Actual usage billing schedules
A billing schedule can include billing for actual usage, such as disk storage space used or building rental space used. The actual usage charges are copied to sales orders when a bill batch is created for the billing schedule. The sales orders are copied to the bill batch.
Actual usage billing schedules enable service providers to manage dynamic assets customers. For example, a customer might use more less space each month, so the amount billed to the customer varies each month.
Usage meters define types of usage and units of measure for those types. Usage meters contain actual usage amounts on billing schedules and are used to calculate the price of the usage. A usage meter is defined for each type of asset or location usage that is to be billed. You can view the monthly usage associated with an asset or location in the Assets and Locations applications.
A sales order is created for each separate record of unbilled usage recorded on either an asset or location. A usage record is considered unbilled if it does not yet have a bill batch number associated with it. The prices for the usage are calculated based on the pricing rules in the billing schedule. The unit price is the price that is within the range of the total count of all of the usage found for that usage meter and for that customer.
Example
ABC Management Inc. is a facilities management company that provides building and office maintenance services. They charge each client a monthly fee in addition to a custodial fee. The monthly fee is fixed, but the custodial fee is calculated based on the size of the space being maintained. The custodial fee might change from month to month as customers increase or decrease their occupancy space. The fee is calculated each month by multiplying the space that the customer used by the price that is on the agreement. The billing schedule for this agreement contains the fixed monthly fee, and a list of the spaces that are used, with the rate per square foot for each space. From the occupied locations, the space usage, in square feet, is collected and the usage rate is calculated. These charges are calculated on the day specified on the billing schedule