Creating Custom Plans for Accounts
You can create custom Plans for an Account:
Custom Plans can only be attached to that specific Account.
When you create custom Plans, they are attached to the Account to create an Account Plan based on the start and end dates you have entered.
You can then edit the details of the Account Plan you've created for the Account using the custom Plan, such as first bill date or adding it to a Contract that's linked to the Account.
You can add Aggregations and price the custom Plan straightaway in the Plan details page.
Attaching Plans to Accounts! We strongly recommend you review the Attaching Plans to an Account topic for more details before you proceed to create custom Plans for an Account.
Creating a Custom Plan for an Account, attaching it to the Account to create an Account Plan, and finalizing the Account Plan details involves four stages:
Stage 1: Creating Custom Plan
Stage 3: Pricing the Custom Plan
Stage 4: Editing Account Plan Details
You can delete an Account Plan from an Account on the Attached Plans tab:
Creating Custom Plan
To create a custom Plan for an Account:
1. Select Accounts. The Accounts page opens.
2. Select the Name text of the Account for which you want to create a custom Plan. The Account page opens with the Overview tab selected.
3. On the Account actions menu, select Plans>Create Custom Plan:
Alternatively:
Select the Attached Plans tab.
On the Active and pending attached plans panel, select the actions Menu button.
On the menu, select Create Custom Plan.
The Create page opens for Stage 1: Create Plan.
4. In the Product drop-down list, select the Product for which you want to create a custom Plan for the Account:
If the Product you selected does not yet have any Plan Templates created for it, then you must first create one before you can create a Plan for the Product. You'll see a warning with a hotlink create plan template text, which you can use to go directly to the Create Plan Template page. When you've created a Plan Template for the Product, you'll be brought straight back to the Create page to proceed.
If the selected Product has Plan Templates created for it, you can proceed and create a custom Plan based on one of the templates.
5. Use the Plan Template drop-down list to select the template you want to use for the custom Plan.
6. Enter the details of the custom Account Plan:
Name. Descriptive name for the custom Plan. When you create a custom Plan for an Account, a default name is loaded, which prefixes the Account name. You can edit this name text as required.
Code. Unique identifier for the custom Plan. When you create a custom Plan for an Account, a default code string is loaded. You can edit this string as required.
7. Enter the Standing Charge settings for the custom Plan:
Standing charge. You can override the value inherited from the Plan Template. For example, enter 20. The Value from template value is struck through.
Standing charge billing. If you want to override the template setting for billing either in arrears or in advance for standing charges, uncheck Use configuration from plan template and select the setting you want for the Plan.
Standing charge description. You can enter a description for any Standing charge amounts, which overrides any description entered for the template and which will appear in the bill line item.
8. Enter the Minimum Spend settings for the custom Plan:
Product minimum spend. You can override the value inherited from the Plan Template. For example, enter 125.
Minimum spend billing. If you want to override the template setting for billing either in arrears or in advance for minimum spend amount, uncheck the Use configuration from plan template and select the setting you want for the Plan.
Minimum spend description. You can enter a description for any Minimum spend amounts, which overrides any description entered for the template and which will appear in the bill line item.
9. Select Next. The page adjusts to show that Stage 1: Create Plan is completed and you can now move to Stage 2: Attach Plan to the Account to create an Account Plan.
Attaching Custom Plan to Create Account Plan
When you have completed Stage 1: Create plan, the Create page adjust to allow you to complete for Stage 2: Attach plan.
To attach a Custom plan to an Account:
1. Enter Start date and End date to define the period you want the custom Plan to be active for the Account for charging for Product usage:
If you omit an End date, the Account Plan will be applied to the Account perpetually or until such time as you delete the Account Plan.
End dates are exclusive. For example, if you set the End date of June 1st 2022, then the Account Plan ceases to be active for the Account at midnight on May 31st 2022, and any billing is calculated up to that point in time, NOT up to midnight on June 1st. If you want to include end customer Account usage occurring on June 1st for billing, you must set the End date to June 2nd.
Warning: Overlapping Plans! An Account can only have one active Account Plan per Product - if you enter a Start date which would mean the new custom Account Plan overlaps with an Account Plan that is already active for the Account, then a warning will show and you'll be given the option to end the existing Account Plan on the Start date of the new Account Plan.
2. If you want to set the date the first Bill is due for the selected Account using the Account Plan, you can use the First bill date option. Subsequent billing will be determined from the first date you define. For example, if the Plan is configured for monthly billing frequency and you set First bill date as February 14th 2022, then m3ter will create a first bill for the Account on that date and every month from that date. If left blank, then start of billing defaults to the first bill date configured for the Account. (Optional)
3. If you want to add the Account Plan to a Contract you've created for the Account, use the Contract drop down to select it. For more details on Contracts, see Creating Contracts for Accounts. (Optional)
4. If the Account is either a Parent or a Child Account, you can select for Account hierarchy billing mode, which determines how billing will be handled and shown on bills for charges due for the Parent Account and charges due for Child Accounts:
Bill parent account - bill line item per account. Default setting.
Bill parent account - single bill line item for all accounts.
Bill child account.
Note: The billing mode options are only operative if the Account is a Parent or Child Account. For a full explanation of what each means when attaching Plans to create Account Plans for Parent or Child Accounts, see Billing Hierarchy Modes for Parent/Child Accounts.
5. Select Create Plan to complete Stage 2:
The custom Plan is created for the Account - it's created as an Account specific Plan, which means you can only attach it to this Account.
The custom Plan is attached to the Account and an Account Plan is created.
You are taken directly to the Plan Attachment Details page of the newly created and attached Plan:
A Plan Attachment Details and Plan Details panel are shown.
Under Associated Pricing, you can Add Aggregations to price the custom Plan straightaway or you can re-open the Plan Attachment page from the Account's Attached Plans tab at a later date to price the custom Plan. See the following Pricing Custom Plans section for more details.
6. If you return to the Account page and select the Attached Plans tab, you'll see that an Account Plan has been created for the Account using the new custom Plan to charge for the Product, and which is listed on the Active and pending attached plans panel:
Pricing Custom Plans
When you have completed Stage 2: Attach plan, you can complete Stage 3: Price plan - you can price custom Plans you've created for an Account from the Plan Attachment page under Associated Pricing.
Tip: Pricing Custom Plan in Pricing Editor? You must price custom Plans from their Plan Attachment page. If you open the Pricing Editor and select the Product the custom Plan belongs to and then select to Add Plans, only non-custom Plans created for the Product will be available for selection.
To price a Custom plan for an Account:
1. From the Account's Attached Plans tab on the Active and pending attached plans panel, select the Account Plan name text hotlink to open the Plan Attachment page.
2. On the Associated Pricing panel, select Add Aggregations. A Select Aggregations dialog opens and lists an Aggregations created for the Product the custom Plan belongs to and any Global Aggregations.
3. Select the checkboxes for the Aggregations you want to use to price the Plan and select Confirm. The dialog closes and the selected Aggregations are added to the Associated Pricing panel ready for you to price the custom Plan:
In this example, a single Aggregation has been selected for pricing the custom Plan.
4. Select Create Plan Pricing. The Pricing > Create page opens. You can now price up the Plan in the same way as if you had reached this page from the Pricing Editor when pricing a non-custom Plan - see the Creating a Pricing for a Plan section and follow the workflow steps explained there.
5. When you have completed the pricing configuration you want to apply to the custom Plan, select Create Pricing. The Pricing > Create page closes and you are returned to the Plan Attachment page where the Associated Pricing panel now shows the custom Plan's pricing:
In this example, we've set up the custom Plan for a flat-rate pricing using a tiered pricing type with a single pricing band.
Editing Account Plan Details
When you have completed Stage 3: Price plan, you can complete Stage 4: Edit plan details.
To edit Account plan details:
1. From the Account's Attached Plans tab on the Active and pending attached plans panel, select the Account Plan name text hotlink to open the Plan Attachment page.
2. On the Plan Attachment Details panel, select Edit. The Edit page opens and you can edit the Account Plan and define settings.
2. Edit Start date and End date, as required.
3. If you want to set the date the first Bill is due for the selected Account using the Account Plan, you can use the First bill date option. Subsequent billing will be determined from the first date you define. For example, if the Plan is configured for monthly billing frequency and you set First bill date as February 14th 2022, then m3ter will create a first bill for the Account on that date and every month from that date. If left blank, then start of billing defaults to the first bill date configured for the Account. (Optional)
4. If you want to add the Account Plan to a Contract you've created for the Account, use the Contract drop down to select it. For more details on Contracts, see Creating Contracts for Accounts. (Optional)
5. If the Account is either a Parent or a Child Account, you can select for Account hierarchy billing mode, which determines how billing will be handled and shown on bills for charges due for the Parent Account and charges due for Child Accounts:
Bill parent account - bill line item per account. Default setting.
Bill parent account - single bill line item for all accounts.
Bill child account.
Note: The billing mode options are only operative if the Account is a Parent or Child Account. For a full explanation of what each means when attaching Plans to create Account Plans for Parent or Child Accounts, see Billing Hierarchy Modes for Parent/Child Accounts.
6. Add any required Custom Fields to the Account Plan. For more on Custom Fields, see Adding and Editing Custom Fields.
7. Select Update Plan to complete the final stage of your custom Plan set up for the Account. You now have a fully configured Account Plan on the Account - Bills will be calculated for the Account in accordance with the Account Plans on the Account for each of your Products the Account consumes.
Tip: Adding Custom Fields when attaching a Plan? You can define Custom Fields for a custom Plan you've attached to an Account to create an Account Plan. Note that these Custom Fields will be specific to the Account Plan - they are separate from any Custom Fields you might have already added either to the Account itself or to the custom Plan that you're attaching and using to create the Account Plan. Secondly, any Custom Fields you create for an individual Account Plan override those you've created for Account Plans at the Organizational level. See Working with Custom Fields.
Deleting an Account Plan
If you want to delete the Account Plan that was created when you created the custom Plan for the Account and attached it to the Account, you can do this from the Attached Plans tab.
1. On the Active and pending attached plans panel, select Delete. A confirmation popup appears.
2. Select Yes to confirm the Account Plan deletion.
Important! Deleting the Account Plan does not mean the Plan is deleted - the Account Plan is created only when you attach a Plan to an Account. The Account Plan and Plan are therefore separate entities. If you want to delete a Plan, you must go to Pricing>Plans, select the Product you created the Plan for, and then delete it from there.
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