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How PNLCS Is Organized

If you've never used a billing panel, the vocabulary can be confusing. This page explains the main ideas in plain English and how they fit together.

The big picture

Client  ──places──▶  Order  ──generates──▶  Invoice  ──when paid──▶  Service (Active)
  │                                                                      │
  └── has contacts, tickets, domains                     runs on ──▶  Server (via a Module)

The core objects

Client

A client is a customer — a person or company that buys from you. Each client has a login to the customer portal, a billing profile, and everything they own (services, domains, invoices, tickets).

A client can also have contacts — additional people (e.g. a technical contact and a billing contact) who can be given portal access.

Product

A product is what you sell — a plan on your price list. "Starter Hosting — $5/month" is a product. Products are grouped into product groups (categories) that customers browse in the shop.

Order

An order is a customer's request to buy one or more products. Placing an order creates the order record and an invoice. An order starts Pending and becomes Active once accepted (usually automatically, on payment).

Invoice

An invoice is the bill. It lists what's owed and its status: Unpaid, Paid, Partially Paid, Overdue, Cancelled or Refunded. Paying an invoice is what drives the rest of the system into motion.

Service

A service is the live thing the customer owns after they buy — the actual hosting account, VPS or subscription. A service has its own status (Active, Suspended, Terminated) and its own billing cycle: it renews and generates new invoices on schedule, independently of the original order.

Order vs Service — the key distinction

The order is the one-time act of buying. The service is the ongoing thing that lives on afterward and keeps billing. One order creates a service; that service then renews for months or years.

Server & Module

A server is a machine where hosting accounts are created. A module is the integration that talks to it (Panelica, cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, HestiaCP, Proxmox, Vultr…). When a product is linked to a server + module, PNLCS can create, suspend, unsuspend and terminate accounts automatically.

See Servers & Modules.

Gateway

A payment gateway is how money comes in — Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.Net, bank transfer. See Payment Gateways.

Registrar

A registrar module registers and renews domains (e.g. Enom, or Manual if you handle domains yourself). See Sell Domains.

Admin vs Client — two sides

PNLCS has two front doors:

  • Admin panel (/admin) — you and your staff manage everything here.
  • Client portal (/client) — your customers shop, pay invoices, open tickets and manage their services here.

Where to go next