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Document
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log:
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Date: |
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Version: |
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Changes: |
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14 March 2006 | Laurits Tygesen, J. Ebbinghaus | 1.0 | Updated screenshots. |
23 March 2006 | Torben Jensen, J. Ebbinghaus | 1.1 | Updated Invoice Production and Involved Engines with reference to /wiki/spaces/NWRARSDEPRECATED/pages/113422706 |
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Intended Readership
This document is intended for anyone who requires an overview and understanding of the general billing and rating process involved at the MNO.
Overview
The document has the below four sections.
- A description of the overall billing concepts, as well as relevant involved data models. This is the foundation for all billing events.
- A description of the CDR handling procedures and involved dataflows and mediation processes.
- A description of the steps specifically involved in the CDR-based rating process.
- A description of the logic, rules, and relevant database tables involved in the allocation of recurrent fees.
Overall Billing Concepts
Each box in the above figure represents a class/table.
Figure 1: Billing Object Model
- Account – Overall relationship of the structure. An account indicates type (Private/Company) as well as registered sales channel.
- Users – represent physical persons/entities related to an account. One account can contain multiple users, and will have one associated registered owner (referenced by account.owner_id)
- BilllingGroup – A BillingGroup represents individual possible groupings of entities which generate invoices. Each billing group can produce invoices containing traffic for each associated member in the invoicing period.
- Subscription – represents the logical product sold to a consumer – a subscription is related to a product (Mobile, Fixed line, VoIP etc.). The subscription status_id indicates the lifecycle status of the current subscriptions. Values can be found in table status with type_id=700
- Service – the physical element of the subscription, such as a fixed line phone or mobile phone. The service will depend on the type of subscription. For Mobile services the most important attributes are phone_number and IMSI.
- SIM card – the physical element delivered to a subscriber. The SIMcard contains the IMSI/ICC/PIN and PUK codes of a given physical SIMcard. If it is in use, the SIMcard will reference the service through SIMcard.assigned_to_service_id.
...
- The
...
- status_id
...
- of
...
- the
...
- SIMcard
...
- indicates
...
- the
...
- current
...
- status
...
- (barred,
...
- active,
...
- etc)
...
- of
...
- an
...
- active
...
- SIMcard.
...
- Possible
...
- status
...
- values
...
- can
...
- be
...
- found
...
- in
...
- table
...
- status
...
- where
...
- type_id=1.
...
- If
...
- a
...
- customer
...
- has
...
- had
...
- their
...
- SIMcard
...
- exchanged,
...
- multiple
...
- SIMcards
...
- can
...
- reference
...
- the
...
- same
...
- service.
...
- The
...
- current
...
- active
...
- SIMcard
...
- is
...
- indicated
...
- where
...
- service.imsi
...
- =
...
- simcard.imsi
...
- BillingGroupMember – represents the membership of a subscription in a billing group. Start_date indicates the starting date of the membership, and end_date indicates the final date of membership. If the membership is currently active end_date will be null.
- Invoice – An invoice header record. One record exists for each invoice (open or closed) that exists for a given billing group.
- Invoice_detail_line – contains the atomic parts of an invoice. Each line contains the details and price for one billing event and is associated with exactly one invoice. Invoice_detail_lines can be generated by a subscription (a specific call by a specific phone in a group) or by an action outside the subscription (one-time fees, late-charges, etc.).
- InvoicePayment – contains the registered payments for an invoice. The sum value of payments are aggregated into the table invoice in the column payed_amount
- RatePlan – references the entry point into the rate plan and the pricing models and indicates which rate plan is active for a given subscription in a given period.
Invoices – Lifecycle and Relations
For post-paid billing groups, each billing event must be associated with an invoice. A billing event could be a phone call, a sent SMS, receipt of a ringtone, etc.
Invoices have the following lifecycle (referencing the invoice table):
- Open – indicated by is_open = 1 in the invoice table. In this state, the record represents a running tally and not yet an official invoice. Billing events can be added to this invoice and the invoice totals can therefore be changed. The customer has not yet been presented with any invoice for this object and no dunning activities or due dates exist.
- Closed – indicated by is_open = 0. In this state, the invoice has become a "real" invoice – including invoice number and due date. This invoice must be fulfilled (paid/Credited) but the total amount of the invoice can no longer be modified.
- Fulfilled – indicated by total_excl_vat+total_vat
...
- =
...
- payed_amount.
...
- If
...
- the
...
- customer
...
- has
...
- paid
...
- all
...
- obligations
...
- of
...
- the
...
- invoice,
...
- it
...
- is
...
- in
...
- this
...
- state.
...
- This
...
- is
...
- a
...
- "reversible"
...
- state
...
- – that
...
- is,
...
- an
...
- invoice
...
- can
...
- be
...
- fulfilled,
...
- but
...
- then
...
- later,
...
- due
...
- to
...
- reversal
...
- of
...
- payment,
...
- be
...
- unfulfilled.
...
The
...
invoice
...
table
...
contains
...
3
...
types
...
of
...
invoices
...
– indicated
...
by
...
the
...
column
...
invoice_type_id.
...
The
...
type
...
can
...
be:
...
- 0 – indicating a Running Invoice. This is the type if invoice where the system can make automated charges, such as rating events, monthly fees, etc.
- 1 – Manual invoice. This is an invoice produced by a customer service representative. This kind of invoices contains manually added items only. No automated charges can be added to this type of invoice.
- 2 – Credit Note. A manually generated credit note.
Billing groups have a relation to billing_cycles which indicates how invoices on a given cycle should be moved from status "open" (is_open=1)
...
to
...
status
...
"closed"
...
(is_open=0).
...
Once
...
the
...
invoices
...
for
...
a
...
billing
...
cycle
...
have
...
been
...
closed
...
they
...
get
...
an
...
associated
...
invoice
...
number
...
assigned
...
as
...
well
...
as
...
an
...
invoice
...
due
...
date.
...
Invoices
...
will
...
enter
...
the
...
dunning
...
activities
...
according
...
to
...
the
...
dunning
...
process
...
rules
...
implemented.
...
The
...
current
...
invoice
...
dunning
...
status
...
is
...
found
...
in
...
Last_step_id
...
and
...
date_last_step.
...
Once
...
an
...
invoice
...
is
...
closed
...
all
...
usage
...
of
...
the
...
invoice
...
is
...
the
...
collection
...
of
...
invoice_detail_lines
...
associated
...
with
...
this
...
invoice.
...
To
...
optimize
...
invoice
...
processing
...
aggregated
...
values
...
of
...
this
...
usage
...
will
...
be
...
computed
...
and
...
stored
...
in
...
the
...
table
...
Invoice_aggregate_lines.
...
This
...
table
...
is
...
maintained
...
by
...
a
...
trigger
...
on
...
the
...
invoice_detail_line
...
table.
...
Invoice Detail Lines
Invoice_detail_lines
...
are
...
the
...
core
...
elements
...
of
...
all
...
invoices
...
and
...
the
...
results
...
of
...
all
...
billing
...
events.
...
For
...
any
...
item
...
to
...
appear
...
on
...
an
...
invoice,
...
an
...
invoice_detail_line
...
must
...
exist.
...
The
...
value
...
in
...
this
...
table
...
is
...
divided
...
into
...
total_excl_vat
...
and
...
total_vat
...
– and
...
the
...
total
...
value
...
of
...
a
...
single
...
line
...
is
...
the
...
sum
...
of
...
the
...
above
...
2
...
values.
...
Invoice_detail_line
...
values
...
are
...
stored
...
in
...
a
...
variable
...
number
...
of
...
decimals
...
(configured
...
in
...
the
...
parameter
...
INVOICE_DETAIL.NUMBER_OF_DECIMALS)
...
– typically
...
this
...
will
...
be
...
between
...
2
...
and
...
4
...
decimal
...
places.
...
Use
...
the
...
Parameter
...
Setup
...
GUI
...
in
...
the
...
main
...
Rator
...
menu
...
to
...
configure
...
this
...
(see
...
Parameter
...
Setup
...
for
...
details.
...
The
...
records
...
in
...
this
...
table
...
also
...
contain
...
columns
...
such
...
as
...
quantity,
...
duration,
...
and
...
charge_date
...
(usage
...
date
...
registered).
...
The
...
column
...
Description
...
contains
...
the
...
detail
...
line
...
description
...
presented
...
on
...
a
...
detail
...
specification
...
in
...
clear
...
text.
...
The
...
columns
...
level1
...
through
...
level5
...
contain
...
different
...
usage
...
aggregation
...
level
...
headings.
...
The
...
invoice_detail_line
...
references
...
a
...
charge_item
...
(found
...
in
...
the
...
table
...
charge_item)
...
by
...
the
...
column
...
charge_item_id.
...
The
...
charge
...
item
...
contains
...
formal
...
values
...
for
...
VAT
...
pct,
...
GL
...
code
...
reference
...
etc.
...
Invoice Production
See the document /wiki/spaces/NWRARSDEPRECATED/pages/113422706 for information about how to close a batch of invoices and for information about the PrintShop file, read "Invoice PrintShop Format".
Involved Engines
- eInvoice Engine
- eInvoiceMail Engine.
CDR Processing
Wholesale Object Model
Figure 2: Wholesale Object Model
- CDR files – Files retrieved from the MNO's provisioning platform. The files will be loaded into two table structures by the Wholesale CDR Loader engine (See document "Wholesale CDR Loader Engine.doc" for details).
- MNO_CDR_HEADER - contains one row per CDR file loaded. The status in the MNO CDR header indicates the current state of the CDR file.
- MNO_CDR - contains one row per CDR in the CDR file and is linked to the MNO_CDR_HEADER to indicate from which file the CDR was originally loaded.
- ServiceProvider – Contains one record per registered wholesale customer in the MNO's setup.
- ServiceProvideImsiRange – contains the list of registered IMSI ranges provided for the given service provider.
- RatePlan – references the entry point into the rate plan and pricing models and indicates which rate plan is active for a given subscription in a given period.
- MNO_sp_file_header
...
- maps
...
- CDRs
...
- after
...
- rating
...
- them
...
- together
...
- in
...
- a
...
- logical
...
- bundle/group
...
- which
...
- will
...
- be
...
- send
...
- as
...
- one
...
- "file"
...
- to
...
- the
...
- service-provider
...
- retail
...
- rating
...
- process.
...
- MNO_billing_work_rates
...
- – a
...
- table
...
- which
...
- contains
...
- mappings
...
- of
...
- CDR
...
- "code"
...
- values
...
- to
...
- traffic
...
- types
...
- and
...
- indicated
...
- states.
...
SP
...
Object
...
Model
Figure 3: SP Object Model
- Billing_source_MNO
...
- – contains
...
- one
...
- record
...
- per
...
- Batch
...
- of
...
- CDRs
...
- received
...
- from
...
- the
...
- wholesale
...
- rating
...
- process.
...
- The
...
- billing_source_MNO
...
- contains
...
- the
...
- reference
...
- to
...
- the
...
- MNO_sp_file_header
...
- from
...
- the
...
- wholesale
...
- database.
...
- Billing_record_MNO
...
- – contains
...
- one
...
- record
...
- per
...
- CDR
...
- retrieved
...
- from
...
- the
...
- wholesale
...
- database
...
- in
...
- a
...
- given
...
- batch.
...
- Billing_record_MNO
...
- contains
...
- information
...
- on
...
- the
...
- type
...
- of
...
- traffic
...
- as
...
- well
...
- as
...
- basic
...
- information
...
- such
...
- as
...
- its
...
- volume/duration,
...
- date
...
- of
...
- call,
...
- IMSI,
...
- a-number,
...
- and
...
- b-number.
...
- This
...
- table
...
- also
...
- contains
...
- a
...
- reference
...
- to
...
- the
...
- original
...
- CDR
...
- file
...
- id
...
- from
...
- the
...
- MNO's
...
- wholesale
...
- database
...
- (ORIGINAL_ID)
...
- which
...
- allows
...
- tracing
...
- a
...
- record
...
- back
...
- to
...
- the
...
- original
...
- CDR
...
- file
...
- sent
...
- by
...
- the
...
- MNO.
...
- Invoice_detail_line
...
- – If
...
- a
...
- CDR
...
- has
...
- been
...
- rated,
...
- the
...
- outcome
...
- will
...
- generate
...
- one
...
- or
...
- more
...
- invoice_detail_lines
...
- containing
...
- the
...
- prices
...
- and
...
- line
...
- descriptions
...
- for
...
- each
...
- generated
...
- billing
...
- event.
...
- Rate_errors
...
- – If
...
- a
...
- CDR
...
- fails
...
- during
...
- the
...
- rating
...
- process
...
- for
...
- any
...
- reason,
...
- the
...
- value
...
- of
...
- billing_record_MNO.status
...
- 4.
...
- In
...
- this
...
- case,
...
- additional
...
- information
...
- about
...
- the
...
- rating
...
- issues
...
- can
...
- be
...
- found
...
- in
...
- the
...
- table
...
- rate_errors.
...
CDR
...
Files
...
– Location
...
and
...
Loading
...
Raw
...
CDR
...
files
...
are
...
loaded
...
into
...
the
...
MNO's
...
wholesale
...
database.
...
During
...
the
...
load
...
process,
...
a
...
record
...
is
...
generated
...
in
...
the
...
table
...
MNO_CDR_HEADER.
...
The
...
status
...
field
...
in
...
this
...
table
...
indicates
...
the
...
current
...
state
...
of
...
the
...
file
...
where
...
- 0=load
...
- in
...
- process
...
- 1=load
...
- successful
...
- >10
...
- indicates
...
- rating
...
- process
...
- in
...
- progress.
...
A
...
number
...
greater
...
than
...
10
...
indicates
...
the
...
identification
...
number
...
of
...
the
...
rating
...
engine
...
processing
...
the
...
batch.
...
Status=99
...
indicates
...
general
...
failures
...
in
...
the
...
file.
...
Before
...
loading
...
the
...
file,
...
a
...
check
...
is
...
made
...
to
...
ensure
...
that
...
no
...
previous
...
copies
...
of
...
this
...
file
...
have
...
been
...
loaded.
...
This
...
is
...
based
...
on
...
filename
...
recognition.
...
During
...
the
...
load
...
process
...
it
...
is
...
validated
...
that
...
the
...
CDR
...
file
...
contains
...
the
...
specific
...
header
...
and
...
trailer
...
records
...
indicating
...
the
...
file
...
is
...
complete
...
and
...
that
...
control
...
numbers
...
match
...
to
...
identify
...
what
...
has
...
been
...
loaded.
...
If
...
the
...
file
...
fails
...
any
...
of
...
the
...
checks
...
during
...
the
...
load
...
process
...
it
...
is
...
backed
...
out
...
assuming
...
an
...
incomplete
...
file
...
download.
...
Each
...
CDR
...
will
...
be
...
inserted
...
"as
...
is"
...
where
...
each
...
column
...
of
...
the
...
file
...
is
...
mapped
...
to
...
its
...
equivalent
...
database
...
column
...
(name
...
identity).
...
See
...
document
...
"MNO
...
Wholesale
...
CDR
...
Loader
...
Engine.doc"
...
for
...
additional
...
information,
...
Duplicate
...
Check
...
During
...
the
...
load
...
of
...
each
...
CDR
...
a
...
trigger
...
on
...
the
...
MNO_CDR
...
table
...
will
...
check
...
if
...
we
...
have
...
received
...
a
...
previous
...
copy
...
of
...
the
...
same
...
CDR
...
in
...
a
...
different
...
CDR
...
file.
...
The
...
CDR
...
is
...
defined
...
as
...
a
...
duplicate
...
if
...
the
...
combination
...
of
...
msg_id
...
and
...
rate_dt
...
is
...
already
...
in
...
the
...
table.
...
If
...
a
...
CDR
...
is
...
detected
...
as
...
duplicate,
...
it
...
will
...
be
...
set
...
to
...
status=98.
...
Additionally
...
special
...
duplicated
...
CDRs
...
are
...
handled
...
where
...
the
...
CDR
...
is
...
received
...
from
...
the
...
MNO
...
as
...
"split"
...
CDRs
...
the
...
second
...
instance
...
of
...
the
...
CDR
...
will
...
in
...
this
...
case
...
be
...
set
...
with
...
status=98.
...
The
...
Mediation
...
Process
...
The
...
purpose
...
of
...
the
...
mediation
...
process
...
is
...
to
...
standardize
...
the
...
mapping
...
of
...
CDR
...
traffic
...
type.
...
This
...
is
...
done
...
by
...
setting
...
two
...
values:
...
- Rating_code,
...
- a
...
- major
...
- traffic
...
- category,
...
- and
...
- rating_key
...
- which
...
- can
...
- be
...
- used
...
- in
...
- the
...
- price
...
- plan
...
- setup
...
- as
...
- an
...
- alternative
...
- number
...
- analysis
...
- (as
...
- to
...
- the
...
- b-number).
...
These
...
values
...
are
...
set
...
on
...
a
...
database
...
insert
...
trigger
...
on
...
the
...
MNO_CDR
...
table
...
and
...
maps
...
the
...
CDR
...
column
...
element_id
...
into
...
traffic
...
types.
...
Definitions
...
of
...
element_id
...
can
...
be
...
found
...
in
...
the
...
MNO
...
CDR
...
description
...
documents.
...
Wholesale
...
to
...
Retail
...
Billing
...
During
...
the
...
wholesale
...
rating
...
process
...
it
...
is
...
determined
...
which
...
service
...
provider
...
is
...
responsible
...
for
...
the
...
usages
...
of
...
a
...
single
...
CDR.
...
This
...
causes
...
the
...
CDR
...
to
...
be
...
mapped
...
to
...
a
...
record
...
in
...
the
...
mno_sp_file_header.
...
The
...
lifecycle
...
status
...
of
...
a
...
batch
...
of
...
CDRs
...
is
...
determined
...
by
...
the
...
value
...
in
...
the
...
status
...
column
...
of
...
the
...
MNO_sp_file_header
...
table.
...
- Status=0
...
- indicates
...
- that
...
- CDRs
...
- can
...
- still
...
- be
...
- attached
...
- to
...
- this
...
- batch.
...
- Status=1
...
- indicates
...
- the
...
- batch
...
- is
...
- "closed"
...
- and
...
- ready
...
- for
...
- shipment
...
- to
...
- the
...
- SP.
...
- Status=2
...
- indicates
...
- the
...
- batch
...
- has
...
- been
...
- successfully
...
- shipped
...
- to
...
- the
...
- SP.
...
Shipment
...
of
...
batches
...
is
...
currently
...
a
...
database
...
stored
...
procedure
...
that
...
executes
...
in
...
the
...
MNO_wholesale
...
schema
...
and
...
uses
...
an
...
Oracle
...
DB
...
link
...
to
...
copy
...
the
...
batch
...
to
...
a
...
different
...
schema/oracle
...
instance.
...
Involved
...
Engines
...
DataLoader
...
(Wholesale
...
CDR
...
Loader)
...
– which
...
handles
...
loading
...
of
...
"raw"
...
ascii
...
files
...
from
...
the
...
MNO's
...
platform
...
into
...
the
...
wholesale
...
database.
...
An
...
Oracle
...
stored
...
procedure
...
(running
...
through
...
the
...
oracle
...
scheduled
...
jobs).
...
The
...
procedure
...
can
...
be
...
found
...
in
...
the
...
package
...
CDR_DELIVERY.
...
One
...
procedure
...
will
...
exist
...
per
...
SP
...
setup.
...
Rating
Object Model
Figure 3: Rating Object Model
Many of the above tables have been described in the previous chapters.
Price Plans and Number Plans
Prices are all setup in general price plans using the structure of number plans. See the billing administration guide for setup of price plans and number plans.
In general a price plan contains a list of mappings of rating codes to number plans. A number plan contains the properties for rating methods (references to code segments that will perform rating for a specific type of traffic) as well as indicate how the price-tree in then number plan should be traversed.
Rating Engines
To be able to setup multiple rating engines, each engine will have its own identification number. A single CDR file can only be rated by one rating engine; however, if multiple unrated CDR-files have been loaded, it is possible to start multiple rating engines. Each rating engine will "take" a CDR-file by setting the status field on the CDR file to the identification number of the rating engine.
The process when a rating engine starts is therefore:
| Panel |
|---|
select from billing_source where status= <identification of the engine> |
If a record is found, the rating engine is restarted and must continue to rate CDRs for the above found file(s).
If No record is found, the engine will perform with the statement:
| Panel |
|---|
update billing_souce set status=<identification of the engine> where status=1 and rownum <2; |
This will "tag" a CDR file to a specific rating engine if any files are ready for rating. Followed by the statement:
| Panel |
|---|
select from billing_source where status= <identification of the engine> |
If there is still no hit, the engine will "sleep" for a time period of typically 60 seconds and then try again to find records.
Wholesale Rating
Figure 4: Wholesale Rating Model
The purpose of the wholesale rating is to tag the MNO_CDR record with a wholesale price depending on the recognized service provider owning the IMSI which had generated the call. In addition to this, the CDRs will be added into a batch of CDRs associated with the specific SP. Once a CDR is rated, the MNO_CDR status will be set to 1. If for any reason the CDR can not be rated, it will be set to status=4 and additional information for the rating problems can be found in the table rate_errors.
Retail Rating
Figure 5: Retail Rating
Once a CDR batch is received from the wholesale platform, the retail rating engine will locate billing_source_MNO batch.
Each CDR contains the IMSI identification of the SIMcard that made the original call. The SIMcard is used by a service which belongs to a subscription. The CDR contains a charge_date which is the date the user made the call. If the subscription is a member of a specific billing group on the date of the charge, the membership will provide the reference to the relevant rate plan. The membership will also provide the reference to the billing_group which holds the invoice which the usage must be charged. If the CDR rates successfully the billing_record_MNO will be set to status=1 and any charges will be added to the table invoice_detail_line.
Suspense Queue Handling
If a CDR cannot rate for any reason – like no pricing element found, the type of usage, or a SIMcard is not found or similar reason - the CDR will have status=4 and relevant error codes can be found in the rate_errors tables.
Rating Methods and Mathematics
During the rating plan the actual method for rating is determined when the specific priceplan element is identified. The purpose of the rating is to generate records in the invoice_detail_line table.
During the rating process, decimal numbers are used unrounded – that is, all mathematical functions are calculated with floating point data-types representing up to 64 digits. Both ex VAT and VAT values are calculated.
Calculation example:
Price per minute | 15 cents including VAT12,93103 cents excluding VAT |
|---|---|
VAT: | 16% |
Number of decimal places: | 4 |
Call duration: | 1 min 45 seconds. |
Price ex VAT 12,93103*105/60 | 22,6293025 |
VAT 16% of 22,6293025 | 3,6206884 |
Price ex VAT charged | 22,6293 |
VAT Charged: | 3,6207 |
| Note that in these examples rounding of values to the number of digits set up in the system parameter INVOICE_DETAIL.NUMBER_OF_DECIMALS |
...
is |
...
done |
...
only |
...
after |
...
the |
...
calculations |
...
of |
...
values |
...
excluding |
...
and |
...
including |
...
VAT |
...
(Value-Added |
...
Tax) |
...
have |
...
been |
...
made. |
...
Typically
...
this
...
is
...
between
...
2
...
and
...
4
...
decimal
...
places.
...
Engines
...
Involved
...
RatingEngine_xx
...
where
...
xx
...
is
...
the
...
engine
...
identification
...
number.
...
RatingEngine_Error
...
– This
...
is
...
a
...
copy
...
of
...
RatingEngine
...
which
...
handles
...
the
...
CDRs
...
in
...
the
...
suspense
...
que
...
only.
...
It
...
is
...
functionally
...
identical
...
to
...
the
...
RatingEngine.
...
Recurrent
...
Fees
Figure 6: Object Model
Subscription Fees represent the tickets we want to charge either as a one-time fee or as a recurrent fee. Subscription Fee records are controlled by events such as a customer service representative inserting/updating billing_group_member
...
(for
...
monthly
...
fees),
...
service_option
...
for
...
service
...
related
...
fees
...
etc.
...
Billing
...
Concepts
...
and
...
Dates
...
A
...
subscription
...
fee
...
can
...
either
...
be
...
added
...
once
...
or
...
on
...
a
...
recurring
...
basis.
...
Each
...
added
...
instance
...
of
...
the
...
fee
...
will
...
generate
...
an
...
invoice_Detail_line
...
where
...
billing_record_id
...
references
...
the
...
subscription
...
fee
...
object.
...
The
...
subscription
...
fees
...
will
...
only
...
be
...
added
...
to
...
subscriptions
...
which
...
are
...
either
...
active
...
or
...
have
...
a
...
termination
...
pending,
...
so
...
fees
...
will
...
never
...
be
...
added
...
to
...
subscriptions
...
which
...
are
...
either
...
initial
...
(not
...
activated
...
yet)
...
or
...
terminated.
...
The
...
addition
...
of
...
fees
...
is
...
based
...
on
...
the
...
following
...
dates
...
in
...
the
...
subscription_fees
...
record:
...
END_DATE_LAST_PERIOD |
|---|
...
indicating |
...
until |
...
what |
...
date |
...
the |
...
fee |
...
has |
...
been |
...
charged. |
...
This |
...
value |
...
indicates |
...
that |
...
no |
...
charges |
...
are |
...
missing |
...
for |
...
this |
...
fee |
...
prior |
...
to |
...
this |
...
date |
...
and |
...
can |
...
either |
...
mean |
...
fees |
...
have |
...
been |
...
charged |
...
up |
...
to |
...
this |
...
date, |
...
or |
...
that |
...
this |
...
is |
...
the |
...
first |
...
date |
...
for |
...
which |
...
the |
...
fee |
...
will |
...
be |
...
eligible. |
...
NEXT_CHARGE_DATE |
|---|
...
next |
...
time |
...
the |
...
system |
...
will |
...
try |
...
to |
...
add |
...
this |
...
charge. |
...
FEE_END_DATE |
|---|
...
the |
...
end |
...
date |
...
for |
...
this |
...
fee. |
...
If |
...
a |
...
fee |
...
is |
...
currently |
...
active |
...
this |
...
value |
...
will |
...
be |
...
null. |
...
PERIOD_LENGTH |
|---|
...
the |
...
number |
...
of |
...
months |
...
for |
...
which |
...
the |
...
fee |
...
applies; |
...
typically |
...
1. |
...
PLAN_ELEMENT_ID |
|---|
...
the |
...
reference |
...
to |
...
the |
...
plan |
...
elements |
...
which |
...
contain |
...
the |
...
price |
...
for |
...
this |
...
fee. |
...
Prepaid vs.
...
Postpaid
...
Fees
...
A
...
recurrent
...
fee
...
can
...
either
...
appear
...
as
...
prepaid
...
or
...
postpaid.
...
A
...
prepaid
...
fee
...
indicates
...
that
...
the
...
charges
...
for
...
the
...
fee
...
will
...
be
...
made
...
in
...
advance
...
of
...
the
...
charge
...
period,
...
and
...
a
...
postpaid
...
fee
...
will
...
be
...
charged
...
in
...
arrears
...
(or
...
the
...
"end")
...
of
...
the
...
fee
...
period.
...
Example:
...
If
...
a
...
monthly
...
fee
...
(let
...
us
...
say
...
the
...
basic
...
subscription
...
fee)
...
is
...
defined
...
as
...
prepaid
...
,
...
it
...
will
...
be
...
charged
...
on
...
January
...
28
...
th for
...
the
...
period
...
of
...
February
...
meaning
...
the
...
customer
...
will
...
receive
...
an
...
invoice
...
for
...
the
...
fee
...
BEFORE
...
the
...
period
...
for
...
which
...
the
...
fee
...
is
...
relevant.
...
The
...
customer
...
pays
...
PRIOR
...
to
...
the
...
actual
...
use
...
of
...
the
...
service.
...
If
...
a
...
fee
...
is
...
postpaid
...
,
...
it
...
will
...
be
...
charged
...
on
...
February
...
28
...
th for
...
the
...
period
...
of
...
February
...
and
...
the
...
invoice
...
sent
...
to
...
the
...
customer
...
will
...
therefore
...
contain
...
charges
...
in
...
arrears.
...
This
...
means
...
that
...
the
...
customer
...
will
...
receive
...
an
...
invoice
...
for
...
the
...
monthly
...
basic
...
subscription
...
fee
...
AFTER
...
the
...
period
...
for
...
which
...
the
...
fee
...
is
...
relevant.
...
The
...
customer
...
pays
...
AFTER
...
to
...
the
...
actual
...
use
...
of
...
the
...
service.
...
For
...
prepaid
...
fees,
...
it
...
might
...
be
...
necessary
...
to
...
refund
...
charges
...
to
...
the
...
customer
...
if
...
the
...
service
...
is
...
discontinued
...
before
...
the
...
payment
...
period
...
has
...
ended.
...
Pro-Rating
...
of
...
Fees,
...
Rules
...
and
...
Concepts
...
When
...
it
...
is
...
determined
...
that
...
a
...
recurrent
...
fee
...
must
...
be
...
charged,
...
the
...
fee
...
biller
...
has
...
to
...
calculate
...
the
...
number
...
price
...
for
...
the
...
fee.
...
This
...
can
...
either
...
be
...
a
...
full
...
period
...
– in
...
which
...
case
...
the
...
total
...
amount
...
of
...
the
...
fee
...
is
...
charged
...
-
...
or
...
a
...
partial
...
period.
...
Partial
...
periods
...
can
...
appear
...
if
...
the
...
charge
...
has
...
been
...
applied
...
in
...
the
...
charging
...
period
...
or
...
has
...
been
...
terminated
...
in
...
the
...
charging
...
period
...
(or
...
a
...
combination
...
of
...
both)
...
The
...
prorating
...
rules
...
are:
...
- If
...
- the
...
- fee
...
- was
...
- started
...
- in
...
- this
...
- period,
...
- the
...
- number
...
- of
...
- days
...
- left
...
- to
...
- charge
...
- is
...
- calculated.
...
- The
...
- charge
...
- is
...
- then
...
- calculated
...
- as
...
- (total_period_charge/30)
...
- *
...
- number
...
- of
...
- days
...
- to
...
- charge
...
- – that
...
- is,
...
- each
...
- day
...
- is
...
- charged
...
- with
...
- 1/30
...
- th of
...
- the
...
- total
...
- period
...
- value.
...
- If
...
- the
...
- fee
...
- was
...
- terminated
...
- inside
...
- the
...
- billing
...
- period,
...
- it
...
- is
...
- calculated
...
- how
...
- many
...
- days
...
- the
...
- billing
...
- was
...
- active,
...
- and
...
- charges
...
- are
...
- made
...
- as
...
- 1/30
...
- th per
...
- active
...
- day
...
- in
...
- the
...
- period.
...
- For
...
- a
...
- single
...
- period
...
- the
...
- maximum
...
- of
...
- 30/30
...
- th (or
...
- 1
...
- full
...
- fee)
...
- can
...
- be
...
- charged,
...
- If
...
- the
...
- fee
...
- was
...
- charged
...
- as
...
- prepaid,
...
- it
...
- might
...
- have
...
- been
...
- charged
...
- for
...
- a
...
- longer
...
- period
...
- than
...
- just
...
- to
...
- the
...
- actual
...
- fee
...
- end
...
- date.
...
- In
...
- this
...
- case,
...
- the
...
- number
...
- of
...
- additional
...
- dates
...
- are
...
- counted,
...
- and
...
- refunded
...
- with
...
- the
...
- value
...
- of
...
- 1/30
...
- th of
...
- the
...
- fee
...
- value
...
- for
...
- each
...
- extra
...
- charged
...
- day
...
- – to
...
- the
...
- maximum
...
- of
...
- 1
...
- full
...
- fee
...
- per
...
- 30
...
- day
...
- period.
...
Involved
...
Engines
...
Subscription
...
FeeBiller.