Bill a lead only after the buyer validates it

Off by default. Turn it on under Advanced in a buyer's Pricing & billing when that buyer only pays for the leads it accepts. Delivered leads then wait for your decision, by hand or by API, and bill once validated.

For every other buyer nothing changes: a delivered lead bills at once.

Turning it on

Buyer → Settings → Pricing & billing → Edit → Advanced. Switch on Bill after validation, then set:

The setting applies to leads delivered from now on. The buyer's Settings card reads, for example, "billed after validation (7 days, then validated)".

Turning it off asks first when leads are still awaiting validation. They keep their status and still close on their date. New deliveries bill at once.

What changes on a lead

Each delivery to that buyer gets a Billing status, on its own line under the delivery on the lead page:

Billing is not the lead's Outcome. Outcome is what the buyer did with the lead (In progress, Sold, Lost); Billing is whether you charge for it. Each has its own badge and its own menu.

Revenue, the dashboard, buyer stats and exports count a lead once it is validated. The dashboard lists "N leads awaiting validation" in what needs your attention, with the amount not yet billable.

Deciding by hand

• One lead: click the Billing badge on the lead page, then Validate or Mark not billable… (add a reason if you like: duplicate, out of area, unreachable).
• Many leads: on the Leads list, filter Billing: Awaiting validation, select the leads, then Validate (N) or Mark not billable (N)…. Leads already decided are skipped. Bulk actions are for admins.
• Changed your mind? Reopen puts a decided lead back to Awaiting validation. Invoice buyers only.

Every decision appears in the lead's history and in Activity, with who decided, how and why.

Deciding by API

Two ways, both landing in the same place as a decision by hand:

• The buyer validates its own leads with its reporting key: {"accepted": true} or {"accepted": false, "reason": "…"} on the lead outcomes API. Once the setting is on, the buyer's Reporting API card shows a ready-to-copy example when you generate its key.
• Your own systems decide, and read the statement, with an organization key holding the leads:bill scope: see the lead billing API.

An API decision is final on the API side. To change one, reopen it in the app.

The window

When a lead's window ends and nobody decided, the buyer's When the window ends setting applies: validated automatically, or marked not billable. The due date is fixed when the lead is delivered; the setting read is the one in place when the window ends.

Prepaid buyers

A prepaid buyer is still debited when the lead is delivered, so its balance drops at delivery while its spend rises at validation. Marking a lead not billable refunds its price to the balance, once. A decided lead on a prepaid buyer can't be reopened; use Record adjustment to correct the balance.

Disputes

A lead awaiting validation can't be disputed yet, and a lead that was not billed can't be disputed at all. Once validated, a lead can be disputed as usual. See How disputes work.

The Billing tab

A buyer billed after validation gets a Billing tab next to Overview and Settings: the statement of a period.

• Pick This month, Last month or Custom…. Periods follow the day each lead was delivered, in your organization's timezone.
• Three tiles: Validated (amount and leads), Awaiting validation (amount, leads, and how many are due today), Not billable (leads and the amount not billed). Click a tile to list only those leads; click it again to list all.
• The table shows each lead with its price, billing status, when and by whom it was decided, the reason, and the buyer's outcome for reference.
• Export CSV downloads the period, with the delivery ID and the buyer's own reference for each lead.

The tab stays after you turn the setting off, as long as the buyer has leads with a billing status.

Common questions

Does turning it on change past leads? No. Only leads delivered from then on wait for validation.

Can the buyer validate from the portal? No, by API or by you. With Lead prices & spend on, the portal shows the billing status of each lead, read only.

Does Lost mean not billable? No, they are separate: Outcome is what the buyer did with the lead, Billing is whether you charge for it.

Is a validated lead ever unbilled? By an accepted dispute, the same as any billed lead, or if you reopen it and mark it not billable (invoice buyers only).

Frequently asked questions