What does this section cover?

What is Prepaid Billing Run ?

In CRM.COM Software the way to bill the customers in a batch mode is done via Billing Runs referred to as Prepaid Billing Runs.

Prepaid billing run is a billing mechanism which is used in cases where customers pay in advance and then they can start using the services that they subscribed to, by deducting the used amount from the paid amount, using the wallets module.

Prepaid billing run is usually performed on a daily basis and is responsible to:

• Identify the service usage 
• Rate the used services
• Debit the related wallets based on that usage

Optionally the prepaid billing run can:

• Stop subscription services which are left with no wallet credit
• Start services which were stopped and are now having enough wallet credit
• Estimate the date that the wallet amount will be consumed by the subscription services, based on their existing usage and billing term schemes. 

No bills or financial transactions are generated by the prepaid billing run and unlike Normal Billing Runs, Prepaid billing run is only applicable on Subscriptions.Visit Interpreting Prepaid Billing Run Execution Steps for a complete description of all the available processes within Prepaid Billing Runs.

In order for the Billing Run to be created, a  Prepaid Billing Run Definition needs to be set up in the system. Once the definition is set up, a new Prepaid Billing Run can be created and executed.

Creating a Prepaid Billing Run 

Creating, Editing & Deleting Validations & Restrictions

Prepaid Billing Run  attributes 

Configuring a Prepaid Billing Run  tailored to your company's needs

1. Navigate to BILLING > BILLING > PERFORM PREPAID BILLING RUNS
   
2. Either search for an existing one or from the Top Menu click on NEW
   

3. MAIN INFORMATION

   1. Bill as of date: Click on the calendar and select a date

   2. Life Cycle State: This is read only and will be automatically set by the system

   3. Scheduled Date: This is read only and will be automatically set by the system 

   4. Enable Stop Service Step by Default: Check the box if you would like to enable. (Related configuration can be found at Configuring Prepaid Billing Run Definitions
   5. Enable Start Service Step by Default:  Check the box if you would like to enable and configure accordingly in Configuring Prepaid Billing Run Definitions

   6. Enable Wallet Consumption Estimation Step: Select an option from the drop down list. 

      Skip estimation of wallets for faster execution

4. CRITERIA

   1. BILLING TERM SCHEMES

      1. Click on ADD and use the search modal to select the Billing term schemes to be included
         OR
      2. Click on ADD ALL BILLING TERM SCHEMES 

   2. CLASSIFICATIONS

      1. Click on ADD and use the search modal to select the account Classifications to be included
         OR
      2. Click on ADD ALL CLASSIFICATIONS

5. FILTERS

   1. GROUPS

      1. Click on ADD and use the search modal to select the groups whose subscriptions should be included (Owned by Group)
   2. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE
      1. Click on ADD and use the search modal to select the accounts receivable that should be included 
   3. SUBSCRIPTIONS
      1. Click on ADD and use the search modal to select the subscriptions that should be included

6. SCHEDULING SETTINGS 

   1. Recurring: Check the box if the Billing Run should be recurring
   2. Recurrence Settings: The default values as defined in the Billing Run Definition are loaded. 
      1. Provide a different number and select UOT 
7. From the Top Menu click on SAVE

8. LOG INFORMATION

   Log information section keeps all the logging information related to the specific record

   • Basic set of information available in all entities
     • Created By User: The user that created the entity
     • Created By Unit: The unit of the user that created the entity
     • Updated By User: The user that last updated the entity
     • Updated by Unit: The unit of the user that last updated the entity
     • Date Created: The date the account was entity
     • Date Updated: The date the account was last entity
       

Executing a Prepaid Billing Run

Once a Billing Run is created it will then need to be executed in order to actually bill the subscribers.Users will have the option to execute a Billing Run up to any of the 4 stages that are available. Visit Understanding Prepaid Billing for a detailed description of all the Billing Run stages available.

If the Billing Run is not in the final State, i.e. Formatting, then the the user will be allowed to continue with the execution of the Billing  to any of the follow up steps. 

1. Navigate to BILLING > BILLING > PERFORM PREPAID BILLING RUNS
   
2. Search for the Billing Run you would like to execute and click on the number to go to the data entry page
3. From the Actions Menu click on ACTIONS > EXECUTE
    
4. In the Execute Prepaid Billing Run Modal 
   1. Execute Now: Check the box to execute the Billing Run directly
   2. Scheduled Date: Click on the calendar to select a date and time to start the execution. Click DONE when completed
   3. Click SAVE

Reading Prepaid Billing Run Results

1. Navigate to BILLING > BILLING > PERFORM PREPAID BILLING RUNS
   
2. Search for an existing Billing Run and click on the number to go to the Data entry page

3. RESULTS

   1. Number of Generated Wallet Transactions: Provides the total number of wallet transactions generated from the current execution of the billing run
   2. Start Date: Provides the Start Date of the Billing Run
   3. End Date: Provides the End Date of the Billing Run
   4. Results per Step: Provides all the steps taken for the specific Billing Run and gives analytically the Financial Transactions created and the entities included
      
       

4. EXCEPTIONS

   1. Accounts Receivable: Provides the accounts which were not billed due to some error
   2. Code: The code of the error that caused failure in billing the account