14.15. Track Endpoint, Storage, and License Usage for Consumption-Based MSP Billing

Navigate to Billing > Tracking & Reports > Usage Tracking. Usage tracking records measurable quantities for services that bill based on consumption — for example, monitored endpoints, gigabytes of backup storage, or active licensed seats. These records feed directly into invoice calculations for usage-based and bucket contract lines.

When to Use Usage Tracking

Use this page when a client has contract lines with Usage billing or bucket / included-allowance overlays. The usage records you enter here provide the quantity data that the billing engine uses to calculate consumption charges and overage.

Typical MSP examples:

• Number of monitored endpoints in a given month.
• Gigabytes of cloud backup storage consumed.
• Active user seats on a managed Microsoft 365 or security platform.
• Security events ingested or workloads protected.

For a service to be eligible for usage tracking, it must have a Unit of Measure defined in the Service Catalog (see 14.3. Service Catalog).

Choose the quantity source on the contract

Usage is recorded against the agreement's service configuration. The same catalog service can use different measurement modes on different contract lines.

Configure these options in the existing service settings described in 14.7. Add Fixed, Hourly, Usage, and Bucket Contract Lines with Reusable Presets. Existing dated usage remains additive until you deliberately schedule a change.

Viewing Usage Records

The Usage Tracking page displays a table of recorded usage with columns for:

• Client
• Service
• Quantity
• Usage Date
• Contract Line
• Actions

You can narrow the list with two filters at the top of the table:

• Client — select a single client, or All Clients.
• Service — select a single usage service, or All Services.

There is no date range filter on this page. Use the Reset button to clear both filters.

Recording a Dated Usage Entry

Use this workflow for Record consumption as it occurs. Each new entry adds consumption; to correct a previous entry, edit that row instead of adding the corrected total as another event.

1. Click Add Usage.
2. Fill in the dialog. Fields appear in this order:
   • Client — the client the usage belongs to.
   • Service — the usage-based service. Only services with a Unit of Measure appear in this list.
   • Quantity — the measured amount in the service's unit of measure (for example, 1,250 for 1,250 GB).
   • Usage Date — the date the usage occurred or was measured. Defaults to today.
   • Comments (optional) — a short free-text note about the record (for example, the source RMM report).
   • Contract Line — appears once a client and service have both been chosen.
3. Click Add Usage.

How the Contract Line is chosen

The Contract Line field is intelligent so that operators rarely have to think about it:

• If exactly one eligible contract line exists for the client and service, Alga auto-selects it.
• If multiple eligible lines exist and exactly one of them has a bucket overlay, Alga prefers that bucket line. This matches the common MSP pattern of consuming the included allowance first before billing overage.
• If multiple eligible lines exist with no clear preference, an info banner prompts the operator to choose. Selecting the wrong line can route the charge to the wrong invoice, so a warning is shown.
• If no eligible lines exist for the client and service, the usage routes to the system-managed default contract.

For a primer on contract line types, see 14.7. Contract Lines, Presets, and Examples. For setting up the lines themselves, see 14.6. Creating Client Contracts.

Recording or correcting a period count

For Report a count for each period, use the contextual usage action for the affected service period. The invoice preview can record the count in place, and its Record usage action opens Usage Tracking with the client, contract line, service, and period already identified.

1. Confirm the named service and period, especially when entering last month's count during a later month.
2. Enter the whole-period quantity. The count entry accepts a whole number of zero or more.
3. Select Save for a new report. For an existing report, change the count and select Save correction.
4. Review the refreshed preview for the same billing period.

For GreenLeaf's reported endpoint count, saving 35 and then correcting it to 37 leaves one total of 37 endpoints. At $45.00 each, that period bills $1,665.00 before tax, assuming no minimum or tier changes. It does not bill 72 endpoints. The next period starts unreported, so enter a new count even if it remains 37.

A missing report differs from an explicit zero. Minimums and tiers apply once to a period count, including an explicit zero where a minimum applies; additive entries apply their minimum and tiers separately per entry. Missing usage does not create a recurring minimum charge.

AlgaPSA rejects stale concurrent corrections and prevents a report from being consumed twice. Once a period total has been invoiced, use the invoice correction workflow instead of editing or recreating the total. See 14.13. Review, Finalize, Email, and Download Client Invoices.

Editing and Deleting Usage Records

Each row in the table has an actions menu:

• Edit — re-open the record to correct quantity, date, comments, or contract line.
• Delete — remove the record (with confirmation).

Clicking a row also opens the edit dialog. Changes affect invoice calculations for the associated billing period as long as the period has not yet been invoiced — see 14.11. Understanding Service Periods and 14.12. Generating Invoices.

Bucket Consumption Charts

When a single client is selected in the Client filter, the page displays Bucket Hours Overview charts at the top of the screen. There is one chart per contract line that has a bucket overlay, showing remaining units in the current period only.

These charts are designed for at-a-glance monitoring — they show current capacity, not a historical trend. Use them to spot clients approaching or exceeding their included allowance before the period closes.

If a selected client has no active bucket overlays, the charts area is hidden.

Example: GreenLeaf Dental Group, Backup Storage Overage

GreenLeaf Dental Group has a managed backup contract with two lines:

• Managed Backup Platform Base Fee — fixed, $300.00 per month.
• Cloud Backup Storage — usage with a bucket overlay of 1,000 GB included, then $0.20 per GB.

For this example, the service uses dated additive entries and the operator records one measured consumption entry for the month:

1. Click Add Usage.
2. Client: GreenLeaf Dental Group.
3. Service: Cloud Backup Storage (GB).
4. Quantity: 1,250.
5. Usage Date: last day of the billing period.
6. Comments: "Veeam monthly storage report."
7. Contract Line: auto-selected, because the bucket overlay on Cloud Backup Storage is the only eligible line.
8. Add Usage.

When the invoice is generated, GreenLeaf is billed:

Filtering the Usage Tracking page to GreenLeaf will also display a bucket chart showing 0 GB remaining (1,000 of 1,000 consumed plus 250 GB overage).

How Usage Feeds Into Invoicing

When invoices are generated for a period that contains usage-based or bucket lines:

1. The billing engine reads eligible dated entries or the explicit total associated with the selected service period, according to the service's measurement mode.
2. Each additive entry is priced using its per-entry minimum and tiers. A period total is priced once using its per-report minimum and tiers.
3. Charges retain their service and contract-line attribution. Already-invoiced records are excluded from new charges without being treated as unreported usage.
4. For bucket overlays, only consumption above the included allowance is billed as overage.
5. The resulting charges appear as line items on the generated invoice.

The preview identifies services whose usage has not been recorded and provides a way to enter it. Review the named service and period before generation; missing usage is not evidence of zero consumption. See 14.12. Generate Automatic, Manual, and Prepayment Invoices for MSP Clients.

Best Practices

• Record usage at a consistent point in the cycle — many MSPs do it on the last business day of the period or the first business day after.
• Spot-check the Bucket Hours Overview charts mid-period for clients trending toward overage so you can have a renewal or upsell conversation before the invoice arrives.
• If usage data lives in another system (RMM, backup console, cloud billing portal, identity provider), automate it via the API rather than transcribing by hand.
• When in doubt about which contract line to choose, default to the bucket line — Alga will only route overage to the usage line if the bucket is exhausted.