---
url: /payglocal-recurring-whmcs/features/recurring-mandates.md
description: >-
  What a PayGlocal mandate is, how one active mandate per client covers every
  invoice, the amount guard that caps each charge, and the statuses a mandate
  moves through.
---

# How recurring mandates work

A **mandate** is your customer's standing authorisation to charge them again. The first time a
customer pays you through PayGlocal Recurring, they don't just settle that one invoice — they
authorise a **Standing Instruction (SI)** that lets WHMCS charge their future invoices without
asking for card details again. This page explains what that mandate is, how it behaves, and the
two settings you use to keep it inside safe limits.

::: info Mandate, SI, KID
A **mandate** is the recurring authorisation itself. **SI** (Standing Instruction) is PayGlocal's
recurring-payment mechanism that the mandate rides on. The SI here is *merchant-initiated* — you
charge as invoices fall due, up to the amount the customer authorised.
:::

## One mandate per client, covering everything

The mandate is stored **per client**, not per product or per invoice. That means a single
authorisation covers every kind of billable item that client has with you — hosting, domains,
addons, one-off charges, whatever comes due. You don't ask the customer to re-authorise for each
service.

Because it is tied to the client, a client can only have **one active mandate at a time**. If the
same client authorises a new mandate later, the new one **supersedes** the old — the previous
mandate is retired and the new one takes over all future charges. This keeps things unambiguous:
there is always exactly one authorisation WHMCS will act on for that client.

## The amount guard {#amount-guard}

A customer authorises recurring charges *up to a maximum*, and PayGlocal Recurring enforces that
for you. When the daily cron looks at an invoice, it compares the amount against the mandate's
configured maximum. **A charge above that maximum is skipped** — the customer is never billed more
than they agreed to.

You set the ceiling with **SI Maximum Amount Per Payment**, a multiple of the first invoice
amount (a dropdown from **1x** to **5x**, default **2x**). For example, at **3x** a first invoice
of 100 USD allows later charges up to 300 USD; anything above that is left for you to handle
manually. Pick a multiple that comfortably covers your customer's normal renewals without leaving
the door wide open.

::: tip Choosing a multiple
If a customer usually renews one service, a low multiple is safest. If they tend to bundle several
services onto one invoice, give yourself a little more headroom so legitimate charges aren't
skipped.
:::

## When charges are attempted

The other setting that governs the mandate is **Days Before Due Date to Charge** (a dropdown from
**1** to **5** days, default **2**). This is how early, before an invoice's due date, WHMCS tries
the automatic charge. At **2 days**, an invoice due March 20 is charged on or after March 18. A
small window gives failed attempts time to be noticed and retried before the due date passes.

## Mandate statuses

Over its life a mandate moves through a handful of states. You'll see these reflected in the
**Gateway Log** (**Utilities → Logs → Gateway Log**):

| Status | What it means |
| --- | --- |
| **active** | The current, usable authorisation — this is what the cron charges |
| **revoked** | Cancelled at PayGlocal; no longer chargeable |
| **exhausted** | The mandate has reached the end of its usable life |
| **failed** | The authorisation did not complete successfully |
| **superseded** | Replaced by a newer mandate the client authorised |

## What happens when you delete a client

If you delete a client in WHMCS, their active mandate is **automatically revoked** with PayGlocal.
You don't need a separate cleanup step — removing the client cleanly ends their standing
authorisation so nothing can be charged afterwards.

::: warning Deactivating is not the same as deleting
Deactivating the gateway stops WHMCS from charging, but it does **not** revoke existing mandates at
PayGlocal. Only deleting the client does that automatically. If you need a mandate revoked without
deleting the client, do it from your PayGlocal dashboard.
:::

## Related pages

* [How payments work](/payglocal-recurring-whmcs/features/payment-flow) — the first payment and the automatic charges
* [Security](/payglocal-recurring-whmcs/features/security) — the guardrails behind every charge
* [Settings reference](/payglocal-recurring-whmcs/settings) — the SI Maximum Amount and Days Before Due fields
* [Configuration](/payglocal-recurring-whmcs/configuration) — set these values during setup