Question about custom billing systems

I'm looking to hire a developer or at the least someone competent in a scripting language like PHP to build a billing/sign-up plugin to DirectAdmin. I'd like it to be as seamless as possible and handle recurring payments initially through PayPal, and then later through Authorize.net. The ability to cancel their own accounts, as well as add services/raise quotas (for a fee) is an absolute must.

I don't know if there'd be anyone here willing to do it even if paid, especially since so many of you are web-hosts in your own right, but I'd like to at least know where you'd look if you were in my shoes.

Anyone have any input?

Greetings neighbor

We've had our billing system in development for several months... constantly tweaking to suit our needs, and one day we hope to release it for everyone.

As for an out of the box solution - I can't think of an "easy" answer other than modernbil or whoiscart.

As for a customized script, you're probably looking at several hundred, if not a thousand or two in development costs.

ModernBill ... everything including the kitchen sink.

Whois.Cart ... a low priced solution works for many.

Custom script for a few hundred dollars? Let me know where and from whom .

Jeff

I probably should have stated that I currently use, and hate, Modernbill (though I'm about to test out the RC3 for 5 more so for the sake of "what the hell" than anything else), and that I switched to Modernbill from Whois.Cart, which I found so laughably terrible that I zeroed out the hard drive it was on in an act of spite and contempt.

I'm willing to pay well over a few hundred dollars for something that does exactly what I want, but I've got a short (though specific) laundry list of must-haves and nice-to-haves.

Post it or email me with it .

Jeff

We don't sell domains, and I'm not going to start reselling them any time soon. So as far as that goes, it's not even an option.
I want a three step order-form which follows the basic process laid out below:
---->First
-------->name
-------->email
-------->address
-------->phone
-------->fax
---->Second
-------->pre-registered domain
-------->username/password (live checking for desired username)
-------->hosting options (bandwidth/space/prebuilt package)
-------->commentary
---->Third
-------->payment options (credit card through Authorize, or paypal payments)
-------->Billing duration (monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, or semi-annual)

I also want inline javascript verification of all of this data before it's submitted.

From there, I want secure processing that double checks the data and halts the process before its submitted to the billing and provisioning systems. it should entail the following steps:
---->basic server-side verify for email, phone, address
---->username lookup, password verify
---->bill customer (through Authorize or paypal IPN), and if successful
-------->add to billing system
-------->add to directadmin, provision account per hosting options
-------->email customer billing receipt and account information according to customizable template
-------->email admin copy of account information (much like modernbill does now)

As for the billing system end of things, I want the following specifically:
---->timed recurring payments
---->record of debts and credits, and the ability to debit or credit an account accordingly
---->log of payment date, confirmation, and method for 6 to 12 months
---->email customer monthly invoice (actually looking at something as smooth and customizable as the invoices at blinksale.com as far as these go. we're not opposed to tying the invoicing into the blinksale system for that matter, once their API is released)
---->option to automatically credit/debit customers account according to billing info (which if stored, must be stored extremely securely)
---->alter prices/rates for specific accounts or groups of accounts (specifically, no cost for our comp'ed accounts, of which we have a few already)
---->basic integration with directadmin so customer has single login for billing/control panel (this is of paramount importance to me, and what ultimately hurts me the most about modernbill)

Of course, this doesn't all have to be met at once; a subset of these (specifically related to paypal) is really what we're looking for to start. we'd also like to retain ownership of the codebase as a work for hire, with the developer retaining copyright if need be. we fully plan on crediting the developer for their work.

I know it's all a lot to ask for, but it's also something we're pretty sure a talented programmer or small, agile firm is capable of. I could go into more detail still, but I think that is a pretty good outline of what I'm looking for and why things like Modernbill are overkill and Whois.Cart aren't enough. As much as I hate saying it, what we want is almost Modernbill-like features integrated directly into DirectAdmin. Then again, this may all just be premature wishful thinking if it Modernbill v5 is the dramatic improvement it's made out to be.

Wow, thats a HUGE list. Doubt you're going to find that inexpensively.

Good luck

hostpc.com said:

Wow, thats a HUGE list. Doubt you're going to find that inexpensively.

Good luck

Click to expand...

Well, like I said, we're willing to pay for it if it'll do exactly what we want. But the well wishes are appreciated.

jlasman said:

ModernBill ... everything including the kitchen sink.

Whois.Cart ... a low priced solution works for many.

Custom script for a few hundred dollars? Let me know where and from whom .

Jeff

Click to expand...

ModernBill - Overkill, bloatware, pricey

Whois.Cart - Cheap, lacking, buggy in some cases, PITA to get existing clients in it (for example to get an existing domain registration client into the system, they have to put it in as a "transfer" then you need to go update it manually), constant issues with users not being able to log in, etc, but it is a cheap solution.

ClientExec - Reasonable, not overly intuitive in a lot of cases for admin, but works well, has some problems, but some tasks are redundent or difficult to rely on. Not for the noob, IMHO.

NSIM

NSIM : NS Invoice Manager.

complete invoice managment working on your server, and support recurring payment + custom invoice.

We are finishing install script atm and releasing a version beta tonight or tommorow probably.

The only main missing feature I see is our paypal IPN api which we already made but did not implement in this version yet.

-Steve

Steve, and web-slum, we could certainly create such a script, but we just don't have the time right now. Can Nsim do all the verification webslum-admin was looking for? How do you verify phone numbers, for example? I know how we'd do it, but I don't like the method.

Jeff

Validation

Doing such validation would require alot of time and research, to be done properly.

Even if im protecting (I beleive) all my code from CSS hacking, im not RegEXP'g everything. Ill give you a example, to validate a phone number, you need all possible phone format. Now what about if the person is on a extension, or even more worst, if it on voip system or something that do not have cusual number. My point is, some field *can* be validate for sure, but so vagely said, it hard to think what u need exactly.

On the other side, there is numberous of fields that are number by example, such as price and so on, these can be validate without any problem for sure.

Since NSIM is still in beta state, id ask to not be rude for judging if it miss or lacking thing, ive wrote it from scratch. But any help, bug pointing, and such are encouraging.

Best Regard,
Steve

The only way to verify a phone number is to try it; that's what GeoTrust does when you buy a Certificate from them. There are companies that specialize in it and return a pass or fail.

I hope I haven't said or done anything to prejudge NSIM; that certainly wasn't my intention.

Jeff

Lol not at all, I find the solution pretty great. Actually, I wonder if any compagny offer the service for webmaster for free and only charge end user or something... That would be nice something like paypal heh

I did not even know some compagny did actually offer that service thanks for the hint.

Best regard,
Steve

for a coder to create the system you want...

For getting someone to create the system you want:

Have you posted something on rentacoder.com (my favorite) or scriptlance.com?

I have had good luck getting competent coders bidding and producing good work.