Define tariff components for billing
Important
Draft documentation
This content is a draft version of the SkyBill documentation and is subject to final review. Some information may be incomplete or inaccurate. Features, terminology, and procedures may change before the official release.
Use tariff components to define how SkyBill measures the quantities to bill. Each tariff component represents one method of applying a charge during the billing cycle. You must create the necessary components before you can build your tariff.
Although tariff components might appear similar to rates or charges, they serve a different purpose. Think of them as a preparatory step before building tariffs. At this stage, you only define what is measured (electricity, water, gas, and so on) and how you measure it (by consumption, by days, by a fixed amount, and so on). You'll assign units of measure and rates later, when you create the tariff itself.
You can divide tariff components into three main categories:
- Standalone components can be used directly in the tariff and do not require any other tariff components to be added to the tariff to make sense. An example of such a tariff component is water consumption. You can imagine a tariff that only charges for water consumption.
- Supplementary components (additional charges) are also used directly in the tariff, but they make sense only when used together with other tariff components. An example of such a tariff component is the standing charge, a daily fee for the meter regardless of consumption. In most cases, you use such a fee alongside some standalone components in your tariff. In this example, that would be a tariff with both consumption and the standing charge.
- Calculation-only components are used to enable advanced billing scenarios and are not used in tariffs. An example of such a tariff component is the return to sewer component. It is never used directly in a tariff. You may use another tariff component called sewer, in which you calculate the quantity based on water consumption. This way, you use meter readings to get the water consumption and the return to sewer tariff component to calculate the sewer quantity.
To create a tariff component
- Select Search (Alt+Q)
in the upper-right corner, enter Utility Tariff Components, and then choose the related link. - Select New, and then on the Utility Tariff Component Card page, configure the following fields.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Code(*) | Enter a unique identifier for the tariff component. |
| Description(*) | Provide a clear name that describes the component. |
| Totaling Type(*) | Choose how SkyBill calculates the quantity. The Totaling Type determines the rule used to apply a charge. For more information about specific totaling types, see the Totaling types. |
| Totaling Table No. | Select the table that is the source for further calculations if you set the Totaling Type to Table. To learn more, see totaling type: Table. |
| Field No. in Contract Line | Select a field from the table chosen in the Totaling Table No.. Similar to the Totaling Table No. field, this field is mandatory if you set the Totaling Type to Table. |
| Meter Point Type(*) | Choose the utility type, such as electricity, water, or heat. |
| Allocation Level | [Add description] |
| Allocation Key | Select the method to distribute the consumption among supply addresses. The allocation key determines how SkyBill divides consumption recorded by the bulk meter. The consumption is divided according to predefined criteria, such as submeter readings or apartment size. For more information, see the Bulk Consumption Allocation. |
| Meter Register No. | Specify which register to use when a meter has multiple registers that measure consumption separately (such as day and night registers). For example, enter the day register code to charge only for day consumption. Leave blank for tariff components unrelated to meter registers (such as standing charges). |
| Totaling | Enter a value in this field if you set up Formula or Table in the Totaling Type field. For instructions on what value to enter, go to either totaling type: Formula or totaling type: Table. |
| Condition | Specify the conditions under which this tariff component applies. If you enter >30 with the Highest value totaling type, SkyBill charges based on whether the peak consumption exceeds 30. If the peak consumption is 40, the customer is charged for 40 units. If the peak consumption is 20, the customer is charged for zero units. |
| Period Formula | [Add description] |
| Remove if Consumption is Zero | Specify if SkyBill should remove sales document lines if the consumption value is zero. |
| Short Description | Enter the tariff line description that you want to display on your company website. |
| Long Description | Enter the extended description that you want the user to see on your company website. The user needs to hover over the tariff component to see the description. |
| Use Fixed Days | Turn this toggle on to use a fixed number of days, instead of the actual number of days in the billing period. To use this option, set up the value for the Days in Period field on the Billing Setup page. Learn more about Days in Period. |
| Percentage | [Add description] |
| Rounding Precision | Define the rounding precision for the quantities in the tariff component. Leave the field blank if you don't want to apply any rounding. Enter 1 to round to the nearest whole number. Enter 0.1 to round to one decimal place. |
| Bulk Meter is Optional | Specify whether a bulk meter is required for this tariff component. Use this field with Bulk Consumption Allocation, Bulk Difference Allocation, and Bulk Difference Allocation Exclusive totaling types. When Bulk Meter is Optional is turned off, SkyBill returns an error if a submeter lacks a specified bulk meter. Turn it on if only some properties have a bulk meter. Leave this off if all submeters have a bulk meter specified. [T2] |
| Suppress Zero Amount | [Add description] |
(*) Required field.
Note
Fields marked with (*) are always required. But depending on the selected Totaling Type, you may need to fill in additional fields to define how the quantity is calculated. For example, if you choose Formula as the Totaling Type, you must also enter a value in the Totaling field.
Related information
Totaling types
Calculate, create, and send customer invoices
Set up tariffs and pricing rules
Apply step tariffs to utility consumption
Work with Business Central