Normal Billing & Subscriptions Getting Started

A Subscription is a collection of Services which are provided to customers and billed on a recurring, usage or One-Time basis. The Subscriber is the customer who owns the account associated with the Subscription and receives its Services.

What Comes First

To start using Normal Subscriptions, configure the System to support your business model. In the following table, find the configuration modules related to Normal Subscriptions.

Sub-module	Type	Classification	Navigation	Dig In
Billing Term Schemes	Configuration		CONFIGURATIONBILLING APPLICATIONBILLINGSET UP BILLING TERM SCHEMES	Normal Subscription
Subscription Types	Configuration		CONFIGURATIONBILLING APPLICATIONSUBSCRIPTIONSSET UP TYPES	Normal Subscription
Subscription Definitions	Configuration		CONFIGURATIONBILLING APPLICATIONSUBSCRIPTIONSSET UP BUSINESS DEFINITIONS	Normal Subscription
Billing Term Definitions	Configuration		CONFIGURATIONBILLING APPLICATIONBILLINGSET UP BILLING TERM DEFINITIONS	Normal Subscription
Normal Billing Run Definitions	Configuration		CONFIGURATIONBILLING APPLICATIONBILLINGSET UP NORMAL Billing Run DEFINITIONS	Normal Subscription
Subscription Action and Sub-Action Types	Configuration		CONFIGURATIONBILLING APPLICATIONSUBSCRIPTIONSSET UP SUBSCRIPTION ACTION TYPES	Normal Subscription
Bill Sending Runs	Application		BILLINGBILLINGPERFORM BILL SENDING RUNS	Using Bill Sending Runs
Deactivate Normal Subscriptions	Application		BILLINGSUBSCRIPTIONSDEACTIVATE NORMAL SUBSCRIPTIONS	Normal Subscription
Subscription Maintenance Utility	Application		BILLINGSUBSCRIPTIONSSUBSCRIPTION MAINTENANCE UTILITIES	Normal Subscription

Step 1: Setting up Billing Term Schemes

Start by configuring Billing Term Schemes.

Billing Term Schemes are used to control the creation or modification of Billing Terms. They provide information on the options available when creating Subscriptions and Jobs, such as the products that can be added or the Price Plans that will be used for their Billing. The Schemes also control Billing Engine processes by providing the Billing rules and policies that should be applied during Billing Runs.

Define the Termed Services and Expenses to be available for selection and addition to Subscriptions, and the Termed Services 'Billing Type' that distinguishes Pre-Bill and Post-Bill Services.

• Post-Bill: Services which are billed after being used.
• Pre-Bill: Services which are billed before being used.

Once created, Billing Term Schemes are added on Subscription Types.

Step 2: Setting up Subscription Types

A Subscription Type defines the company's commercial policies which are applied on Subscriptions of the respective Type, such as what Services and Physical Goods can be added to each Subscription, which Billing Term Schemes will be made available for the Subscription and which Organisational Units will be able to create Subscriptions of that Type.

Step 3: Setting up Subscription Definition

Configure an 'Active' Subscription Definition next.

A Subscription Definition is a set of business rules and conditions which are used to create and maintain Subscriptions throughout their Life Cycle. For example, through the Subscription Definitions, you can define the maximum number of Subscriptions you can have per account or the maximum number of Main Services and Physical products that can be added to a Subscription. 
Subscription Definitions provide a number of restrictions and controls and can be used to define product dependencies. For example, a rule can be set where additional channels cannot be added unless one of the Main channels is added first.

Step 4: Setting up Billing Term Definitions

Billing Term Definitions follow. These are differentiated based on Classification, which can be 'Subscription' or 'Job'.

Billing Term is the contract between the customer and the company. It provides information with regards to Billing, contract dates and Billing periods. Billing Terms are created every time a Billing Term Scheme is added or updated on the Job or Subscription, and determine whether a Subscription will be handled by Normal or Prepaid Billing. Billing Term behaviour is governed by Billing Term Definition Rules.

Billing Term Definitions are used to set the business rules which validate processes applied to Subscriptions or Jobs, through their related Billing Term. For example, Rules can be defined where Regret is not allowed after a certain number of days, or where cancellation penalties are applied based on a Service's remaining Binding Period.  Rules are used to all Billing Terms, regardless of Scheme.  It is possible, however, to define whether a rule applies to particular schemes.

Step 5: Setting up Normal Billing Run Definitions

It's time for Billing!

Normal Billing is the mechanism used to bill customers before or after they start using Services they have bought or are subscribed to. Normal Billing is handled by the execution of Normal Billing Runs that create Financial Transactions which are used to debit or credit the customer's Accounts Receivable and which are then grouped and presented to the customers through Bills.

Normal Billing Run Definitions are a set of business rules which are used to control the behaviour of Normal Billing Runs throughout their Life Cycle. Normal Billing Run Definitions are used to define several business rules that must be applied during the Billing Run, as well as default values that are used during Normal Billing Runs.

Step 6: Setting Up Subscription Action and Sub-Action Types, Bill Sending Runs, Disconnection and Activation Runs

Configure the following modules for additional functionality and categorisation. You can skip the configuration of these modules if not required by your business model.

• Subscription Action Type:
  The modifications performed on a Subscription when a Subscription Action is executed depend on the Subscription Action's Type, while the Subscription Sub-Action Type is used to apply a business meaning.

  • Subscription Actions and have two main characteristics, and these are configured in the Subscription Action Type and Subscription Sub-ActionType Level.

    It is not necessary to configure Subscription Action Types as all available Subscription Action Types and Sub-Types can be found in the Subscription's page.
    Configure new Subscription Action Types and Sub-Types only if you want to categorise executed Actions.

• Bill Sending Runs: Bills are created once the Billing Run is executed. Bill Sending Run Definitions are used to determine the business rules that are used to identify Bills that should be sent through Email, SMS or an external system. Configure the Bill Sending Runs if you want to handle the sending of Bills directly from CRM.COM

• Subscription Maintenance Utilities Run Definition provides a set of utility batch processes that can be used to maintain Subscriptions.
  • Activate Settled Subscriptions
    Activates 'Not Effective' Normal Subscriptions that belong to Accounts Receivable that have not exceeded their Credit Limit and that had their Balance changed within a specified time-frame.
    
  • Execute Scheduled Actions
    Executes all Scheduled Subscription Actions whose Scheduled Execution date is equal to or before the current date.

  If not configured, deactivated Subscriptions will only be activated by the respective Activation Subscription Action, while scheduled Actions will never be executed.

   

• Deactivate Normal Subscriptions Run Definitions  are used to set the rules for executing Runs that deactivate Subscriptions. The decision for deactivating Subscriptions is based on criteria set in the Definitions including Accounts Receivable Classification, Subscription Type and Frequency.  It can also be defined whether deactivation occurs based on the Outstanding Amount of the Accounts Receivable and/or its Credit Limit.

  If not configured, Subscriptions will only be deactivated by the respective Deactivate Subscription Action.

Do it Yourself!!