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Configuring Prepaid Billing Term Schemes for Subscriptions

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Navigating to Normal Billing Term Schemes for Subscriptions

CONFIGURATION > BILLING APPLICATION > BILLING > SET UP BILLING TERM SCHEMES

What are Prepaid Billing Term Schemes for Subscriptions?

Billing Term Schemes are used to control the creation or modification of Billing Terms. Billing Term is a required Subscriptions entity, which provides the available options for each input field, such as Subscription Services or Price Plans.  The Billing Term controls Billing Engine processes by providing the rules and policies that should be applied during Billing Runs. Billing Terms are created every time a Billing Term Scheme is added or updated on the Job or Subscription. 
Prepaid Billing Term Schemes can only be added to Subscriptions. The Billing Term determines whether a Subscription will be handled by Normal or Prepaid Billing.

This manual covers the setting up of Prepaid Billing Term Schemes. For information into the setting up of Normal Billing Term Schemes, view Configuring Prepaid Billing Term Schemes for Subscriptions.

 

  • Navigate to Billing Term Schemes for Subscriptions and explore existing entries via the Summary page.  
  • Click on the link (Name or Number) of the entry of your interest to enter the Data Entry page and see more detail. 
  • Use the Actions Menu to create a NEW Billing Term Scheme, modify (EDIT) or DELETE  an existing one.  
    • Select 'Type' Prepaid and 'Classification' Subscription to start configuring a Prepaid Billing Term Scheme applicable for Subscriptions.
  • Use the BACK to return to the Summary page and CANCEL to revert any unwanted changes made to the Billing Term Scheme.

Check the Validations & Restrictions Table below for a list of available Actions when working with Billing Term Schemes, including each Action's related validations, restrictions and additional information.  View the Attributes Table for a comprehensive description of the Billing Term Schemes fields.

BILLING TERM SCHEMES

Validations & Restrictions

ActionValidationsRestrictionsAdditional Information
Create
  • Mandatory Fields must be defined.
  • Name and Code must be unique.
  • Not applicable
  • Not applicable
Edit
  • Mandatory Fields must be defined.
  • Name and Code must be unique.
  • Cannot be edited if they are used by at least one Subscription
  • Use the Amend action instead
  • Ifthereisatleast one or more versions of a Billing Term Scheme for Jobs, then a new Billing Term Scheme instance is created. The new Instance will have the same values and Billing Term Code as the previous one, an augmented version number, and the modified information.
Delete
  • Billing Term Schemes cannot be deleted if there are Subscriptions and Jobs which are not terminated or if there is billable information which was not processed and billed yet.
  • Not applicable
  • Not applicable

 Attributes

An * indicates a field is mandatory.

Name

Description

Main Information
Billing Term Code*The code used across all Billing Term Scheme instances of the same Billing Term Scheme.
Classification*

Determines the Type of Billable Entity that will be able to use the Billing Term Scheme. In this case, the Classification is set to 'Subscriptions'.

Billing Type*

Determines the Billing Type that will be used by the Billing Engine in order to bill Services and Physical Goods. The supported options are 'Normal' and 'Prepaid'. InthiscasetheType should be set to 'Prepaid'.

Name*The name of the Billing Term Scheme.
DescriptionA description of the Billing Term Scheme.
Life Cycle StateThe following Billing Term Scheme States are supported:
  • 'Draft' - State cannot be used to create Billing Terms.
  • 'Effective' - State can be used to create Billing Terms and to apply Billing Rules during Billing Runs.
  • 'Terminated' - State cannot be used to create new Billing Terms.
Effective From& Expired On Dates*

Each Billing Term Scheme has an 'Effective' and 'Expiration' Date, which are set automatically when the Scheme is created or replaced by another Scheme. A version number is used for each Billing Term Scheme that defines each specific instance.

Version

An auto-generated number which is used to specify the version of each Scheme. If the specific version is already in use by a Subscription, a new Scheme version is created when the Scheme is amended, by the respective Action.

"VIEW PREVIOUS VERSIONS" link allows you to search and view the previous versions of the Definition.

Allowed Attributes
Services
Services

Determines which Termed Services and Expenses are supported by the specific Billing Term Scheme.

The Subscription's associated Scheme defines its available Services.

This section is also used in order to define the Billing Type of each supported Termed Service, which can be one of the following:

  • Post-Rate: Services which are billed after being used for a certain period (usually on a daily basis); funds are directly deducted from the Wallet.
  • Pre-Rate: Services which are billed for an upcoming period defined in the System; funds are directly deducted from the Wallet to cover the whole period. 
    • Period Billed in Advance: This is the number of days/weeks/months that a Pre-Rated Service should be billed in advance.
      If the Wallet of the Subscriber does not have enough money to cover for the Pre-Rated period, then the Service(s) cannot be activated.  

Expenses do not have a Billing Type as they are always billed by the next Billing Run.

  • If no Services are defined there will be no Services to select from when creating a Subscription with the specific Billing Term Scheme.
  • Additional filtering takes place on the Subscription Services available to be added to a Subscription, based on the Subscription Type and the selected Provisioning Distributor.
  • The Billing Type is set once all Services are added, by selecting the Services and using the SET BILLING TYPES Action.
Price Plans
Price Plans

Determines the Price Plans available during the creation of Billing Terms having that specific Billing Term Scheme. By default, all Price Plans can be selected in the allowed Price Plans of a Billing Term Scheme.

If no Price Plan is selected, then all valid Price Plans will be available for selection for Subscriptions with the specific Billing Term Scheme.

Billing Rules
Generic
Billable Period Start Date*

Determines the start date of the billable period of each Subscription Service (it answers the question “from which date should the Service be considered by the Billing Run”).  For example, if a Service is 'Effective' from the 1st of June but the Billable Start Date is the 1st of August, then the Billing Engine will only start considering the Service from the 1st of August.
Billable Period Start Date is set equal to the Subscription Service Effective Date, by default. The available options are the following:

  • Subscription action performed date
  • Subscription action performed date + X UOT (i.e. + 1 month)
  • Subscription Service Initial Effective Date
  • Subscription Service Initial Effective Date + X UOT (i.e. + 1 month)
  • Subscription Service Latest Effective Date
  • Subscription Service Latest Effective Date + X UOT (i.e. + 1 month)
  • Binding Start Date
  • Binding Start Date + X UOT (i.e. + 1 month)
  • Agreement Date
  • Agreement Date + X UOT (i.e. + 1 month)
Billing Effective Date*

The date on which a Service should start being billed. It is set equal to the Subscription Service Effective Date, by default. The available options are the following:

  • Subscription action performed date
  • Subscription action performed date + X UOT (i.e. + 1 month)
  • Subscription Service Initial Effective Date
  • Subscription Service Initial Effective Date + X UOT (i.e. + 1 month)
  • Subscription Service Latest Effective Date
  • Subscription Service Latest Effective Date + X UOT (i.e. + 1 month)
  • Binding Start Date
  • Binding Start Date + X UOT (i.e. + 1 month)
  • Agreement Date
  • Agreement Date + X UOT (i.e. + 1 month)
Discount Options*

Determines if the Billing Terms will use a 'Fixed' or 'Flexible' pricing. If 'Fixed' pricing is selected, Additive Discounts cannot be applied on Subscriptions and Jobs having Billing Terms of this specific Scheme.

Allow Concurrent UsageDetermines if Concurrent Usage-based pricing, which is used to bill the customer based on the number of concurrent Services used or Physical Goods sold, is allowed to be specified in Billing Terms of this specific Scheme.
Log Information
Log detailsThe standard set of Log Details information available in all entities .

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