Performing Prepayments Queries and Reviewing Results
On the Prepayments tab in the Data Explorer, you can use the Query Builder to configure and perform queries against the Prepayments/Commitments data for your Organization in m3ter. The Query Builder is designed to let you quickly set up and submit a query that returns precisely the right data set to serve your current analytical purposes. You can then review the data in either a Summaries or a Data Table format.
When a query succeeds for Prepayments data, you can also review:
Remaining obligations due on Prepayment as month-on-month amounts for the remainder of the Prepayment service period.
Draw-down amounts made against the Prepayment at billing.
This topic explains how to work successfully in the Data Explorer to configure and perform queries against your Prepayments data and review returned data.
Tip: Prepayments on Accounts? For more details on Prepayments and creating them for an Account, see Creating Prepayments for Accounts.
Building and Performing a Prepayments Data Query
To submit queries for Prepayments data and review returned data:
1. Select Data Explorer. The Data Explorer opens with the Usage tab selected.
2. Select the Prepayments tab. You can build the specific query you want to perform against Prepayments data collected for your Organization.
3. In the Select period section, define a period for returning Prepayments data:
Time period. Use the drop-down list to select a period. If a Prepayment has a start date that falls in the period, then its data will be returned for the query.
Today is the default.
You can select from a range of other predefined periods, such as Last whole week or Last 30 days.
If you want to define a specific period, you can use Custom:
Start date and End date. If you select Custom for the query Time period, these date/time fields will be enabled. You can use calendar popups to define the start and end dates/times for a custom period.
Start dates are inclusive and End dates are exclusive. For example, if you want data returned for the entire month of June 2023, you must set the Start date at June 1st 2023 and the End date at July 1st 2023. If you set the End date at June 30th 2023, the Custom Time period for your query will end at midnight on June 29th 2023.
4. In the Apply an Account filter section, select the Accounts you want to the query to return Prepayments data for:
All Accounts. Data will be returned for all Accounts for which Prepayments have been created.
Selected Accounts. Use the drop-down to select the Account Codes you want to return Prepayments data for.
In this example we have:
Selected a single Account to return Prepayments data for.
Selected a Custom time period. The Organization Timezone is set to UTC.
5. Select Perform Query. The query executes and the resultant data is loaded into the Summaries panel and Data Table.
Note: Prepayment Start Date must fall in selected period! The query will only return data for Prepayments on the selected Accounts for Prepayments whose start date falls in the selected time period.
Important: Limits imposed on response payload size and number of rows!
Response too Large: If the response payload for your query is >10MB, this exceeds the limit and you'll receive an error message to inform you. You can either use the available filters to further limit the query result set and re-run your query or use the Export button to download the current results in a
.csvformatted file - see Exporting Query Results.Number of Rows Returned for Query: If the number of rows returned by your query exceeds 5001 but the payload size limit is not exceeded, then only the first 5001 are loaded. You will not receive an error and if you suspect your query return contained more rows, we recommend you use the Export button to download the results in a
.csvformatted file and check.Number of Rows for Export: If you download the query results in a
.csvformatted file, the number of rows is limited to 20001.
Reviewing Prepayments Data Query Results in a Summaries Table
You can review the Prepayments data returned for your query in a Summaries table:
Note that if your query has returned data for multiple Prepayments - either for a single Account or across multiple Accounts - you can use the Prepayment drop-down to select which one you want to review:
Reviewing Prepayment Data Query Results in a Data Table
You can review the Prepayments data returned for your query in a data Table:
In Prepayments - Table:
Tip: End Date shown in Results Data differs from end date set for query? The End date shown for the returned data, both in the Prepayments - Summaries panel and in the Prepayments - Table, might not be the same as the End date you've set for a query. This is because a Prepayment spans an entire contract period, and is not simply a minimum spend amount to be charged on a bill-by-bill basis. The End date shows as the end date of the Prepayment contract period, which in this example is December 15th 2023.
You can reorder the columns for the Prepayments - Table.
To reorder columns:
1. Select the book icon at top-right:
A panel appears listing the available table columns.
2. Drag-and-drop these into a top-bottom ordering to correspond to the left-right ordering you want for the Prepayments - Table:
3. Select Update. The panel closes and the Prepayments - Table refreshes for the selected column order:
Tip: Exporting Prepayments Data? You can use the Export button to create a .csv file of your returned Prepayments data. See Exporting Query Results for more details.
Reviewing Remaining Obligations for Prepayments
You can use the Obligations panel to review the remaining obligations due under the Prepayment service period:
For the current example, we can read of the obligations due for each month through until the end of the Prepayment's service period in December 2023.
Note that you can reorder the columns in the Obligations table in the same way as you can in the Prepayments - Table. See the previous section for details.
Tip: Export Prepayment Obligations? You can select Export on the Obligations panel to export the remaining obligations as a .csv format file, which is downloaded to the Downloads folder on your local machine.
Reviewing Prepayments Billing Information
You can scroll down in the Prepayments tab to review a Billing panel. This gives details of amounts drawn-down against Prepayments at billing:
We can see in this example that at billing the Prepayment has been drawn-down against Standing charge and Minimum spend amounts due.
Note that you can reorder the columns in the Billing table in the same way as you can in the Prepayments - Table. See the section above for details.
Tip: Export Prepayment billing details? You can select Export on the Billing panel to export the billing details as a .csv format file, which is downloaded to the Downloads folder on your local machine.
Tip: Saving Prepayments Queries? You can save, update already saved, and re-use saved Prepayments queries. You can also load pre-configured Standard Queries directly into the Query Builder. See Saving, Updating, and Re-Using Queries.
Additional Support
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