A Control Panel is a tool used to manage the content of a hosting account. This includes, but is not limited to, files, e-mail messages, databases, stats and different operations executed with them. The CP offers a web-based interface to handle all these things and everything else related to the website hosting service via different sections where you can access functions through menus and/or buttons. The simpler to use a Control Panel is, the easier it'll be for you to control your presence online as a whole. In the general case, the Control Panel is the hosting account’s back office, while a different billing account is employed to handle payments and domain name registrations - if the company provides this particular service. Trouble tickets can be addressed via the billing account or by using a different system.