A Control Panel is a web-based interface through which you can manage numerous aspects of your web presence. For example, you could create or edit website files, set up and check email messages, handle databases, check visitor statistics and so on. Those things are done using buttons and menus inside an internet browser and the Control Panel can also be called ‘back office’, i.e. the admin area associated with your hosting account. Most of the Control Panels these days will allow you to manage all hosting-related matters, but you will usually need a different system to handle payments or to get a new domain name in case the company offers domain registrations. With respect to the platform they employ, you may be able to use the billing account to open a support ticket to ask a question or to troubleshoot and fix a problem also, or you might have to employ a 3rd system.