Pricing Plans and Plan Templates
The Pricing Editor is designed to help you quickly add Plans or Plan Templates, link them to Aggregations, and configure the exact pricing structure you want to apply for charging end customer Accounts that are placed on your Product Plans - a Pricing is applied to a Plan for a defined period and any Accounts you put on that priced Plan are charged according to the Pricing for any usage they consume during that period. You can use a Pricing Wizard to quickly set up common types of usage-based pricing models.
Creating a Pricing for a Plan using the Pricing Editor falls into two stages:
To meet some billing use cases, negative pricing can be used:
Tip: Pricing Plans with Segmented Aggregations? Yes, you can use Segmented Aggregations to price a Plan and the Pricing Editor is designed to allow you to quickly price by each segment defined - see Pricing Plans Using Segmented Aggregations for more details.
Preparing to price Plans and Plan Templates! We strongly recommend that before you attempt to price up Product Plans or Plan Templates you review Pricing configuration options. See Reviewing Pricing Options for Plans and Plan Templates.
Setting Up to Price Plans/Plan Templates in the Pricing Editor
Before creating a Pricing for Plans, you must link those Plans with the Aggregations you'll use to price them in the Pricing Editor.
To set up the Pricing Editor for pricing Plans/Plan Templates:
1. Select Pricing>Pricing Editor. The Pricing page opens.
2. In the Product drop-down, select the Product for the Plans you want to price up.
3. Select Add plans. A Select Plans popup appears and lists the Plans created for the Product.
4. Select the Plan or Plans you want to price using the popup and select Confirm. You are returned to the Pricing page where the selected Plan is shown. A warning will show stating that no Pricing has yet been configured for the Plan.
5. If you want to price Plan Templates, select the three-dot button adjacent to Add plans to Add plan templates. A Select Plan Templates popup appears, which you can use to select Plan Templates you want to price - the remaining configuration steps are the same as for a selected Plan.
6. If you want to create a new Plan to price, you can do this directly from the Pricing Editor:
Select the three-dot button adjacent to Add plans and select Create plan.
The Plans>Create page opens and you can enter the details of the new Plan. See Creating Plans for more details. When you select to Create Plan, you are returned to the Pricing Editor where the newly-created Plan has been added.
7. Select Add Aggregation. A Select Aggregations popup appears listing the Aggregations created for the Product.
8. Select the Aggregations you want to use to price the selected Plans. You are returned to the Pricing page, where the selected Aggregations are shown linked to the Plan.
9. If you want to price the Plan using a Compound Aggregation, then select Add compound aggregations. The remaining configuration steps are the same as when using a simple Aggregation to set up a Pricing for a Plan.
Tip: Notes on Setting Up in the Pricing Editor! Please review the following section when you're setting up to price your product Plans/Plan Templates in the Pricing Editor.
Setting Up in the Pricing Editor - Notes and Tips
When setting up in the Pricing Editor and before you proceed to configure pricings for your Plans/Plan Templates, here are a few useful notes and tips to bear in mind:
Plans already show in Pricing Editor? If you have added Plans to the Pricing Editor in an earlier work session, the page will automatically restore to show these Plans. This allows you to continue your work without having to re-add Plans. This restoration of a previous work session occurs across a Console logout/login and across closing/re-opening of your browser. Only if you clear your browser cache will the page not be restored to its earlier state.
Pricing shows for added Plan? If an Aggregation has already been linked to the selected Plan, you can edit the Pricing that was previously configured. See Managing and Editing Priced Plans and Plan Templates.
Pricing from Plan Template inherited by added Plan? If the Plan you've added to the Pricing Editor is based on a Plan Template which you've already priced, when you add the Plan the pricing will be inherited and shows as a pricing derived from the template. You can then choose to Delete the template pricing, Edit it, or Override it.
Create new Plan Template? You can also create a new Plan Template directly from the Pricing Editor in a similar way to creating a new Plan - see Step 6 above - and you are returned to the Pricing Editor with the newly-created Plan Template added and ready for you to price up. See Creating Plan Templates.
Using Compound Aggregations for Pricing Plans? If you've selected a Compound Aggregation to price a Plan, then this will be labelled as COMPOUND in the Pricing Editor. For more details on Compound Aggregations, see Creating and Using Compound Aggregations.
Using Segmented Aggregation to Price a Plan? If you want to use a Segmented Aggregation to price a Plan, see Pricing Plans Using Segmented Aggregations for details.
Removing Aggregations? You can remove an Aggregation from the Pricing Editor only if no active Pricing has been configured for a Plan to which the Aggregation has been linked. See Removing Aggregations from the Pricing Editor.
Creating a Pricing for a Plan
When you have added a Plan to the Pricing Editor and linked it to the Aggregations you'll use for pricing, you can create the exact pricing structure you need for the Plan.
To create a pricing for a Plan:
1. To configure the precise Pricing you want to apply to a Plan using an Aggregation, select Create Pricing. The page adjusts and:
Shows the details of the Aggregation at the top of the page for your reference as you price up a Plan.
Gives you the option of using either a Pricing Wizard or Advanced Pricing. The Pricing Wizard offers four common pricing models and is the default option when you first attempt to price a Plan. You can use the Wizard to quickly set up the core pricing structure you want for a Plan and you can then edit the pricing for other settings. If you don't want to use the Wizard, select Switch to advanced - see below from Step 5.
2. If you want to use the Pricing Wizard to select the Pricing type you want to use to price the Plan:
Single price per unit. This is the default option.
Price per unit, with free tier.
Tiered pricing.
Volume pricing.
For example, select Tiered pricing.
3. Select Next. The page adjusts to allow you to configure a tiered pricing structure:
Description. Enter a custom description for usage line items on Bills. (Optional)
Use the Start (>), End (<), and Price per unit fields to configure pricing bands.
Start and End. Use the calendar pop-ups to enter start and end dates and times for the Pricing.
4. Select Create. You are returned to the Pricing Editor where your priced Plan using the selected Aggregation is shown. If you want to apply any other available settings to complete the Pricing configuration, select Edit - see Step 5.
5. If you don't want to use the Pricing Wizard, select Switch to advanced. Enter the details of the Pricing you want for the Plan using the selected Aggregation:
Start and End. Use the calendar pop-ups to enter start and end dates and times for the Pricing.
Description. Enter a custom description for usage line items on Bills. (Optional)
Minimum spend. Enter a value for a minimum spend for this pricing.
Minimum spend billing. If you want to override the Organization-level setting for minimum spend billing in arrears/in advance, uncheck the default which is set to use the Organization-level setting and use the switch to select to bill Accounts placed on a Plan to which the Pricing is applied in arrears/in advance.
Minimum spend description. Enter a custom description for minimum spend line items on Bills.
Tip: Default Usage and Minimum Spend Descriptions? If you omit custom descriptions, then default usage and minimum spend descriptions will be shown for Bill line items- see Bill Line Items - Default Descriptions for details.
Usage accumulates for the entire plan contract period. Enable this if you want usage accumulation for the Pricing - see Reviewing Pricing Options for Plans and Plan Templates.
Apply as. Select for how you want this Pricing to apply to customer Accounts that you place on this priced Plan. Three options:
Debit. The amount calculated using the Pricing is added to the bill as a debit. This is the default setting.
Product Credit. The amount calculated using the Pricing is added to the bill as a credit (negative amount), which reduces the bill total. To prevent negative billing, the bill will be capped at the total of other line items for the same Product.
Global Credit. The amount calculated using the Pricing is added to the bill as a credit (negative amount), which reduces the bill total. To prevent negative billing, the bill will be capped at the total of other line items for the entire bill, which might include other Products.
Pricing Type. Select the type of pricing structure you want to apply for this Plan - five options:
Tiered
Volume
Stairstep
Custom Tiered
Custom Volume
When you select a pricing type, a text description explains how the pricing will be applied is provided. For more details, see Reviewing Pricing Options for Plans and Plan Templates.
The settings required to complete a Pricing type varies. For example for Tiered, use the Start (>), End (<), and Price per unit fields to configure pricing bands for the Pricing.
Note that you can enter negative values for Price per unit, but please review the implications of doing so in the Using Negative Pricing for Plans section below.
Important: Check on Price per unit! When you are configuring a pricing for a Plan, bear in mind that this depends the Quantity per unit you've configured for the Aggregation used for pricing. For example, if you're using an Aggregation that is derived from a gigabytes Meter measure field and Quantity per unit is set at 500, a Price per unit of $0.25 means that end customer Accounts put on the pricing Plan will be charged $.025 per 500 gigabytes used.
Prepayment / Balance overage pricing. If you are setting up a Tiered pricing structure, you can set up pricing for overages on pricing bands. This pricing will then be used to charge for usage if the priced Plan is attached to an Account, the Account has a Prepayment or Balance applied to it, and the entire Prepayment/Balance amount has been consumed:
Click Add, the panel adjusts, and you can use the Start (>), End (<), and Price per unit fields to configure overage pricing bands.
Warning: Prepayment Overage Pricing is Restricted! You can set up Prepayment overage pricing bands only if you are setting up Tiered Pricing on a Plan. If you've enabled Usage accumulates over the entire contract period, you cannot set this up for any Pricing type.
6. Select Save. You are returned to the Pricing page and the pricing structure you’ve configured using each of the Aggregations is shown under the Plan:
Note that in this example, the period the Pricing is active for the Plan spans the current date and therefore is shown in the pricing grid as Active Pricing. If the Start date and End date you've configured for a Pricing does not include the current date and the period the Pricing would be active for the Plan:
Is in the past, then nothing will show under Active Pricing. If any Historic Pricing has been configured, the left-hand arrow next to the Pricing Schedule calendar icon will be active and you can select this. The Pricing Grid adjusts to show the Historic Pricing:
Is in the future, then nothing will show under Active Pricing. If any Future Pricing has been configured, the right-hand arrow next to the Pricing Schedule calendar icon will be active and you can select this. The Pricing Grid adjusts to show the future pricing:
For more details on working with the Pricing Schedule, see Viewing Pricing Schedule.
Important! Only one Pricing for a Plan using an Aggregation at any point in time. If you try to create a new Pricing for a Plan using an Aggregation and the start and end dates you define means the new Pricing would overlap with an existing Pricing for the Plan that uses the same Aggregation, then you'll receive an error message and won't be able to save the new Pricing. If you receive this error, please check the Pricing Schedule for the Plan/Aggregation for possible conflicts with the Pricing you're trying to set up.
Tip: Deleting Pricing? You can delete the pricing you've configured for a Plan. However, you must take care if you intend to do this for a priced Plan that you've attached to an Account for charging against that Account, because Bills can no longer be generated for the Account. See Deleting Pricing.
Tip: Updating Pricing mid-billing period? If you update the Pricing for the change to take effect mid-billing period, then a Bill line item for each change made will be produced for that period's Bill, regardless of the Aggregation method used in the Pricing.
Using Negative Pricing for Plans
When you price a Plan, you can enter negative pricing amounts for Price per unit. Negative pricing is useful if you want to credit your end customers for unused service and issue a bill with negative line items. If you use negative pricing, there are several consequences depending on the other settings for pricing you've used:
Combined with Product/Global Credit. If you use negative Price per unit values combined with an Apply as setting of either Product or Global Credit, then a double-negative effect occurs when the bill is calculated and results in a positive bill - just the same as if you had configured the same unit charge rates as positive price per unit values with the Apply as Debit setting.
Combined with Prepayments/Commitments Fees. If the Account you attach a negatively-priced Plan to has a Prepayment created and fees are due, then bills will reconcile either way accordingly:
If the Prepayment fees due are greater than the negative charges. then a positive bill amount results.
If the Prepayment fees due are less than the negative charges. then a negative bill amount results