Subscription Items

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Subscriptions include items. They represent the products to be charged and will figure as invoice line items on the created invoices.

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New items are automatically set Active.

Managing Subscription Items

Item Billing Types

Depending on the nature of the product, you can define a specific billing type for an item. It specifies the general billing behavior:

• One-Time: The item is billed only once. After the item has been invoiced and the corresponding invoice has been finalized, JustOn deactivates it so it will not be included in subsequent invoice runs.

  As soon as an item specifies a billing period, billing unit, start date and end date, JustOn Billing & Invoice Management considers it as recurring and, consequently, calculates proportional price amounts, even if its type is explicitly set One-Time.

• Transactional: There is no quantity defined for the item. Instead, the information (quantity or quantity + price) is provided by usage data that match the subscription item.

• Recurring: The item is billed with the given amount in each invoice run.
• Recurring Prorated: The item is billed with the given amount in each invoice run, with support for the partial calculation of months defined as the billing unit. Every whole month in the billing period is counted as one, whereas a part of a month is calculated as Days / NumberOfDaysInThisMonth.
• Recurring Prorated AVG: This is a variant of the Recurring Prorated billing type with a different billing factor calculation. With Recurring Prorated AVG, JustOn calculates the billing factor the same way as Salesforce CPQ with a subscription prorate precision of Monthly + Daily (see Subscription Prorate Precision in the Salesforce Help).

Item-Specific Billing Periods

Available Settings

For recurring subscription items (with the billing type set to Recurring), the following settings control the billing recurrence:

Field	API Name	Description
Billing Period	BillingPeriod__c	Defines the time interval (in days, months or years) after which the item is considered in the invoice run
Billing Unit	BillingUnit__c	Defines the time unit for the billing period to be displayed on the invoice (Day, Month or Year) and which is used for the price calculation of the billing period
Next Service Period Start	NextInvoice__c	Specifies the date of the next billing date for that item. If no value is defined, it will be substituted by the maximum of the invoice run start date, subscription start date or item start date. When the invoice is set Open, it is incremented to the current invoice line item's service period end date + 1 day

For the resulting invoice line items, there are:

Field	API Name	Description
Billing Factor	BillingFactor__c	Factor resulting from the billing period and the billing unit that is applied to the invoice line item calculation. The billing unit Month combined with the billing period 3, for example, results in a billing factor of 3, that is, the item is invoiced every three months with the price multiplied by three. JustOn recommends to include the billing factor in the invoice template through adding the field Billing Factor to the invoice line item table. For details, see Adjusting Invoice Line Item Table.
Billing Unit	BillingUnit__c	Defines the time unit for the billing period to be displayed on the invoice (Day, Month or Year) and which is used for the price calculation of the billing period

How do subscription period, item period and invoice (run) period map?

You can define subscription start and end dates, start and end dates for subscription items, as well as start and end dates for invoice runs. So how do these dates play together? Which date decides whether an item is invoiced or not?

General

The basic rule is: an item is subject to invoicing if its period is – at least partially – within the subscription period and the invoice run period (and if it is not yet invoiced, of course).

That is:

• An item start date or next invoice date may be before the subscription start date or before the invoice run start date – as long as its end date is within the subscription period and the invoice run period, it is going to be invoiced.
• An item end date may be after the subscription end date or after the invoice run end date – as long as its start date or next invoice date is within the subscription period and the invoice run period, it is going to be invoiced, too.
• If both start date/next invoice date and end date of the item are outside the subscription period or the invoice run period, the item will not be invoiced.

Recurring

For recurring items, in addition, the billing period and the billing unit specify the interval after which an item is considered in the subsequent invoice run. Based on this data, JustOn determines

• the billing factor, which is to be applied to the resulting invoice line item – as a multiplier for the specified price, and
• the start date of the next service period – the (earliest) date on which the recurring item is invoiced again.

Remember that the billing types Recurring Prorated and Recurring Prorated AVG support the partial calculation of months defined as the billing period – according to the actual number of days.

Subscription, item and invoice period mapping

If the periods do not match, JustOn will not create invoice line items and, consequently, no invoices. In this case, the following information is displayed:

No invoice created, because there have been no line items created.

How does JustOn determine the billing behavior for recurring items?

Generally, the Next Service Period Start specifies a recurring item's next invoice date. Be aware of the following specifics with respect to this field:

• Initially, that is, after a new item has been created, Next Service Period Start is empty.
• If no value is set (manually), JustOn will use the maximum of the invoice run start date, subscription start date or item start date when creating an invoice line item from this item.
• Once the relevant invoice is finalized, the value is set to the invoice line item's Service Period End + 1 day (where the service period end is calculated as follows: Next Service Period Start + Billing Period - 1 day).
• If one of the successive invoices is canceled, Next Service Period Start is reset to the value determined with the previous invoice (or cleared in case of the first invoice).

We recommend to keep JustOn's functionality with respect to Next Service Period Start unaltered, that is, to not customize the field's behavior.

When migrating external data to JustOn, it may make sense to set Next Service Period Start to the next service period start.

In addition, there are two settings that control the subsequent billing behavior for recurring items: The billing period specifies the interval after which an item is considered in the invoice run, and the billing unit is the time unit applied for this period. Based on this data, JustOn determines the billing factor, which is then applied to the resulting invoice line item – as a multiplier for the specified price.

The billing unit Year combined with the billing period 1 results in a billing factor of 1, that is, the item is invoiced once a year with the specified unit price.

The billing unit Month combined with the billing period 3 results in a billing factor of 3, that is, the item is invoiced every three months with the price multiplied by three.

The billing unit Month combined with the billing period 3 results in a billing factor of 3, and with an item quantity of 2, the item is invoiced every three months with the price multiplied by six.

The billing unit Day combined with the billing period 10 results in a billing factor of 10, that is, the item is invoiced every ten days with the price multiplied by ten.

For the subscription item to be considered in the invoice run, the item's next invoice date and the subscription's start date must be within the invoice run period.

How to control the service period of invoices and invoice line items?

JustOn Billing & Invoice Management automatically determines the service period of an invoice based on various conditions:

Generally, the earliest service period start date of all included invoice line items defines the service period start of the invoice. Consequently, the latest service period end date of all included invoice line items defines the service period end of the invoice.

Invoice Service Period	Condition
Start	The earliest (minimum) service period start date of all invoice line items.
End	The latest (maximum) service period end date of all invoice line items.

The dates are recalculated when invoice line items are inserted, updated or deleted. Empty date fields on line items are ignored.

If set, the subscription end date forces the service period end of the invoice.

With respect to invoice line items, the billing type of the item usually determines how the service period is calculated.

Item Billing Type	Service Period Start/Service Period End
One-Time/Recurring	The start date/end date of the invoice run period. The start date/end date of the item controls whether it is subject to the invoice run, see Start Date and End Date | Subscription.
Recurring with Billing Factor	Start date: Next Service Period Start End date: Next Service Period Start + Billing Period - 1 day
Transactional	Start date: earliest (minimum) service period start date of the transactions End date: latest (maximum) service period end date of the transactions

For recurring items, the start date and end date set as the invoice run period usually represent their service period. If, however, JustOn determines a billing factor (as given by a billing period and a billing unit), the service period start of the invoice line item is set using the subscription item's Next Service Period Start field. The service period end is then calculated as follows: Next Service Period Start + Billing Period - 1 day.

If Next Service Period Start is not set, JustOn uses the invoice run start date instead.

Other settings that force an item's service period end include:

• the subscription item's activation end date, and
• the end date of the last price tier defined for the subscription item.

Using the custom placeholders ServicePeriodStart and ServicePeriodEnd, you can display the items' service period in the invoice PDF. For details, see Adjusting Invoice Line Item Table.

Defining Item-Specific Billing Periods

Billing Factor Calculation

Generally, JustOn determines the billing factor depending on the start and end dates of the invoice line item's service period. Note, however, that the calculation differs for items of the billing types Recurring, Recurring Prorated and Recurring Prorated AVG.

Recurring

The billing factor is the number of months between the start and end date. A part of a months will be counted as a whole month.

Start Date	End Date	Billing Factor
2020-01-01	2020-01-31	1
2020-01-01	2020-03-31	3
2020-01-01	2020-04-15	4

With the billing unit Year, the month-based billing factor (calculated as described above) is divided by 12.

Recurring Prorated

Every whole month in the billing period is counted as one, whereas a part of a month is calculated as Days / NumberOfDaysInThisMonth.

Start Date	End Date	Calculation	Billing Factor
2020-01-01	2020-01-31	31/31	1
2020-01-01	2020-04-15	31/31 + 29/29 + 31/31 + 15/30	3,5
2020-06-10	2020-06-21	12/30	0,4

With the billing unit Year, the month-based billing factor (calculated as described above) is divided by 12.

Recurring Prorated AVG

Every whole month in the billing period is counted as one. For a part of a month, JustOn calculates the same way as Salesforce CPQ with a subscription prorate precision of Monthly + Daily. In this case, a part of a month is the number of days in this month, divided by (365/12), see Subscription Prorate Precision in the Salesforce Help.

Start Date	End Date	Calculation	Billing Factor
2020-01-01	2020-01-31	31/31	1
2020-01-01	2020-04-15	31/31 + 29/29 + 31/31 + (15/(365/12))	3,493

With the billing unit Year, the month-based billing factor (calculated as described above) is divided by 12.

Billing Period Synchronization

For recurring subscription items, you can set up JustOn to synchronize the billing period to start with certain dates. To this end, you select the relevant value in the Sync With field of the item.

Picklist Value	Description
Start of next year	Synchronizes the billing period with the start of the next year (for a billing period of 12 months)
Start of next fiscal year	Synchronizes the billing period with the start of the next fiscal year (for a billing period of 12 months)
Start of next month	Synchronizes the billing period with the start of the next month (for a billing period of one month and with the billing unit Day)
Start of next quarter	Synchronizes the billing period with the start of the next quarter
Start of next fiscal quarter	Synchronizes the billing period with the start of the next fiscal quarter
Start of next half year	Synchronizes the billing period with the start of the next half year
Start of next fiscal half year	Synchronizes the billing period with the start of the next fiscal half-year period

Using the Sync With option adjusts the invoicing cycle to the defined period. The remainder of the billing period, that is, the rest of days or months until the defined sync period starts, is calculated partially.

Assume the following example configuration:

Record	Field	Value
Item	Billing Type	Recurring
	Next Service Period Start	empty
	Billing Period	12
	Billing Unit	Month
	Sync With	Start of next year
Invoice Run	Period Start	2016-09-01
	Period End	2016-09-30

This will result in the following invoice line item data:

Field	Value
Service Period Start	2016-09-01
Service Period End	2016-12-31
Billing Factor	4
Billing Unit	Month

When setting the corresponding invoice to Open, the Next Service Period Start field of the item is set to 2017-01-01, synchronizing the item billing period with the calendar year.

Synchronizing Recurring Items

Item-Specific Billing Practice

For non-transactional subscription items (with the billing type set to Recurring, Recurring Prorated, Recurring Prorated AVG, One-Time or Minimum Fee), JustOn allows for defining the preferred billing time – either as soon as the item service period coincides with the invoice run period, or at the end of the service period. To cover this requirement, you use the field Billing Practice on the item, selecting one of the following picklist values:

Value	Description
Invoicing in advance	Makes JustOn bill the item as soon as possible, that is, when the item service period coincides with the invoice run period. This is the default setting, and is also applied when the field is empty.
Invoicing in arrears	Makes JustOn bill the item at the end of its service period, that is, when the service period end date of an item is before the invoice run period end date. Invoicing in arrears requires at least one of Start Date or Next Service Period Start to be set.

For example, assume a subscription with the following item configuration:

Field	Value
Billing Unit	Month
Billing Period	3
Next Service Period Start	2019-01-01

This item has a service period of three months and is to be billed every three months.

Now assume a monthly invoice run. Consider the resulting invoice line item for the different billing practices:

Invoice Run Period	Invoice Line Item: Invoicing in Advance	Invoice Line Item: Invoicing in Arrears
2019-01-01 → 2019-01-31	2019-01-01 → 2019-03-31	-
2019-02-01 → 2019-02-28	-	-
2019-03-01 → 2019-03-31	-	2019-01-01 → 2019-03-31
2019-04-01 → 2019-04-30	2019-04-01 → 2019-06-30	-

As you see, in arrears delays the billing of the item: It will not be invoiced until an invoice run covers the last third of its service period.

Defining Item-Specific Billing Practice

Item-Specific Lead Time

For non-transactional subscription items (with the billing type set to Recurring, Recurring Prorated, Recurring Prorated AVG, One-Time or Minimum Fee), JustOn allows for defining a lead time (in months). This enables an item to be included in an invoice run before the actual service period of the item is reached.

Note

When defining a lead time, the following item information must be set:

• Billing Unit
• Billing Period
• Start Date or Next Service Period Start

The Billing Type must be one of Recurring, Recurring Prorated, Recurring Prorated AVG, One-Time or Minimum Fee.

For example, assume a subscription with the following item configuration:

Field	Value
Billing Type	Recurring
Billing Period	1
Billing Unit	Month
Next Service Period Start	2019-03-01
Lead Time	1

Now assume a monthly invoice run, starting with January (01 – 31). Consider the resulting invoice line item:

Invoice Run Period	Invoice Line Item Service Period Start	Invoice Line Item Service Period End
January	-	-
February	2019-03-01	2019-03-31

With a lead time of one month, the invoice line item will be created one month before service period starts.

Defining Item-Specific Lead Time

Contract-Specific Values

Primarily in order to support reports for forecasting purposes, subscription items can hold contract-specific amount values. Users (or some custom logic) set the base Contract Value for an item, and JustOn Billing & Invoice Management tracks and calculates the invoiced and remaining values when creating invoices from the related subscription.

The following fields are available:

Field	Data Source	Description
Contract Value	manual input or calculated value	The overall value of the item for the whole subscription period. In case of a professional service item, for example, the contract value is the initially negotiated value of the opportunity product. This value can be determined in a subscription building process.
Contract Value Correction	manual input	A corrective value to be deducted from the contract value because it has already been invoiced.
Contract Value Invoiced	updated upon invoice modification	The actually invoiced contract value, which is updated each time an invoice or an invoice line item is changed or deleted. JustOn only considers invoices of the statuses Open, Paid or Settled. Invoices of the type Cancelation are ignored.
Contract Value Remaining	calculated value	The remaining contract value, which is calculated based on the other three values (Remaining Contract Value = Contract Value - Contract Value Correction - Invoiced Contract Value). Can never be less than 0.

Maintaining Contract-Specific Values