Billing:
Bill Life Cycle
Each bill runs through a life cycle that begins with its initial creation, or opening, and ends with its
closing, after which the billing data that it contains can be transferred to another system for invoicing.
A new bill is opened (created) automatically as soon as a charge or credit requires billing and doesn't
belong to an existing open bill. As long as a bill is open, it collects charges or credits that match the
criteria.
A bill is due either on the start date or the end date of the billing period, depending on the charges or
credits that are collected in the bill. On the due date, any billing delay starts, and the billing period ends
with on the billing date.
A bill is closed automatically when the billing date is reached.
Example
The following timelines show the life cycles of two bills for a pay-per-use subscription with a recurring
charge.
The subscription starts on July 1, is billed monthly calendar-based, and has a 2-day billing delay.
Bill for the first recurring charge (billed in advance)
Bill for the first usage charge
Bill Statuses
A bill can have one of the following life cycle statuses at any given time:
Open: The initial status when a bill is created
Closing: The bill is in the process of being closed
Closed: The bill has been closed successfully
The following diagram shows the transitions between the bill statuses:
Billing Settings:
Various settings allow you to determine when billing takes place and to define other aspects, such as
proration and splitting of bills.
The following table shows an overview of the billing settings that you find in SAP Subscription Billing and
where you define them.
Setting Determines Relevant For Defined In
Billing Cycle The frequency of billing and the Billing in general The rate plan
start date of the billing cycle. template of the
subscription item
Billing Delay The postponement of bill closing The billing profile
Setting Determines Relevant For Defined In
to allow time for changes before
bills are closed and transferred to
invoicing.
Bill Split Element The creation of a separate bill for The subscription
a subscription header
Billing Cycle The start of the billing cycle on the Anniversary The subscription
Reference Date anniversary of the billing billing cycles header
reference date. If empty, the
billing cycle starts on the
anniversary of the subscription
start date.
End-of-Month The period as of which charges The rate plan
Rule are applied for subscriptions template of the
starting on the 29th, 30th, or 31st subscription item
of a month.
Billing in The billing of recurring charges in Recurring charges The rate plan
Advance advance instead of in arrears. template of the
subscription item
Prorate First The proration of recurring charges The rate plan
Cycle for the first billing cycle. template of the
subscription item
Bill Recurring The collection of recurring charges The subscription
Charges of several consecutive billing header
Together cycles in a single bill.
Waive Recurring The waiver period of recurring The subscription item
Charges charges.
Adjustment The timing of billing for The billing profile
Period adjustments to recurring charges
Setting Determines Relevant For Defined In
that are billed in advance.
Create Bills Early The creation of bills before the One-time charges The billing profile,
billing cycle has started. and recurring with the option to
charges billed in adjust the setting in
advance the subscription
header
Billing of The timing of billing for charges Billing in general The billing profile
Charges Due at that are already due when the
Subscription associated subscription is created.
Creation
Same customer with 2 subscriptions but different billing profiles are assigned and this may cause bill split
(2 separate invoices)
Transfer of Billing data:
By selecting the transfer status, can monitor the transfer failed billing documents.
Once the errors are corrected and reset the transfer data;
Transfer status is changed once the bill document is picked up in the scheduled cycle.
