A Control Panel is a web-based interface through which you can manage numerous aspects of your presence online. For example, you could set up or modify website files, set up and check emails, control databases, check visitor statistics etc. Those things are done using buttons and menus inside a browser and the Control Panel may also be called ‘back office’, i.e. the administration area associated with your website hosting account. Most of the Control Panels available will enable you to control all hosting-related matters, but you'll usually need a different system to take care of payments or to get a new domain name in case the company offers domain registrations. With respect to the platform they use, you can be able to use the billing account to open a support ticket to ask a question or to troubleshoot and fix an issue also, or you may have to use a 3rd system.