What's my billing period and how do the charges work
When you become a Telstra customer and receive a bill for your service, we allocate you a specific date of the month when your billing period starts.
For example, if we start your billing period on the 5th of each month, you’ll be charged from the 5th of that month to the 4th of the next month. This billing period won’t ever change, even if you take up a new plan or service.
If you’re on a Telstra Upfront Mobile Plan, you'll have a monthly payment period.
For example, if you join a Telstra Upfront Mobile Plan on the 5th, you'll be charged on the 5th every single month. The date of your payment will never change unless the monthly payment date falls on a date that isn’t in each month (such as the 31st). In this instance, you'll be charged the following day.
If you receive a bill for your Telstra service, you can find your monthly billing period on the first page of your Telstra bill. It looks like this:
Bill Issued simply refers to the date we issued the bill to you. It’s not the end of your monthly billing period, and it’s not the Due Date to pay your bill.
Your Bill Due Date is on the first page of your bill. We allow you approximately 14 days from the Bill Issue Date to pay your bill.
If you're on a subscription mobile plan, you can find your monthly charge date under 'Payments' in My Telstra.
More about billing and charges
-
Using the above example dates, here are the charges and payments you’ll see in a typical month:
- All your phone usage (calls and texts) from 5 May to 4 June
- Any one-off (non-recurring) charges applied to your account between 5 May and 4 June
- All recurring charges which are billed a full month in advance, such as your monthly plan fees
- Any payments you made towards your previous (May) invoice – provided they landed in our system by 4 June. For example, if you paid your May bill on 3 June and the payment hadn't landed in our billing system by 4 June, then your payment wouldn’t appear on the June bill
Watch our video on How to understand billing charges.
-
A part month charge (also called a pro rata charge) appears on your bill when you start a new plan or service part way through your billing period. It covers the days you used your service before your next monthly billing period starts.
Part month charges also appear when you alter your existing service in between billing periods. For example, if you added or changed a service on the 1st of the month, but your billing period starts on the 5th, you’ll see two charges on your bill – a part month charge from the 1st to the 4th, and the month in advance charge, starting from the 5th.
This is so you only get billed at the new rate for days you used your service, not for the whole month. You are not being charged twice for the same thing – one charge follows on from the other.
Remember, a part month charge only appears on your bill after a service has been changed or a new service activated.
-
If you decide to cancel or change your services, you’ll be credited with any unused days remaining in that particular billing period.
Rather get in touch? Let's get you connected
My Telstra app
View your services, pay your bill, troubleshoot tech issues, contact us via messaging and much more.
Multilingual Support
Speak to us in your preferred language. We've got you covered.
Contact us
We're here to answer your questions.