Credits

Some features call paid outside services every time you use them — invoice
OCR, the AI Sous Chef, and Google business search in the Prospect Planner.
PrepStation meters those with credits, kept in three separate pools:

Pools never share: buying AI chat credits doesn't add OCR credits, and so on.

Monthly Allowance and Top-Ups

Each pool has two parts:

• Monthly allowance — included with your plan. It resets to the full
  amount at the start of every billing period (annual plans get the whole
  year's amount at once). Unused allowance does not roll over.
• Purchased credits — top-up packs you buy. They never expire and stay
  with the account even if you change or cancel your plan.

Usage always comes out of the allowance first, so purchased credits are only
touched after the allowance for the period is gone.

Where to Find Your Balance

Balances appear where you spend them:

• Prospect Planner — a meter under the page header, updated after every
  search.
• Credits pages — Buy Credits (/credits/purchases/new) and
  Transactions (/credits/transactions) show a meter for every pool:
  allowance left this period, purchased credits, and when the allowance
  resets.
• Low-balance notices — see Warnings below. Every notice links
  straight to the Credits pages.

The AI Sous Chef doesn't show a running meter — it only speaks up when you're
running low or have run out.

How AI Chat Credits Are Charged

Each reply is priced from what the AI model actually used to answer it, so a
quick question costs less than a long recipe generation that looks up your
ingredients. Every reply costs at least 1 credit.

• You need at least 1 credit to send a message. With none left, the message
  isn't sent and you're shown how to get more.
• A reply is charged once it finishes. If it costs more than you have left,
  your balance goes to zero — it never goes negative, and the reply is never
  cut off for lack of credits.
• If you stop a reply mid-stream, you're charged for the part that was
  generated.

How Prospect Credits Are Charged

See Prospect Planner for details.

Warnings

A pool is low when it drops to 20% of its monthly allowance (with a small
minimum, so tiny allowances still warn in time). It's empty when nothing is
left.

Account owners and admins get an in-app notification — and an email, unless
they turn the Credit balance email category off — the first time a pool goes low
and again if it runs out. Each warning is sent once per billing period.

When a pool is empty, only the features that use it stop:

• OCR — new scans are blocked; existing invoices are unaffected.
• AI Sous Chef — new messages are blocked; past conversations stay readable.
• Prospect Planner — searches and Google imports are blocked; saved results
  and your CRM matches keep working.

Buying Credits

Only account owners and admins can buy credits. Other team members who run out
are asked to contact one.

1. Open Buy Credits — from any low-balance notice, the Buy credits link
   on a meter, or /credits/purchases/new.
2. Pick the pool tab: OCR Credits, AI Chat Credits, or Prospect
   Credits.
3. Choose a pack and click Purchase Now. Payment goes through Stripe.

Credits are added as soon as the payment succeeds. Larger packs cost less per
credit.

Transaction History

Transactions (/credits/transactions) lists every change to every pool:
purchases, monthly allowances, usage, admin grants, refunds, and reversals.

• Filter by pool with the tabs at the top.
• Added and Used totals summarize the current filter.
• Click any row for its reference number, balance after, who triggered it, and
  a description.

Every pack you've bought, with its status, is under Purchases
(/credits/purchases).

Common Questions

Q: Do purchased credits expire?
A: No. Only the monthly allowance resets.

Q: What happens to my credits if I upgrade?
A: If the new plan includes a bigger allowance, the difference is added right
away. The full new amount applies from your next billing period.

Q: What happens if I downgrade?
A: Your current allowance stays until the period ends; the smaller amount
applies at the next renewal.

Q: Can I move credits between pools?
A: No. Each pool is bought and spent separately.

Q: I was charged for a scan or search that failed. What now?
A: Failed OCR scans aren't charged, and cached prospect results are free. If
something still looks wrong, contact support with the transaction's reference
number from the Transactions page.

Next Steps

• Billing & Subscription — Change plans and payment methods
• Notifications — Choose which alerts arrive by email