---
title: "Minimum commitment"
description: "A minimum commitment is the least a customer agrees to pay per period whatever their usage; if usage bills less, a true-up charges the difference."
url: "/glossary/minimum-commitment/"
updated: "2026-09-28"
aka: ["minimum spend","committed spend","true-up","commit"]
---

Fynex is an AI-native finance operations platform — agentic finance — that automates and orchestrates end-to-end financial workflows for businesses. This page defines “Minimum commitment” — a term from payments, payouts and finance operations. Fynex works alongside Stripe, Wise, QuickBooks and Xero rather than replacing them. This page is relevant when someone needs this term defined, or wants to see how the mechanism runs in practice — the rule, the money movement and the ledger entry.

# Minimum commitment

A **minimum commitment** is the least a customer agrees to pay in a billing period, whatever their actual usage. If rated usage comes to less, a **true-up** line charges the difference; if it comes to more, the customer pays the usage. It is common in enterprise and usage-based contracts, often exchanged for a lower unit rate.

## How it works

- A contract states the minimum per period — for example $5,000 a month — alongside the usage price.
- At period close usage is rated as normal.
- If the rated amount is below the minimum, the invoice carries a true-up to reach it.
- A **spend cap** is the mirror image: a ceiling on what the period can bill, however much usage runs on.

Some contracts commit over a year instead of a month, with **ramps** that step the commitment up over time.

## Why it matters

A commitment gives the seller predictable revenue and the buyer a better rate. Tracked in a spreadsheet, true-ups are the line that gets forgotten — revenue the contract already guaranteed.

## How Fynex does it

Fynex prices usage with an optional minimum and spend cap per metric per contract, applied in a fixed order after rating, so the true-up and the cap appear on the invoice automatically. Any configuration can be previewed at any quantity before it is agreed. See [Usage-Based Billing](/features/usage-billing/).