Automatic Credit Top-Ups
How to have Work Planner buy another SMS or address lookup credit pack on its own when the balance runs low, and the limits that keep it in check.
Credit packs are a balance rather than a monthly allowance, so they run out mid-round if nobody is watching. On Dashboard > Subscription > Manage Bolt-Ons, the Automatic top-ups section lets you say "buy me another pack when I get low" once, and then stop thinking about it.
Which Packs Can Top Themselves Up
- SMS Credits: the credits spent when you text a customer.
- Address Lookup: the credits spent when you look up an address while adding a customer or job.
Everything else on the Bolt-Ons screen renews with your subscription and never runs out part-way through a month, so there is nothing to top up.
A pack only appears here once there is a balance for it to watch — either your plan includes an allowance of that kind, or you have bought the pack at least once. Until then there is nothing to run low, so buy the first one yourself and the option appears. Packs your plan already covers without limit are left out too, since they never run down.
The account also needs the feature the credits pay for: SMS messaging for SMS Credits, and address lookup for address lookup packs, whether that comes with your plan or a bolt-on. If you lose it after setting up a top-up, the top-up stays here so you can still turn it off, but it will not buy anything until the feature is back.
Setting It Up
Press Set up top-ups on the pack you want, and fill in the three numbers. The same button sits beside each credit pack on your Subscription page, and brings you to the same place.
- Buy more when this many credits are left: the point at which another pack is bought. This counts everything you have left, including the credits your plan gives you each month, so it will not buy while your monthly allowance is still healthy.
- Packs to buy each time: how many packs to buy in one go. One is usually right; raise it if a single pack does not last you a week.
- Most packs to buy in a month: the ceiling. Once this many have been bought in a calendar month, top-ups pause themselves and we tell you rather than carrying on.
What Gets Charged
Your saved payment method is charged for each top-up, without asking first — that is the point of it, and it is why the monthly limit matters. A card has to be saved before you can turn top-ups on, and each purchase is invoiced through Stripe exactly as a manual purchase would be. You can see them on your Subscription page.
When Top-Ups Stop
- The month's limit is used up: top-ups pause until the next month starts, then pick up on their own.
- The payment was declined: after three refused attempts, top-ups stop and wait for you. Fix the card, then save the top-up settings again to start them off.
Either way the notification bell tells you, and your phone does too if you have notifications turned on, so you hear about it before your credits run out rather than afterwards. You can turn these off under Billing and automatic top-ups in your notification settings, though we would rather you did not.
Turning It Off
Open the pack again and press Turn off. Nothing else changes: the credits you have already bought stay on the account, and you can still buy packs by hand whenever you want.
Related articles
- Bolt-Ons Screen: the page these settings live on.
- Bolt-On Purchase Popup: buying a pack by hand instead.
- Adding or Updating a Payment Method: the card each top-up is charged to.