diff --git a/controllers/account.go b/controllers/account.go
index 06201e1b..e1c177c8 100644
--- a/controllers/account.go
+++ b/controllers/account.go
@@ -44,18 +44,22 @@ func InitAuthConfig() {
 	iamsdk.InitConfig(iamEndpoint, clientId, clientSecret, "", iamOrganization, iamApplication)
 	application, err := iamsdk.GetApplication(iamApplication)
 	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
+		fmt.Printf("[WARN] Failed to get IAM application %q: %v (auth features disabled)\n", iamApplication, err)
+		return
 	}
 	if application == nil {
-		panic(fmt.Errorf("The application: %s does not exist", iamApplication))
+		fmt.Printf("[WARN] IAM application %q does not exist (auth features disabled)\n", iamApplication)
+		return
 	}
 
 	cert, err := iamsdk.GetCert(application.Cert)
 	if err != nil {
-		panic(err)
+		fmt.Printf("[WARN] Failed to get cert %q for application %q: %v (auth features disabled)\n", application.Cert, iamApplication, err)
+		return
 	}
 	if cert == nil {
-		panic(fmt.Errorf("The cert: %s does not exist", application.Cert))
+		fmt.Printf("[WARN] Cert %q for application %q does not exist (auth features disabled)\n", application.Cert, iamApplication)
+		return
 	}
 
 	iamsdk.InitConfig(iamEndpoint, clientId, clientSecret, cert.Certificate, iamOrganization, iamApplication)
diff --git a/controllers/openai_api.go b/controllers/openai_api.go
index ed232134..33dc1c43 100644
--- a/controllers/openai_api.go
+++ b/controllers/openai_api.go
@@ -470,7 +470,9 @@ func resolveConsoleKeys(org string) (publicKey, secretKey string) {
 // (console-pk-{org} / console-sk-{org}), enabling each org to see their own usage
 // in console.hanzo.ai. This is fire-and-forget — failures are silently ignored.
 func recordTrace(record *usageRecord, startTime time.Time) {
-	// Write to ClickHouse via native ZAP if datastore is connected.
+	// Write billing record to ClickHouse for invoice reconciliation.
+	go zapWriteUsage(record, startTime)
+	// Write observability trace to ClickHouse via native ZAP.
 	go zapWriteTrace(record, startTime)
 
 	go func() {
diff --git a/controllers/zap_native.go b/controllers/zap_native.go
index 2834d93b..d29e5348 100644
--- a/controllers/zap_native.go
+++ b/controllers/zap_native.go
@@ -169,6 +169,98 @@ func zapWriteTrace(record *usageRecord, startTime time.Time) {
 	}
 }
 
+// ── ZAP billing record writer (datastore → ClickHouse) ──────────────────
+//
+// Writes billing/usage records to hanzo.cloud_usage for invoice reconciliation.
+// Both Commerce and Console can query this table for unified billing views.
+
+var usageTableCreated bool
+
+func zapEnsureUsageTable() {
+	if usageTableCreated {
+		return
+	}
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	err := object.ZapDatastoreExec(ctx, `
+		CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS hanzo.cloud_usage (
+			id String,
+			timestamp DateTime,
+			owner String,
+			user_id String,
+			organization String,
+			model String,
+			provider String,
+			request_id String,
+			prompt_tokens UInt32,
+			completion_tokens UInt32,
+			total_tokens UInt32,
+			cache_read_tokens UInt32,
+			cache_write_tokens UInt32,
+			cost_cents UInt64,
+			currency String,
+			status String,
+			error_msg String,
+			is_premium UInt8,
+			is_stream UInt8,
+			client_ip String
+		) ENGINE = MergeTree()
+		ORDER BY (timestamp, organization, user_id)
+		TTL timestamp + INTERVAL 2 YEAR
+	`)
+	if err != nil {
+		logs.Warn("ZAP: failed to create cloud_usage table: %v", err)
+		return
+	}
+	usageTableCreated = true
+}
+
+func zapWriteUsage(record *usageRecord, startTime time.Time) {
+	if !object.DatastoreEnabled() {
+		return
+	}
+
+	zapEnsureUsageTable()
+
+	org := record.Organization
+	if org == "" {
+		org = record.Owner
+	}
+
+	costCents := calculateCostCentsWithCache(
+		record.Model, record.PromptTokens, record.CompletionTokens,
+		record.CacheReadTokens, record.CacheWriteTokens,
+	)
+
+	premium := uint8(0)
+	if record.Premium {
+		premium = 1
+	}
+	stream := uint8(0)
+	if record.Stream {
+		stream = 1
+	}
+
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 5*time.Second)
+	defer cancel()
+
+	err := object.ZapDatastoreExec(ctx,
+		`INSERT INTO hanzo.cloud_usage (id, timestamp, owner, user_id, organization, model, provider, request_id, prompt_tokens, completion_tokens, total_tokens, cache_read_tokens, cache_write_tokens, cost_cents, currency, status, error_msg, is_premium, is_stream, client_ip) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)`,
+		record.RequestID, startTime.UTC(),
+		record.Owner, record.User, org,
+		record.Model, record.Provider, record.RequestID,
+		record.PromptTokens, record.CompletionTokens, record.TotalTokens,
+		record.CacheReadTokens, record.CacheWriteTokens,
+		costCents, "usd",
+		record.Status, record.ErrorMsg,
+		premium, stream, record.ClientIP,
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		logs.Warn("ZAP: usage write failed: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
 // ── models.list ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 func zapListModelsHandler() (*zap.Message, error) {