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This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the core concepts for revenue management in Maple. It details the fundamental entities and workflows applicable to both dashboard-based and API-driven billing operations.

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Operating Modes

Maple can be leveraged in no-code mode through the dashboard. For deeper integration, the platform also provides a robust API so you can perform any dashboard action as a white-labeled experience in your own product, including usage-based and seat-based billing.
Test account: Request a separate test account from [email protected] with distinct credentials so you can experiment before going live.

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Key Concepts

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Company

When you sign up, Maple provisions a company for your business. All entities described below belong to that company. You can configure the company with an address, timezone, currency, and branding so it represents your product or business.

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Billable Items and Metrics

Billable items and metrics are the core units for billing. Billable items are distinct billable entities in your product, for example Licenses, API Calls, or Users. Items can be usage-based and transient (e.g., API calls) or object-based and persistent (e.g., users). Billable metrics are rules and aggregators applied to billable items. They query events or objects and produce an aggregate value that is ultimately billed to the customer.

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Events and Objects

Maple supports metering for:
  • Usage-based items (transient): e.g., API calls, bandwidth, compute minutes
  • Object-based items (persistent): e.g., seats, licenses, stored objects
Why both? Events drive usage-based metrics; objects drive object-based metrics. Maple treats them separately because revenue from persistent objects (e.g., seats) counts as recurring revenue, while revenue from transient events does not, unless you have minimum pre-purchased events.

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Prices and Plans

Pricing starts with item prices for each billable metric. You then combine them into product pricing (plans) with one or more billable components.
Product prices represent different offerings (e.g., Basic, Pro, or Enterprise plans).

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Customers

A customer is a business or user you bill through Maple. You can begin billing with just an email; for taxation and more advanced needs, add a customer address.
Customers are central: they link to events, objects, contracts, subscriptions, invoices, and payments.

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Subscriptions

A subscription represents recurring service for a customer. A subscription can include one or more product pricing, so a single invoice can cover multiple offerings.

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Contracts

A contract is a proposal for a subscription or one-time charge. Contracts include a signature step before the subscription starts, which is common in enterprise sales.
Maple Contracts simplify CPQ: create and share contracts, follow up to get them signed, and automatically create the associated subscriptions.

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Invoices and Payments

An invoice can represent recurring or one-time charges. For active subscriptions, you can also preview upcoming invoices, which is useful for usage-based charges. Maple integrates with multiple payment providers to process payments for invoices.

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Explore Product Guides

Products & pricing

Configure your product catalog, plans, and packaging

Billable metrics

Set up rules and aggregators for usage-based and object-based billing

Customers

Create and manage customers for billing

Subscriptions

Manage recurring subscriptions and plan changes

Contracts

Create, share, and sign proposals before subscriptions start

Invoicing & payments

Issue invoices, collect payments, and automate revenue collection