Overview
Prepaid subscriptions are funded directly from the wallets of subscribers. Subscription services can be pre-rated (billed for an upcoming predetermined period). Billing takes place either when the service is activated or a prepaid billing run is executed. There must be sufficient funds in the wallet to cover the billing period in order for services to be activated. If there are insufficient funds during the billing run to cover billed services, the services become candidates for deactivation.
More specifically billing process is responsible for:
- Billing the services
- Renewing services
- Setting services as candidates for deactivation
Available Billing/Payment Models
According to the billing/payment model applied on the subscription through its billing term scheme, subscriptions will be billed for different periods
- Prepaid (pre-rated) - Subscription Driven: The subscriber selects the pre-rated period at the subscription level, money is paid against the wallet and the software spends it FIFO based on the services consumption
- Prepaid (pre-rated) - Payment Driven: Services are billed for a period based on the available wallet funds
Billing Prepaid Subscriptions
Billing Runs are used to bill multiple subscriptions in a go. Prepaid billing run is a background process executed in an hourly basis with no need of user interaction. (While user interaction is not required, you need to make sure that the process is started through :Foundation / Platform / Manage Admin Settings / Batch Processes Admin Board)
Once the Billing Run is executed, credit and debit wallet transactions will be generated which will credit and debit wallets accordingly. The billing process identifies the price and period that subscriptions and services should be billed for. The services are then renewed and billed, or are placed in a queue for deactivation following the logic in the table below:
Note that in both cases, subscription and fund driven, when the system checks whether there are enough funds to cover the period, it will check against the wallet threshold. That is, funds in the wallet must not go under the wallet threshold after the period is rated.
| Billing Model | Checks and Actions |
|---|---|
| Pre-rate Subscription Driven | Subject to sufficient funds in the wallet
If the funds are insufficient to cover the cost for the period
|
| Pre-rate Fund Driven | Subject to sufficient funds in the wallet:
If the funds are insufficient to cover the cost of any available period:
|
The billing process is executed per subscription service and it takes into consideration 'Ranking'
Ranking of Subscription and Subscription Services used for Billing, Deactivation and Ractivation processes
Billing, activation and deactivation processes rank subscription and subscription services to determine processing order.
Subscriptions inherit a ranking number from their subscription type, while services are ranked based on whether they are mandatory (higher ranking) or optional (lower ranking). This is also defined in the subscription type.
Ranking is critical when services must be activated in an account or wallet with limited funds.
The system will prioritize subscriptions and consequently services with the highest ranking and activate those.
In case of deactivation, the system prioritizes subscriptions of the lowest ranking and deactivates its services accordingly.
Additional reference to ranking takes place to decide the order. Refer to the table below for more information.
| Sorting of Subscriptions | Subscriptions are sorted based on:
|
|---|---|
| Sorting of Subscription Services | Services are sorted based on the following logic:
Services within each category are then sorted based on the following logic:
|
VIewing Prepaid Billing Run results
Once the runs are completed you can view results in the following two pages:
- Foundation / Platform / Manage Admin Settings / Batch Processes Admin Board
- Billing / Billing / Perform Billing Runs
Including Usage Services in Billing
In addition to termed services and expenses Usage based subscriptions or subscriptions that include usage services among others are subscriptions where customers will be billed based on the usage they have done. These kind of subscriptions can be used in various different business such as
- OTT : Over the top refers to audio, video, and other media content delivered over the Internet without the involvement of a multiple-system operator (MSO). When OTT is provided through subscriptions, it is usually measured and invoiced based on its usage. i.e. how many VODs where ordered.
- Fleet Management: In the fleet management business usage subscriptions are used for fleet members in order to keep track and measure usage of the product being offered. i.e. petrol
Billing of usage services is done by the use of UDRs (Usage Detail Records) which hold raw information describing the use of 'usage services' . For more information on UDRs refer to Setting up Usage Based Subscriptions
Understanding the Billing Process and Rated Billing Items
In order for a subscription to bill subscription services and hence a subscription it goes through an important step CRM.COM refers to as rating. Rating is the process that decides the period and the amount for which services and hardware will be billed. Define how far ahead you would like to bill subscriptions and provide the default values for the bill as of day. Any services with rated to date before or equal to the bill as of date they will be billed. The result of rating is RBIs (Rated Billing Items). RBIs are billing records containing information on the services and physical goods provided to customers, including the rates that were applied and how they were calculated. In greater detail they provide information on products to be billed, including the billing period (for termed services), the rate of charge, applicable discounts, and other factors that can affect the final price of a product.
RBIs are then converted by the billing run into invoices and credit notes. They can be cancelled, excluded from billing, billed individually or adjusted (to bill a different period or amount). Classification indicates whether an RBI is used for billing a subscription and usage detail record.
Billing / Billing / Manage Rated Billing Items
Adjusting RBIs
Services and physical goods that were incorrectly rated can be adjusted manually before the next billing run is performed, unless they are 'cancelled' Click on Adjust from the Actions menu, provide the new dates and amount and SAVE the change. Once adjusted:
- The billing directive of the existing item is updated to 'Cancelled'.
- A new similar RBI is created with the adjusted information.
- If the RBI that is being adjusted is already billed, then an identical RBI of opposite value is also created.
Cancelling RBIs
If there is an error in the rating of goods or services, the rating can be cancelled and corrected in the next billing run. It is possible to cancel both billed and unbilled rated billing items. The system handles each case accordingly and the corrections are reflected in the accounts receivable or wallet in the next billing run. Click on Cancel from the Actions menu, provide the reason that the item was cancelled and SAVE.
In order to cancel an RBI ,There must not be other RBIs for the same service for a period after that of the RBI to be cancelled. Once cancelled
- The billing directive of the existing item is updated to 'Cancelled'.
- If the item was cancelled before being billed, a new RBI will be created for the same period in the next billing run.
- If the cancelled item was already billed:
- A new identical RBI is created of opposite value and included in the next billing run.
- A new RBI will be created for the same period in the next billing run.
Billing RBIs
The Prepaid and prepaid billing runs are responsible for billing all RBIs in one flow. The manual billing of individual RBIs is also possible through the respective action, available from the rated billing items Data Entry page, given that the Billing Directive is set to 'Not Billed' Click on Bill from the Actions menu and SAVE. Once billed:
- The billing directive is updated to 'Billed'.
- An invoice or credit note is created.
Excluding RBIs from billing
If necessary, an RBI created for a specific period can be excluded from billing unless it was already cancelled. This can be used to settle a complaint about a technical issue (by not charging the service for the period in question) or to cancel a bill generated by mistake.
Click on Set as Not to be Billed from the Actions menu and SAVE. It is possible to perform the action whether the item has been billed or not and the system will handle each case accordingly. Follow the steps below to exclude RBIs from billing. Once updated:
- The billing directive of the RBI is updated to 'Not To Be Billed'.
- If the item was set as 'Not to be Billed', it will be ignored by consecutive billing runs and the period covered by the item will never be billed.
- If the item was already billed, a new identical RBI is created of opposite value and included in the next billing run.
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