💳 What the charge represents
A white-label child account charge is the parent’s charge for active client accounts under the agency. It is not a penalty or an overage above an included quantity. It is a percentage of each active child account’s monthly plan price, 70% by default.
An amount such as $208.60 is the calculated total for those extra accounts on that invoice. It can appear even when you did not edit a client that day, because billing follows account status and the billing cycle, not only manual setup changes.
🔍 Why it can start after months with no extra fees
Several normal billing events can start a charge after a quiet period:
- Each active, non-trial child account adds its monthly plan price to the calculation. There is no included number of free child accounts. Trial children and affiliate children, who pay Search Atlas directly, are not included.
- A promotion does not add free child accounts. If it changes a child account’s plan price, the parent’s child-account charge uses the new price on the next billing cycle.
- Renewal terms were applied. A renewal can reprice add-on clients even if each client’s settings look unchanged.
- A child account keeps counting while the account and its paid plan remain active, including an account you no longer use. Deactivate the child account or its plan to stop it from being included. Trial and affiliate child accounts are already excluded.
- Several accounts were combined. The invoice line is often one total for multiple clients, not a new fee on a single account.
🛠️ How to review the invoice
- Open Billing and select the Invoices tab to find the invoice with the charge.
- Look for the Child Customers Billing line, or Monthly Top Up and Child Customers Billing when top-ups are included. It shows one combined amount with a quantity of 1, not a separate quantity, rate, and billing period for each child account.
- Compare that quantity with the client accounts that were active during the same period.
- Check whether any client was added, reactivated, or left active after you stopped using it.
- There is no included child-account allowance to subtract. Add the monthly plan prices of the active, non-trial, non-affiliate child accounts, then apply the agency percentage. The default is 70%.
If the active count matches the billed quantity, the charge follows current usage. If it does not, keep the invoice date, amount, and client list ready for review.
💡 Refunds and billing credits
A refund or credit is not automatic. Our team can review the invoice when the charge does not match how the package was sold, when clients were billed after they were removed, or when a promotional period was applied incorrectly.
Have this ready before you contact support:
- The invoice date and exact amount, for example $208.60
- The client account names you believe should not have been billed
- When those accounts were created, archived, or last used
- What was included when the package was sold to you
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and send your message. A member of our support team will reply in the chat.
🚀 How to prevent another surprise
- Archive or remove child accounts you no longer manage before the next renewal date.
- Check the included client count on your plan whenever you add a white-label account.
- Review each invoice line for client quantity, not only the final total.
- Confirm your included allowance before adding more clients if you are unsure.