate chasing, that difference is what decides the month-end bill, and it shows on no screen until it has happened.

## The other rule that orders everything else

**En corto**

- Producing costs; looking again at what was produced does not.
- Downloading a report, a ZIP or a document that already exists does not charge again.
- Searching your own material, seeing who accessed it or checking a seal is free.
- And one action is one action: asking ten contacts for something is one, not ten.

> [!WARNING]
> Careful with what looks like a repeated charge and is not: **some processes are recorded step by step**. An automated call leaves a record of dialling, of transcribing and of storing; a job by the agent that browses on your behalf, of launching it, of logging what it did and of uploading the result. They appear as separate lines in the detail — deliberately, so each one can be audited — and added together they are what that whole task costs.

## How to size it before switching it on

1. **Count events, not features** — «Notify the ERP» says nothing; «four status changes per file» does.
2. **Multiply by your real volume for a month** — Using the busiest month of the year, not the average.
3. **Scope the rule to the event that actually matters** — Half of automatic notices are read by nobody.
4. **And review it the following month** — It is the only way to see what fired more than it should.

> [!NOTE]
> Each organisation can have its own consumption policy, so your account's detail overrides any general list. What does not change is the criterion: you are charged for what the platform does outwards or produces for you, not for consulting what is already yours.

**Can I limit who switches automations on?**

Yes, and it is worth it: it is what stops ownerless spend growing.

**Does a notice that fails and retries count?**

Check your account detail: every recorded delivery appears there.

**Is automating worth it, then?**

Nearly always: a chase that goes out on its own costs less than the call it saves.

## Ejemplos

**A company wires notices into its ERP on every status change of every file.**

- Counts a busy month's events before switching it on and scopes the rule to two statuses

→ The notice arrives when it adds something, and automatic spend stops being a monthly surprise.

**A scheduled process consumes every day.**

- Reviews which activities it generates

→ Automated spend becomes known.

**A process nobody needs is left running.**

- Reviews what is scheduled periodically

→ What nobody uses gets switched off.

**An integration generates consumption unwatched.**

- Checks consumption by source

→ Automated spend has a name.

**Consumption rises with nobody having done anything.**

- Compares the breakdown with the previous period

→ The increase is located.

**An automatic reminder fires more often than intended.**

- Reviews the configured frequency

→ Consumption matches what is needed.