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Managing Item Pricing

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).

The actual price of an item can be of two types.

  • Flat: With a flat price, the item's quantity is assumed as 1 and the item's subtotal equals the configured flat price.
  • Default: When specifying a default price, the item's subtotal is determined by the specified default price multiplied by the actual item quantity.

In addition, you can define complex pricing scenarios for an item. Advanced pricing and billing features include

General Billing Settings

The following details control the item's general billing behavior:

Section Field Description
Generic Billing Values Billing Type Specifies the general billing behavior
Recurring – item is billed with the given amount in each invoice run
One-Time – item is billed only once, then it is deactivated
Transactional – there is no quantity defined for the item, it is calculated based on usage data records instead
Recurring Prorated and Recurring Prorated AVG – item is billed proportionally to a partial billing unit
Price Specifies the item price, is ignored when using price tiers
Price Type Specifies the item's price type, is ignored when using price tiers
Default – using a default price, the item's subtotal is determined by the specified default price multiplied by the actual item quantity
Flat – using a flat price, the item's quantity is assumed as 1 and the item's subtotal equals the configured flat price
Charge Model Defines the commission calculation type for specific pricing scenarios
Mark Up – the invoice run creates an additional invoice line item for which the price is calculated based on the original invoice line item total multiplied by the percentage that is defined in the commission field
Mark Down – the invoice run creates an additional invoice line item; the prices for the two items are re-calculated such that the sum of the item totals equals the original total, and the price for the additional invoice line item is based on the percentage in the commission field of the original item
Discount Specifies a percentage discount rate that is applied to all prices of the item
Commission Specifies a percentage commission that calculates the line item total based on the unit price and the defined percentage
Recurring & One-Time Billing Values Billing Period Specifies the time interval (in days, months or years) for the item to be considered in an invoice run
Billing Unit Specifies the time frame (Day, Month or Year) used for the price calculation of the billing period
Next Service Period Start Specifies the next billing date for the item
Sync With Specifies a time with which the next invoice date of a recurring item is to be synchronized
Transactional Billing Values Order No. Specifies the key to match source data to a subscription item
Transaction Price Field Specifies the source field for the item price when calculating transactions
Transaction Quantity Field Specifies the source field for the item quantity when calculating transactions
Transaction Aggregation Fields Specifies additional fields to be aggregated for calculating transactions
Timed Quota Specifies the quantity that triggers the timed quota functionality: If the quantity over all line items within a year from the start date of the item is greater than the timed quota, JustOn applies the alternate price (set in the Price field) instead of the standard price (taken from a price tier).
Timed Quota Period Specifies the aggregated quantities of the invoice line items per period. The period is updated when an invoice is finalized.
This field is not intended to be displayed, as it is used for internal calculation purposes.

Using Price Tiers

Price tier concepts

You can set price tiers. These are a means to specify multiple prices for an item, each being valid for a defined quantity range.

price_tier
Price tiers without defined validity period

The following settings control the price tier behavior:

Field Description
Quantity Specifies the item quantity until which the price defined in this tier is valid. If left empty, the defined tier price is valid for all quantities.
Price Specifies the price to apply to quantities within the range of this tier. If left empty, the tier is not considered in the price lookup.
Price Type Specifies the price calculation method for the current price tier:
Default - When specifying a default price, the item's subtotal is determined by the specified default price multiplied by the actual item quantity.
Flat - With a flat price, the item's quantity is assumed as 1 and the item's subtotal equals the configured flat price.
Split Quantity (checkbox) Specifies whether the item is to be split into a new invoice line item when it exceeds the quantity defined in this tier, can be used for scaled prices or if you want to state a basic charge separately.

You can set up price tiers to be valid for a defined time, specifying a start date and an end date. In this case, JustOn arranges the prices with the same start date and end date into one price tier group.

price_tier_group
Price tiers grouped by validity period

Be aware that price tier groups must not overlap.

With multiple price tier groups, JustOn selects the matching price of a subscription item during the invoice run based on

  • the quantity and
  • the transaction date for transactional items or
  • the service period for recurring items.

That is, transactions that have taken place in the time of one price tier group are aggregated, but separated from those that have taken place in the time of another price tier group. This results in multiple individual invoice line items, each based on one price tier group.

If the price tier group changes within the service period of a recurring item, JustOn separates the service period into multiple parts. The item price for each service period part is calculated using a split billing factor that corresponds to the split period. This also results in multiple individual invoice line items, each based on one price tier group.

When using two or more price tier groups, the last one must not specify an end date. If, however, there is an end date set for the last price tier group, then the subscription items must also specify an end date (earlier or the same as the price tier end date). Otherwise, the price calculation may fail, stating

An Apex error occurred: ONB2.AbstractPriceCalculator.PriceNotFoundException: No matching price found for item "<title>" with quantity <#>.

As long as you do not define start date and end date for a price tier, there will be only one valid price tier and no item separation will take place.

For examples that illustrate the price tier behavior, see Price Tier Configuration Examples.

Creating Price Tier Groups

To create a new price tier group:

  1. Open the subscription item to be edited.
  2. In the Price Tier section, click New Tier.

    price_tier_UI
    Creating a price tier group

  3. Specify values for quantity and price, and select the price type and the split option as necessary.

  4. Optionally, specify start date and end date as necessary.
  5. Click Save.

    Leaving start date and end date blank creates a price tier that is valid without time limit.

    With a defined start date or end date, JustOn creates a price tier group that is valid for a certain period.

Info

The Price Tier section always shows one price tier group, even though there may be more. To navigate between multiple price tier groups, use the Previous and Next links.

Editing Price Tiers

To edit an existing price tier:

  1. Open the subscription item to be edited.
  2. In the Price Tier section, click Previous or Next to navigate to the intended price tier group.
  3. Click Edit in the row of the tier to be modified.
  4. Edit the price tier details as necessary.
  5. Click Save.

Adding Prices to Price Tier Groups

To add a new quantity/price range to a price tier:

  1. Open the subscription item to be edited.
  2. In the Price Tier section, click Previous or Next to navigate to the intended price tier group.
  3. Click New Price.
  4. Specify quantity and price as necessary.

    price_tier_add
    Adding a new price to a price tier

  5. Click Save.

    This adds a new quantity range with a new price to the current price tier (group).

Price Tier Configuration Examples

This section summarizes some examples for the price tier configuration, illustrating its behavior.

Single Price Tier - Quantity
Quantity Price Type Resulting Quantity
100 0,55 Default 0 - 100
1000 0,50 Default 101 - 1000
10000 0,48 Default 1001 - 10000
0,45 Default 10001 or more
Single Price Tier - Price Type

The price type specifies the price calculation method. It can be either Flat or Default.

  • Flat: With a flat price, the item's quantity is assumed as 1 and the item's subtotal equals the configured flat price, regardless of the actual quantity.
  • Default: When specifying a default price, the item's subtotal is determined by the specified default price multiplied by the actual item quantity.

Assume the following configuration:

Price Tier Quantity Price Type
A 100 49,95 Flat
B 1000 0,50 Default
C 10000 0,48 Default
D 0,45 Default

Depending on the achieved quantity, this results in the following invoice line items:

Quantity Selected Price Tier Resulting Invoice Line Items
1 A 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
100 A 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
101 B 101 x 0,50 = 50,50
1000 B 1000 x 0,50 = 500,00
1001 C 1001 x 0,48 = 480,48
1234 C 1234 x 0,48 = 592,32
10000 C 10000 x 0,48 = 4800,00
10001 D 10001 x 0,45 = 4500,00
12345 D 12345 x 0,45 = 5555,25
Single Price Tier - Split Quantity

Selecting the option Split Quantity splits the item into a new invoice line item when it exceeds the quantity defined in an individual price tier.

To charge, for example, always a basic price and any additionally consumed units separately, assume the following configuration:

Price Tier Quantity Price Type Split Quantity
A 100 49,95 Flat
B 1000 0,50 Default
C 10000 0,48 Default
D 0,45 Default

Depending on the achieved quantity, this results in the following invoice line items:

Quantity Selected Price Tier Resulting Invoice Line Items
1 A 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
100 A 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
101 B 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
1 x 0,50 = 0,50
1000 B 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
900 x 0,50 = 450,00
1001 C 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
901 x 0,48 = 432,48
1234 C 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
1134 x 0,48 = 544,32
10000 C 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
9900 x 0,48 = 4752,00
10001 D 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
9901 x 0,45 = 4455,45
12345 D 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
12245 x 0,45 = 5510,25

To represent scaled prices, just enable the option Split Quantity for every price tier:

Price Tier Quantity Price Type Split Quantity
A 100 49,95 Flat
B 1000 0,50 Default
C 10000 0,48 Default
D 0,45 Default

Depending on the achieved quantity, this results in the following invoice line items:

Quantity Selected Price Tier Resulting Invoice Line Items
1 A 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
100 A 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
101 B 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
1 x 0,50 = 0,50
1000 B 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
900 x 0,50 = 450,00
1001 C 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
900 x 0,50 = 450,00
1 x 0,48 = 0,48
1234 C 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
900 x 0,50 = 450,00
234 x 0,48 = 112,32
10000 C 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
900 x 0,50 = 450,00
9000 x 0,48 = 4320,00
10001 D 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
900 x 0,50 = 450,00
9000 x 0,48 = 4320,00
1 x 0,45 = 0,45
12345 D 1 x 49,95 = 49,95
900 x 0,50 = 450,00
9000 x 0,48 = 4320,00
2345 x 0,45 = 1055,25
Price Tier Groups

Price tier group 1

Quantity Price Start Date End Date
100 10,00 - 2017-07-31
1000 9,50 - 2017-07-31
- 9,00 - 2017-07-31

Price tier group 2

Quantity Price Start Date End Date
100 11,00 2017-08-01 -
1000 10,50 2017-08-01 -
- 10,00 2017-08-01 -
Price Tier Groups - Transactional Items
Group Start Date End Date
1 - 2017-07-31
2 2017-08-01 -

Transactions with a date before 2017-08-01 are aggregated and calculated using a price defined in the price tier group 1. Transactions with a date after 2017-07-31 are aggregated and calculated using a price defined in the price tier group 2. The resulting invoice will have two invoice line items for this subscription item and its transactions.

Individually priced transactions are not subject to this behavior.

Price Tier Groups - Recurring Items

Recurring items are defined by the start date and end date of their service period. Each price group change within the service period results in a new invoice line item. The billing factor is split between all resulting line items.

Group Start Date End Date
1 - 2017-07-31
2 2017-08-01 -

Item settings

Field Value
Billing Period 1
Billing Unit Month

Service period and billing factor

Field Value
Service Period Start 2017-01-01
Service Period End 2017-12-12
Billing Factor 12

This results in two invoice line items with the following details:

(1)

Field Value
Service Period Start 2017-01-01
Service Period End 2017-07-31
Billing Factor 6.96986
Unit Price taken from group 1

(2)

Field Value
Service Period Start 2017-08-01
Service Period End 2017-12-31
Billing Factor 5.03014
Unit Price taken from group 2
Price Tiers - Transactional Item, split by criterion

When billing transactional items, you can use criteria to aggregate particular transactions, which may split a single subscription item and produce multiple invoice line items out of it. If there are price tiers defined for the item, JustOn by default determines the price tier individually for each invoice line item as created for a specific criterion. You can, however, select the checkbox Ignore Criterion For Price Tier Quantity on the item to have JustOn determine the price tier based on the "combined" quantity of all invoice line items that result from the same subscription item.

Subscription settings

Item Order No. Billing Type
Product 1 PROD1 Transactional
Price Tier Quantity Price
A 100 10,00
B 5,00

Custom object records to be matched with the transactional item

Criterion Order No. Quantity
1 PROD1 30
1 PROD1 40
2 PROD1 50

JustOn produces two invoice line items – one for criterion 1, and one for criterion 2. Without selecting the checkbox Ignore Criterion For Price Tier Quantity, JustOn uses the individual quantities to determine the price tier. Accordingly, it applies price tier A for the two invoice line items:

Invoice Line Item Quantity Price
Product 1 70 700,00
Product 1 50 500,00

With the checkbox Ignore Criterion For Price Tier Quantity selected, however, JustOn combines the quantities and consequently applies price tier B:

Invoice Line Item Quantity Price
Product 1 70 350,00
Product 1 50 250,00

Using Commission Tiers

You can set up commission tiers, a means to calculate different commissions for an item based on the sales volume. Basically, they work the same way as price tiers do: You define price ranges and a commission for each. Depending on the actual unit price (which represents your sales volume), JustOn determines the commission percentage to be applied.

The following settings control the commission tier behavior:

Field Description
Price Specifies the price (sales volume) until which the commission defined in this tier is valid.
Commission Specifies the commission (percentage value) to apply to prices within the range of this tier.

To add a commission tier to an item:

  1. Open the subscription item to be edited.
  2. In the Commission Tier section, click New Commission.
  3. Specify price and commission as necessary.
  4. Click Save.

    This creates a commission tier. Repeat this step for other price/commission combinations that represent your (complex) commission scenario.

Using Timed Quota

When billing usage data, your business may require to apply different prices after an allocated usage quota is exceeded. To this end, you can define a timed quota for a transactional item. Once set, JustOn selects an alternate price for a transactional item if the achieved quantity is larger than the quota defined for the given period.

Info

The timed quota support is available as of JustOn 2.59.

For the feature to work, you need two prices – a (standard) price to apply for quantities within the quota, and an alternate price for quantities that exceed the quota.

  • The price for invoice line items within the defined quota is taken from a price tier. That is, you create at least one price tier to define the standard price(s) to apply.
  • To set the price for invoice line items that exceed the quota, you use the Price field of the item. With the timed quota set and filled, JustOn bypasses the price tier and applies the price defined here.
  • To set a different title and description for invoice line items that exceed the quota, you can use the item fields Additional Title and Additional Description.

The following settings control the timed quota behavior:

Field Description
Timed Quota Specifies the quantity that triggers the timed quota functionality: If the quantity over all line items within a year from the start date of the item is greater than the timed quota, JustOn applies the alternate price (set in the Price field) instead of the standard price (taken from a price tier).
Timed Quota Period Specifies the aggregated quantities of the invoice line items per period. The period is updated when an invoice is finalized.
This field is not intended to be displayed, as it is used for internal calculation purposes.

To enable timed quotas:

  1. Open the subscription item to be edited.
  2. In the Timed Quota field, specify the quantity to trigger the alternate price as necessary.
  3. Click Save.

Note

Make sure to have defined both a price tier that specifies the standard price and a price in the item's Price field that specifies the alternate item price.

Next steps:

Managing Subscription Items
Managing Invoice Runs
Manually Creating Invoices