A Control Panel is a tool that is used to manage the content of a hosting account. This can include, but is not limited to, files, email messages, databases, statistics along with other operations executed with them. The Control Panel provides a web-based interface to manage all of these things and anything else associated with the website hosting service using different sections in which you can access features through menus and/or buttons. The easier to use a Control Panel is, the easier it'll be for you to control your web presence as a whole. In the standard scenario, the CP is the hosting account’s back office, while a different billing account is used to manage payments and domain name registrations - if the company provides this service. Trouble tickets could be dealt with through the billing account or through a separate system.