A Control Panel is a tool employed to control the content of a website hosting account. This includes, but is not limited to, files, e-mail messages, databases, stats as well as other operations carried out with them. The CP provides a web-based interface to control all these things and anything else relevant to the hosting service through different sections in which you can access functions through buttons and/or menus. The less complicated to use a CP is, the simpler it'll be for you to manage your web presence as a whole. In the common case, the Control Panel is the hosting account’s back office, while an independent billing account is used to handle payments and domain name registrations - if the company offers this service. Trouble tickets could be managed through the billing account or by using a separate system.