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Bill Dates

Relative to the Charge Periods defined above, a user must determine what pattern should be set for the Bill Date for each Charge Period?

Key Characteristics

  • The Bill Date on the ZAB Charge is the field that maps to the Date on the native Sales Transaction (ie Sales Order) that is created through Zone Advanced Billing.
  • Frequency of the Bill Date is defined (ex. Bill Dates should be 1 year apart, 1 month apart, 3 months apart, etc..)
  • By default, the Bill Date will align with the Charge Period Start Date if billing in advance. (If Billing In Arrears, the Bill Date will default to the day after the Charge Period End Date.) There are two main options on the Charge Schedule to shift this behavior: Initial Bill Date and Offset

 

Initial Bill Date

This field allows you to manipulate the date of your first Bill Date; it overrides the first Bill Date or all projected Bill Dates up until the Initial Bill Date. The Service Periods remain unchanged. Much like the Initial Charge Period End Date, this is defined from a list of options such as "Last Day of the Month" (though it is also possible to set specific dates). Subsequent Bill Dates will be dictated by the Billing Frequency and Billing Interval selected.

Common uses:

  • Delayed first bill (for service that starts “on time”)
  • Early billing for first bill only
  • Add ons in the middle of a service period (perhaps future bills should align with the Subscription Charge
  • Schedule, but the first bill should be issued immediately or on a specified day that doesn’t fit the pattern)

 

Billing Frequency

Paired with Billing Frequency, the Billing Interval sets the period of time between bill dates. There are 4 options to choose from:

  • Days
  • Months
  • Weeks
  • Years

For example, if your Billing Frequency was “1” and Interval was “Years” the Bill Date would post at the beginning of the Subscriptions Start Date, capturing the full year.

Charge Schedule that charges monthly with the first charge beginning at the end of the last quarter. 

cs_billing_frequency.png

Here we have a Charge Schedule that charges monthly with the first charge beginning at the end of the last quarter. However, the Billing Frequency and Interval suggest that billing is once a year. When we apply this charge schedule to a fixed monthly Subscription Item, we get the following results:

Subscription Item results

cs_billing_frequency_subitem_results.png

Notice that all Bill Dates align with the Subscription Start Date. By default, the bill date will follow the Start Date. To move the Bill Date to the last day in the period, select Bill In Arrears on the Subscription Item.

 

Subscription Item Billed in Arrears

cs_billing_frequency_subitem_in_arrears.png

 

Billing Offset

This feature allows bill dates to generate outside of the pattern set by the Charge Schedule.

For example, in some instances a customer may want to maintain their existing service start and end dates but offset the bill date. They may have a service start end date of 1/1-1/31 but want the bill date to be the 6th of each month. That can be achieved by configuration of an offset + interval.

 

Bill in Arrears

Provides the option to bill after a service period ends. This is most often used for usage-based items, for example, cloud usage or utility consumption. Bill In Arrears is a checkbox that sits at the Subscription Item record. This setting can work in conjunction with the Charge Schedule, depending on whether this box is checked the bill date will either post before or after the service period (by default it is the day after the Service Period).

For example:
Subscription Item 1 is billed based on the calendar month at the beginning of the service period with a start date of 1/1/19 and an end date of 12/31/19 (Bill In Arrears = F)

  • First Service Period will be from 1/1/19 to 1/31/19 with a bill date of 1/1/19
  • Second Service Period will be from 2/1/19 - 2/28/19 with a bill date of 2/1/19
  • Final Charge period will be from 12/1/19 - 12/31/19 with a bill date of 12/1/19
Subscription Item 2 is billed based on the calendar month in arrears with a start date of 1/1/19 and an end date of 12/31/19 (Bill In Arrears = T)
  • First Service Period will be from 1/1/19 to 1/31/19 with a bill date of 2/1/19
  • Second Service Period will be from 2/1/19 - 2/28/19 with a bill date of 3/1/19
  • Final Charge period will be from 12/1/19 - 12/31/19 with a bill date of 1/1/20
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