← Quoting Mastery---
title: Billing handoff
status: draft
note: AI-generated first-pass transcript pending video production + SME review.
---
A signed quote becomes an active subscription via Stripe. The Cavaridge
Operations billing handoff is built around three guardrails:
idempotency, the customer-of-record rule, and tax in the right places.
## Idempotency
Every Stripe write the platform issues carries an `Idempotency-Key`
derived from the quote id + the action. If the network drops, if a
worker restarts, if the queue replays — the same key returns the
cached successful response. **Never** generate a fresh key on retry.
That's how you get duplicate charges.
When you see a webhook redelivery, the platform routes it through the
same idempotency layer. The result: webhooks are safe to replay.
## Customer of record
For direct-billed quotes:
- Customer of record is the MSP's client.
- The Stripe customer object lives in **the MSP's Connect account**
with metadata.tenant_id pointing at the client.
- Charges flow client → MSP's Stripe → Cavaridge™ wholesale cut.
For Pax8-resold quotes:
- Customer of record is _still_ the MSP's client.
- Pax8 is the marketplace + reconciliation layer; not the customer.
- Pax8 SKU mapping stays consistent across renewals.
If you ever see Cavaridge™ as customer of record on a paying
subscription, that's a bug. File it.
## Stripe Tax
We're registered in Florida. Tax is computed automatically on Florida
subscriptions. For other states, the operator registers per state and
the platform picks up new state codes within a sync window.
**Don't** hand-edit tax on a quote to make a number reconcile. If
the auto-computed tax is wrong, the registration data is wrong; fix
that upstream and resync.
## The handoff sequence
1. Customer signs the DocuSign quote.
2. Platform marks the quote as signed; `paid_conversion` Pulse fires
only after payment, not after signature.
3. Stripe Subscription is created with the catalog id metadata,
margin_overrides applied, and tax-region resolved.
4. First invoice is generated and sent.
5. On payment success, `paid_conversion` fires; subscriptions
activate; tenant onboarding triggers.
If any step fails, the platform pauses the rest. You won't end up with
a half-activated subscription. Operator intervention via the billing
runbook resolves the pause.
## Reconciliation
Monthly:
- Catalog → Stripe sync runs (no-op if no changes).
- COGS audit runs (catches drift in COGS estimates).
- Margin audit runs per active subscription (flags any below-floor
drift from `margin_overrides` changes).
The reports land in your Cavaridge Operations admin surface. Read them
when they fire. The cost of not reading is silent margin erosion.
## Final assessment
That wraps the path. The final assessment combines all five modules.
Pass and you'll receive a signed Quoting Mastery credential with a
public verify URL — share it with your team or your customer success
manager. They'll know exactly what you've shown you can do.
Module 5 of 5
Billing handoff
Take a signed quote into Stripe with idempotency, the Pax8 handoff, and tax in the right places.
Video — pending production
Read the transcript below. Once recording is complete, the video will replace this notice.