Billing and service funding

Who this is for

Use this guide to subscribe to Abe Updates, to manage or cancel that subscription, or to review how Abe's payment setup works. Employer or owner-funded allocations are different from a customer's paid receipt. App consent and notification choices remain yours.

Subscribe to Abe Updates

Abe Updates is the package open for purchase today. It costs A$29 a month, including GST, billed monthly. It includes browsing and searching official updates from Medicare and the MBS, the PBS, AHPRA and the national boards, the TGA and the Department of Health, each linked to the official website. It also includes optional alerts, which stay off until you turn them on, and showing the updates on your practice website once your site is linked to Abe. The course finder is not part of this package. It shows Coming soon.

1. Open Try Abe Updates and choose Subscribe, or go straight to Abe services and payment. Sign in if asked. Your chosen package is shown first, marked Your chosen package.
2. Read the package card: the name (Abe Updates), the price (A$29 a month, including GST) and what is included.
3. Tick the one confirmation box: I understand Abe Updates costs A$29 a month, including GST. It renews each month until I cancel. The payment button stays switched off until you tick it.
4. Choose Continue to secure payment. Abe opens Stripe's secure payment page. You pay there, and you do not need your own Stripe account.
5. After you pay, Stripe returns you to Abe. The page shows Payment received — setting up your access while Stripe confirms the payment. This usually takes less than a minute, and you can stay on the page. If it takes longer, the page says Your payment is still being processed, that you will not be charged twice, and offers Check again. If your access is still not active after 15 minutes, email hello@abeai.com.au.
6. When access is ready, the page says Abe Updates is active, followed by Thank you. Your access is ready now. Under Your services, Abe Updates shows Active, with the date the current paid period ends and a note that it renews automatically unless you cancel.
7. The What to do next list then offers two steps. Read your updates in Abe opens Open my updates, where you can browse and choose alerts. Add Abe to your website (optional) points you to Application access and the website guide.

Returning from Stripe is not itself a receipt. Access starts only after Abe has confirmed the payment. If you already have access that covers the package, the package is not offered again. Paying does not change which apps can see your account, and alerts stay off until you choose them.

Manage or cancel your subscription

Under Your services, choose Manage or cancel subscription. It opens Stripe's secure page, where you can update your card, download invoices or cancel. The subscription renews automatically each month unless you cancel, and the screen shows the date your current paid period ends. If the page cannot open, it says We could not open the subscription page. Please try again in a few minutes. Try again later or email hello@abeai.com.au. Cancelling a subscription is separate from disconnecting an application or pausing alerts. See Manage and cancel.

Do I need a Stripe account?

Your role	What you need
Individual subscriber	Your Abe account and a payment method when a supported paid offer is available. You do not create a Stripe merchant account.
Staff member with funded access	Your own Abe account, confirmed allocated services and personal app permission. You do not purchase those services again.
Abe owner testing without payment	A genuine owner allocation and the same permission checks as another user. No Stripe account or 100% discount code is needed for this access test.
Abe business collecting subscriptions	A Stripe merchant account for the legal entity receiving payments, approved packages and a verified payment connection.
Outside application's developer	The registered Abe connection described in Developer guidance. Embedding Abe does not make that developer the payment merchant. A partner selling a bundle needs its own approved commercial arrangement.

For the customer's connection steps, use Connect from another application. For merchant setup, follow the next sections. Preparing Stripe does not make the unfinished widget ready.

Test funded access without a purchase

Already-funded Abe access does not require a purchase or a discount. Where your current account already has the relevant service access, use the ordinary user screens to check sign-in, app permission, search and your chosen updates. Ownership does not skip personal consent. The new shared widget and owner or employer funding journey still need their complete user test; this guide does not claim they are ready. Existing funded access does not prove a paid checkout.

What you want to test	Correct setup
Your existing funded access through an application	Your own application and Abe accounts, current feature access and your explicit connection choices. No discount is needed.
A customer's purchase and subscription changes	A separately prepared Stripe sandbox or test-mode checkout, test prices, test credentials and verified payment-event processing.
A live commercial offer	Approved prices and terms, configured live payments and a separately verified customer journey.

A customer using Abe does not need to open their own Stripe account. Abe's operator manages the payment connection. Do not create a new Stripe account just to try an already-funded application connection.

For payment testing, Stripe's testing guide explains simulated transactions without moving funds. Use test credentials and test payment methods in the prepared test environment. A 100% live discount is not a substitute for testing successful payment, failed payment, renewal, downgrade and cancellation. Do not enter a test card into a live payment form.

The complete purchase journey for app developer packages is not yet accepted. For embedded access, follow the Website widget and Software API guides. Buying access does not repair an application's registration, sign-in or permission problems.

For the Abe operator: company payment setup

The company receiving Abe's payments supplies its exact legal name, company ABN and suitable bank account to Stripe. A separate Stripe account can be created under an existing login; changing an account's display name alone does not transfer the business to another legal entity. Complete Stripe's verification before enabling live collection. See Stripe's multiple-account guidance.

If the Abe business name is held under a sole trader's ABN, transferring it to a company is a separate ASIC process: obtain the transfer number and register the name under the company ABN. A Stripe account does not perform that transfer. See ASIC's business-name transfer guide.

Payment tests can be prepared separately using Stripe's sandbox. The outside software developer embeds Abe's service; an individual subscriber does not need a Stripe merchant account. Keep the payment environment separate from the user's permission and notification choices.

Set up Abe products in Stripe

These are preparation instructions for Abe's payment operator. No packages or prices are approved by this guide, and no Stripe product has been created by writing it.

1. Sign in to Stripe and select the intended merchant account. Confirm its legal entity with the owner before preparing live payments. Open Sandboxes in the account picker and select the dedicated Abe test sandbox. Stripe describes how these environments isolate simulated payments in its sandbox guide.
2. Have the owner approve what the customer is buying: services, intended audience, staff allowance if any, usage limits, support, recurring amount, billing period, GST treatment and cancellation terms. A service that is unavailable through the selected channel must not be sold as an included working feature. Illustrative widget packages are not approved packages.
3. In the sandbox, open More → Product catalog → +Add product. Enter the approved package name and a plain description of what is included. The description should match the eventual Abe purchase screen. Use recognisable Abe branding on payment pages and receipts. Follow Stripe's product and price instructions.
4. Add a Flat-rate, Recurring price in AUD, with the approved Monthly or Yearly billing period. The current Abe payment contract supports these two intervals and one package quantity. Do not enable metered billing, adjustable seat quantities or a setup fee as though Abe already supports them.
5. Set Include tax in price explicitly to the approved inclusive or exclusive treatment. Abe checks the actual Stripe price against its recorded tax treatment. Selecting a treatment does not calculate or collect GST by itself; the payment implementation and receipt must separately prove the approved tax outcome. Do not enable a paid tax service without approval. See Stripe's tax behaviour guidance.
6. Save the product and record the sandbox product ID and recurring price ID with its amount, interval, tax treatment and merchant account. Record IDs, not secret keys, in the commercial setup record. A monthly and annual option use separate price records and corresponding Abe offers.
7. Ask the Abe developer to register the exact price against an approved Abe offer, including the corresponding service permissions, limits, source-use approvals and terms. This is a controlled Abe setup step; there is no self-service package editor in the current screens. Stripe product metadata or a payment link cannot grant Abe access. The existing legacy billing screen is not the finished personal package purchase flow.
8. Have the developer complete the payment connection and release checks. Leave customer purchasing unavailable until the required offer, payment, funding and access checks pass. A saved Stripe product is only part of this setup.

Keep sandbox and live setup records separate. Once the owner approves a live launch, copy or recreate the approved product in the live merchant account and record the resulting live IDs. Recheck the actual live price and account; do not reuse sandbox credentials or assume a copied product stays synchronised. The exact live account must match the configured Abe merchant account.

Set up payment management

In the same sandbox, open Stripe's Customer portal settings and configure the approved business details, payment-method management and cancellation behaviour. Abe's Manage or cancel subscription button requests a private portal session for the current authorised customer; the customer does not paste in a Stripe ID. See Stripe's portal settings.

Business plan checkout accepts promotion codes, and a card is still collected at checkout. Abe accepts a discounted payment only when Stripe records the discount on the invoice for the approved price. Keep plan switching, quantity changes and retention coupons disabled in the portal until their specific Abe funding and customer journeys are implemented and tested. Stripe's portal can offer features that Abe does not yet reconcile. Downgrades and cancellations need their exact effect and timing checked in Abe as well as Stripe. Cancelling a payment is separate from disconnecting an application or pausing alerts.

Test before selling

The Abe developer runs the purchase through the ordinary Abe screen in a prepared test environment. The test must show the approved offer and terms, a simulated payment, verified funding and the correct services for that user. It must also prove failed payment, renewal, duplicate or delayed payment events, downgrade, cancellation and retained independent access. Notification choices remain unchanged throughout. Use Stripe's official test payment methods only in a test payment form.

A package whose services are already fully covered is refused. In the prepared local purchase flow, a package that partly overlaps existing access requires a separate review and confirmation of that access and the full price. Partial-overlap purchases still need their complete user test. This part of the guide does not announce a new purchase screen or any further approved package beyond Abe Updates. The normal shared-widget connection, complete personal checkout, automatic chosen-time delivery and subscription lifecycle are not yet accepted. Owner-funded testing and payment testing are separate acceptance records.

Start here

Subscribing to Abe Updates is covered in Subscribe to Abe Updates. The notes below cover the separate package screen for app developers and the payment steps behind it.

App developer packages: customer acceptance pending

This section is about the separate flow in the For app developers section near the bottom of the billing page, which holds packages for an app registered with Abe. It is not the Abe Updates subscription above. Abe's current build includes that purchase screen and commercial database foundations. The 5 October production read-back found no approved commercial offer contracts, accepted reference deployments or original funding roots. The real paid-customer journey remains unaccepted: approved offers and terms, service acceptance, correctly configured test payments and the complete subscription test are still required. Creating a Stripe product does not complete those steps.

Open Abe services and payment, expand the For app developers section, choose your workspace, then choose the registered app where you want to use Abe. No workspace, app or package is selected for you. A verified app or offer may remain unavailable while its prerequisites are missing. Review any returned package's services, AUD amount, tax treatment, billing period, seats and usage limits. Package availability comes from Abe's current server checks; illustrative prices are not offers.

Confirm your chosen package before opening secure payment. If Abe reports existing funded access, review that access and confirm separately before continuing. This does not promise a discount. The complete readable terms must be supplied before commercial acceptance; a displayed version reference alone is insufficient.

An unconfirmed payment request stays held, including after a page reload in the same browser session. It is not automatically sent again. Choose the workspace and select Check payment status before another purchase. Returning from Stripe does not confirm payment or activate services. App permissions and notifications remain separate choices.

Recorded payment status shows saved package requests and any independently verified payment observation recorded for them. Each payment observation keeps the date it was checked. A recorded paid period is payment history, not a promise that services remain available now. Payment not yet confirmed or No verified payment observation means Abe cannot show a verified payment record for that request; it does not prove your bank was never charged. Checking this page cannot send a payment, release an uncertain request, change permissions or start alerts. Use Next payment records when more records are available. A current workspace owner or authorised administrator can view its payment history; staff app access remains a separate permission.

Use Check my application access to manage the separate application connection. Payment history does not prove that the current funding and application permission checks have passed. Initial paid-funding application has been implemented and verified locally using synthetic test records. The complete deployed subscriber journey and subscription lifecycle remain unaccepted; this status screen does not establish current service access.

The package card and payment steps

The main package screen at Billing works as described in Subscribe to Abe Updates. Its package card shows the price, tax treatment and billing interval of the actual offer. It does not display seats, capacity, terms or source-right summaries. Those belong to the separate package flow for app developers described above.

1. Open Billing. The current route is /console/connections/billing.
2. Review the package card. Only tick the confirmation box for an actual displayed offer you understand. If no package is open, the page says No packages are open for purchase right now. Please check back soon.
3. Choose Continue to secure payment and pay on Stripe's page. Check Your services for the licence state and the date the current period ends once the service has verified the payment. Returning from a payment page is not a paid receipt or proof of access. Funding changes only after verified reconciliation.
4. If a payment is uncertain, do not repeat it. Wait, choose Check again and see Troubleshooting.

Valid already-funded access should be checked before another charge. Sponsorship does not change whose permission or personal criteria are required.

What success looks like

A purchase needs a confirmed payment outcome and the appropriate current funding state. A returned browser page, a saved offer or an owner allocation is insufficient. Permission approval and any activated alert still require separate choices. This guide records no real processor purchase or cancellation.

If it does not work

Purchases are unavailable for this account means no purchase is available from that screen; do not find a different person's account or guess a checkout link. If payment is unavailable or its result is uncertain, do not repeat a new purchase. Check existing payment and funding status through Troubleshooting first. For a paid but inaccessible service, check app permission and source/channel availability before buying again.

Stop or change your choices

Use Manage or cancel subscription under Your services to update your card, download invoices or cancel. It opens Stripe's secure page. If We could not open the subscription page appears, the portal did not become available; try again later. Do not assume cancellation succeeded until the screen shows your subscription's new state. App disconnection and alert pauses remain separate; see Manage and cancel.