Rate Policy Rules

Each Rate Policy may list one or many Rules that comprise the Policy’s function. Rules may be shared across Policies. This allows for different actions to be mixed and matched in order to easily create Policy variations.

Typically, Rate Policies are shared across a Customer base and across a number of contracts; however, it is possible to create unique Rate Policies for a specific Customer or contract. Due to the ability to utilize existing Rate Policy Rules, creating additional Policies to house these rules is not difficult.

Each Rate Policy Rule determines which field should be adjusted, how exactly it will be adjusted, and the order of operations for each action.

 

Create a Rate Policy

To create a new Rate Policy, navigate to Setup > Zone Advanced Billing Setup > Rate Policy > New, give the Rate Policy a Name, and Save.

Adding Rate Policy Rules

1. To create a new Rate Policy Rule, navigate to a Rate Policy. Click the “+” button to open a new Rule.
   
2. Fill in the desired fields (see below for detail) and save the Rule.
3. Once the Rule has been created and appears in the dropdown list for Rate Policy Rules to Apply, click “Attach” to add the Rule to this Policy.
   
4. Pre-existing Rules may be added to a policy easily. Select any rule in the dropdown menu and click Attach to add the Rule to this Policy.

 

Rate Policy Rule Configuration

When creating a Rate Policy Rule, set the following fields to drive the behavior of the Rule:

Action: This field defines the type of operation the rule will enact.

• Adjust Up/Down - Use this action to make an increase (or decrease, if the original data is a negative number) to the field value from its original value.
• Set to Specific Value - This action sets the field to a specific value (and is not based on a percentage adjustment).
• Minimum Adjustment - This action will define the lower limit adjustment that should be applied. The adjustment will be added to the original value.
• Maximum Adjustment - This action will define the upper limit adjustment that should be applied. The adjustment will be added to the original value.
• Minimum Value - This action will define the minimum value for a particular field. The minimum value/amount is agnostic of the original value; it will essentially replace the original value.
• Maximum Value - This action will define the maximum value for a particular field. The maximum value/amount is agnostic of the original value; it will essentially replace the original value.

Example:

• This rule uplifts the existing Rate on the Subscription Item by $10. The frequency (Weekly, Monthly Yearly) of this uplift is set on the Subscription Item Adjustments Subtab
• If applied to a Renewal, the Subscription Item Rate Type uplifts $10 upon Renewal (but does not uplift for additional periods).

 

Action Priority: This field defines the order of operations for Rules of the same type.

Note: This may be left as 0 in the majority of use cases. ZAB will process Rules in a logical way; for example, a Minimum or Maximum rule will always be applied after an “Adjust Up/Down” rule.

If there is the need to do a more complex calculation with a series of steps, mark the Action Priority for the Rules on this Policy with the appropriate sequence (e.g. 1,2,3…).

Example:

Two rules have been added to the following Rate Policy. The rule with a priority of 0 will be applied to the Subscription Item Rate before the second rule with a priority of 1.

• How the Rule applies to Adjustments: existing Subscription Item Rate + $20 uplift - 10% = new Rate for the period
• How the Rule applied to Renewals: existing Subscription Item Rate + $20 uplift - 10% = new Rate upon Renewal

Field: Select the Field (Rate, Quantity, etc) that you would like to adjust when applying this rule.

 

Note: The Fields available to adjust are managed through a ZAB Rate/Value Adjustment Map record. This record allows you to map over (numerical) fields from the Subscription Item, Renewal Item and Charge records. Fields that are selected will adjust their Values when this Rate Policy is applied. Add additional custom (numerical) fields to this list by selecting the + sign. 

Note:  When creating a ZAB Rate/Value Adjustment Map record a target field is needed on either the Renewal Item or Charge record for the mapping to be valid. Ex. If you intended to adjust Included Units, you would need to create a field on Renewal or Charge or map to an existing custom field on either record and set the value for Renewal Item Field or Charge Field on the ZAB Rate/Value Adjstment Map record. 

 

Decimal Precision: This field may be left blank if the resulting (adjusted) value should not be rounded (or rounded as little as possible). To round the value, enter an integer (0-8) to set the number of decimal places included in the value.

Value Type: This field defines whether the adjustment value (from the Value Source field) is an Amount or Percentage.

 

Value Source Fields

In order to dictate the number to Adjust By or Set To, a source value must be selected for the Adjustment. Choose between options below.

1. Value from Subscription Item Field: This field will reference the list of Subscription Item Fields. Populate this to source an Amount or Percentage from a custom or OOTB field on the Subscription Item record.
   • Example: A formula field on the Subscription Item record defines a percent uplift per Item, defined by both Item + Date criteria. The result of this formula can then be sourced into the Rate Policy Rule and used as an “Adjust Up/Down” percentage.
2. Specific Value: If desired, populate a hardcoded value (percentage or amount) that the Rule will utilize.
   • Example: A Rate Policy Rule used for Renewal may always uplift a Rate by 10%.
3. Value Provided By Search: If utilizing this option, a numerical value can be provided by any Saved Search in NetSuite and used to dynamically set an Adjustment value. See Rate Policy Search Maps for more information.

   Note: This feature does not work for Renewals.

Note: If multiple value sources are populated, the most specific value information will be used in any calculations when this Rule is applied. The following order applies (from most to least specific):

1. Value Provided by Search
2. Specific Value
3. Value from Subscription Item Field

 

Example 1: Adjust Overage Rate by a Value of +5

Note: Since Currency is not specified, this Rule will adjust the value in the Overage Rate field by the appropriate Currency of the Subscription – e.g. +5 EUR, +5 Dollars, +5 GBP.

If currency were specified, this Rule would only apply to Subscriptions/Charges for that specific Currency.

 

 

Example 2: Set Additional Discount field to 2%

This would set the Additional Discount field to 2%. If the Adjustment frequency was monthly for the Subscription Item using this Rule, each month the Additional Discount will be ‘reset’ to 2%, effectively resulting in no change whatsoever.

 

 

Example 3: Increase Discount 2%

Unlike the example above, this Rule would continue to change the Additional Discount field each time the Adjustment processes against a Subscription Item. Upon successive Adjustments, the Additional Discount on the Subscription Item would be 2%, 4%, 6%, etc.