AI Credits - Balance, Packs, and Auto Top-Up

Summary

Torqueflow uses AI credits to meter AI features and a few other usage-based services: voice calls, WhatsApp, SMS and customer portal replies, diagnostics, document scanning, Haynes Pro vehicle data, the Xero connection and extra phone numbers. Each subscription includes a monthly allowance of 800 credits: 700 for usage, plus 100 that pay for your first phone number. A free trial comes with 2,500 credits instead. Owners can view their balance, see usage for every channel, purchase additional credit packs and configure automatic top-ups. The credit dashboard appears on the Settings > Billing page below the subscription details.

Prerequisites

• You must be signed in with billing.credits.view permission to see the credit dashboard.
• You must have billing.credits.purchase permission to buy credit packs or configure auto top-up.
• Credit pack purchase and auto top-up are only available on active or grandfathered subscriptions.

Steps

View your credit balance

1. Navigate to Settings > Billing.
2. Below the subscription card, find the Credit Balance card with a fuel gauge icon.
3. The card displays:
   • Total balance - a large number showing credits available.
   • Fuel gauge - a colour-coded progress bar:
     • Green: healthy (50%+) or moderate.
     • Orange: low (20-50%) or very low (10-20%).
     • Empty with orange outline: exhausted (0%).
   • Status text below the gauge reads one of: “Credits healthy”, “Credits in good shape”, “Credits running low”, “Credits very low”, or “No credits remaining”.
   • Natural-language estimate - e.g. “Based on your usage, these credits should last approximately 12 days.” If there is not enough usage data, it reads “Not enough usage data for an estimate”.
4. Below the estimate, a credit type breakdown shows:
   • Subscription credits with the refresh date (e.g. “refreshes 1 May”).
   • Purchased credits with “(no expiry)”.
   • Gifted credits with the expiry date if applicable.

View usage by channel

1. Below the credit balance widget, find the Usage This Cycle card. A small line under the title reads “Usage updates overnight”.
2. The card has two sections. Per-use covers what you pay each time something is used:
   • Voice - calls answered by the AI.
   • SMS - messages handled by the AI.
   • WhatsApp - messages handled by the AI.
   • Customer portal - portal messages handled by the AI.
   • Diagnostics - AI diagnostic queries.
   • Document scans - documents scanned, such as supplier invoices and delivery notes.
   • Vehicle data - Haynes Pro vehicle lookups.
3. Recurring covers what you pay each month regardless of use:
   • Xero sync - the monthly charge for your connected Xero organisation. It shows credits only, with no count.
   • Phone rental - your phone numbers. On a paid subscription this includes your first number, which uses 100 credits a month.
4. Each tile shows the credits used this billing cycle and, where it makes sense, a count such as calls, messages, scans or vehicle lookups.
5. Every channel is always shown, including the ones you have not used yet. An unused channel shows 0. This is deliberate, so you can see what your credits can be used for.
6. Per-call cost is never shown. The display leads with how much you use each channel.
7. Per-use figures update overnight, so today’s calls and scans appear tomorrow. Vehicle data, Xero sync and phone rental charges appear as soon as they are taken.

View credit usage trend

1. The Credit Trend Chart card shows daily credit consumption over time.
2. It includes the current period total, previous period total, and percentage change.

View purchase history

1. The Purchase History section lists past credit pack purchases.
2. Each entry shows the date, pack name, number of credits, cost, and source (manual purchase or auto top-up).

Purchase a credit pack

1. Scroll to the Credit Packs section on the billing page.
2. Available packs display as cards in a grid, each showing:
   • Pack name with a lightning bolt icon.
   • Number of credits (e.g. “1,000 credits”).
   • Price in GBP (e.g. “£10.00”).
   • Per-credit cost (e.g. “1.0p per credit”).
3. If multiple packs are available, the pack with the lowest per-credit cost has a purple “Best Value” badge and a highlighted border.
4. Click Buy Now on your chosen pack. The button changes to “Redirecting…” while the Stripe Checkout session is created.
5. Complete payment in Stripe Checkout.
6. On success, a toast message appears: “Credits purchased successfully! Your balance will update shortly.” The balance refreshes automatically after a few seconds.
7. If you cancel checkout, a toast reads: “Purchase cancelled.”
8. The price shown is net. Tax is added at checkout based on your billing country, the same as your subscription. Every purchase produces a downloadable VAT invoice in the Invoice History card. See Manage Your Subscription and Billing for setting your billing country and VAT / Tax ID.

Trial accounts

1. A free trial includes 2,500 AI credits. They last until the trial ends.
2. Trial organisations see a message in the Credit Packs section: “Your trial includes free AI credits. Upgrade to a paid plan to purchase additional credits.”
3. Trial accounts see a simplified credit dashboard showing only the balance widget and estimate (no usage breakdown, trend chart, or purchase history).
4. Unused trial credits expire at the end of the trial. Your first monthly allowance is added when the first payment is taken. See How your free trial works.

Configure auto top-up

1. Scroll to the Auto Top-Up section below Credit Packs.
2. The card shows an Auto Top-Up heading with a toggle switch on the right.
3. If you have no saved payment method, the toggle is disabled and a message reads: “No saved payment method found. Make a credit purchase to save your card.” with a link to scroll to the credit packs section.
4. Toggle the switch to enable auto top-up.
5. Two fields appear:
   • Balance threshold (credits) - enter the credit level that triggers an automatic purchase. The placeholder shows the valid range.
   • Credit pack - select which pack to purchase automatically from the dropdown. Each option shows the pack name, credit count, and price (e.g. “Starter - 1,000 credits (£10.00)”).
6. A cost preview box appears below (e.g. “When your balance drops below 100 credits, we’ll automatically charge £10.00 to your saved card.”).
7. Click Save Configuration.
8. A confirmation dialog appears titled “Enable Auto Top-Up” summarising the charge amount and threshold. Click Confirm to save.
9. A success toast reads: “Auto top-up enabled successfully”.

Disable auto top-up

1. Toggle the Auto Top-Up switch to off. The configuration saves immediately.
2. A toast reads: “Auto top-up disabled”.

Monitor auto top-up activity

1. When auto top-up has been triggered, a line below the card shows “Last auto top-up: 2h ago” (or similar relative time).
2. Monthly statistics appear: e.g. “This month: 3 auto top-ups (£30.00)”.
3. If the last auto top-up failed, a red warning banner appears above the card: “Your last auto top-up failed. Please check your payment method.”
4. Automatic top-ups are taxed and invoiced the same way as a manual purchase. Each one produces a VAT invoice in your Invoice History.

Expected Outcome

• The credit balance dashboard gives a clear view of available credits, usage patterns, and purchase history.
• Credit packs can be purchased via Stripe Checkout. Purchased credits last 12 months from the day you buy them, and they carry over between billing cycles.
• Auto top-up automatically purchases a chosen credit pack when the balance drops below a set threshold.
• Trial accounts receive 2,500 free credits and cannot purchase additional packs until their subscription starts.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Fix
Credit dashboard not visible	Missing billing.credits.view permission, or subscription is not active/trial/grandfathered.	Check your role has credit viewing permissions.
A channel shows 0 but you used it today	Per-use figures update overnight.	Check again tomorrow. Your balance is already up to date.
”Credit packs are being configured. Check back soon.”	No packs have been set up with Stripe price IDs yet.	Contact Torqueflow support.
Credit pack Buy Now button unresponsive	A purchase is already in progress (double-click protection).	Wait for the current action to complete, then try again.
Auto top-up toggle disabled	No saved payment method on file.	Purchase a credit pack first to save your card details.
”Your last auto top-up failed” banner	Payment method declined or expired.	Update your payment method via Manage Subscription on the billing page.
Balance shows “Balance is being recalculated”	Temporary state while credit ledger entries are refreshed.	Wait a moment and refresh the page.

Notes

Typical usage by garage size

These are illustrative. Actual usage depends on your call and message patterns and which AI features you turn on.

Garage profile	Calls answered by AI	Messages handled by AI	Invoice scans	Xero connected?	Approx monthly credit use
Solo operator, low call volume	30 calls/month	50 WhatsApp/portal messages	20 supplier invoices	No	Within included allowance
Small independent, typical	80 calls/month	200 messages	40 supplier invoices	Yes (50 credits)	Within included allowance + Xero
Busy independent	150 calls/month	400 messages	80 supplier invoices	Yes (50 credits)	May need a top-up pack

The Xero integration is the most predictable credit cost: exactly 50 credits per month per connected Xero organisation, debited on the same day each month. Voice and message credit usage varies with call length and complexity.

What happens when credits run out

You don’t lose functionality. AI features step back to message-taking mode: calls are still answered, WhatsApp still gets a reply, and SMS still works, but instead of the AI checking live workshop data and holding intelligent conversations, it takes a name, number and reason for calling. Your garage keeps running and your customers still get a response. Credits reset on your next billing cycle, or you can top up instantly (see “Purchase a credit pack” above).

Other notes

• Credit consumption data resets each billing cycle.
• The “these credits should last approximately” estimate is based on per-use AI spend. It does not include Vehicle data, Xero sync or Phone rental charges, so a month with heavy Haynes Pro use runs down faster than the estimate suggests.
• The fuel gauge uses the subscription allowance as its maximum. Purchased and gifted credits can push the total above 100%.
• When credits are exhausted, AI features degrade gracefully rather than stopping entirely.
• The billing page is designed to continue working even if credit data fails to load. You may see the subscription section without the credit dashboard in rare error cases.

Permissions

• billing.credits.view - required to see the credit balance dashboard.
• billing.credits.purchase - required to buy credit packs and configure auto top-up.