BSS Charges

Creating a Charge

Step 1 Go to the page of the product you want to create a charge, go to the Charges tab. Click Add Charge.

Step 2 In the form window fill in all required fields:

• Charge Name (1) - charge name will be displayed in the configurator and describes what the customer pays for, e.g. data transfer fee,

• Charge Parent - by default, the charge is created under option - you can change it to refer to option instead,

• Charges#Charge Model,

• Charge Type (2):

  • One-Time - determine the one-off cost for a product

  • Recurring - determine the recurring cost for a product

  • Usage - cost based on actual usage of the product.

Step 3 You can also fill additional fields if needed:

• Sorting Order - specify the order in which charges will appear in the charges section. Charges generated from MRC List and OTC List fields are always displayed first.

• Charge Item Action - a list of actions for which a particular charge is applicable. If no action is selected, the charge will be applied for every item action.

• Multiplier Attribute - product attribute based on which the price will be multiplied (it should be a numeric, percent or currency attribute),

• Multiplier Item Field - if a multiplier is not an attribute, but a field from Cart Item or Product Order Item, set field API name here and leave Multiplier Attribute field blank,

• Billing Frequency - determines how often the customer needs to pay the fee. Applicable only to recurring charges

• Charge Criteria - contains a list of criteria that will have to be met in order to apply a particular charge to a product (you can find a full description in Charges#Charge Criteria Definition section below),

• Unit of Measure - this will be shown in the Charge component for informational purposes,

• Pricing Method - by default, Standard List is selected, but you can change it to cover more complex scenarios. Please refer to the Advanced Product Pricing Methods page to learn more.

Step 4 After the record is created, it should appear in the table with product prices. Set Charge List Price for the newly created charge using BSS Pricebook Management Tool - Product Context

Charge Model

Charge Model determines how charges are calculated. Below you will find an explanation of each model that is available in the system.

Flat Fee

It’s the simplest charge model, the amount of charge is a single price that can be applied on a one-time or recurring basis.

Flat Fee Example

A customer has a subscription that uses a flat-fee pricing model for a premium support service that costs 9,99 $ per month. 

Per Unit Pricing

The amount of charge is shown as a price per unit. A user needs to specify what attribute is used as a multiplier.

Per Unit Pricing Example

A customer buys extra storage space for his cloud backup service paying 0,15$ per GB. Attribute "Extra storage space" is a multiplier and it holds the information about the actual storage space that the customer buys. For 10 GB of storage space, the user will pay 1,5 $ per month.

Tiered Pricing

This model uses Charge Tiers to determine the price. The amount to charge varies progressively as volume increases, different units may be at different prices depending on the tier they classify into.

Tiered Pricing Example

A customer is buying additional data space for his or her Cloud Based backup service. The charge depends on a tiers-based pricing model with tiers being presented in the table below:

If the customer chooses to buy 10 GB of storage data, he or she will pay 5 * 1 $ + 5 * 0,89 $ = 9,45 $ on a monthly basis.

Volume Flat Fee Pricing

In this model, the customer is charged a fixed price for the quantity of the product based on the range the quantity qualifies into.

Volume Flat Fee Pricing Example

A company is selling additional data space for its Cloud-Based backup service. It’s using a volume flat fee based pricing model with different ranges being presented in the table below:

If a customer chooses to buy 50 GB of storage data, he or she will be charged 25 $ per month.

Volume Per Unit Pricing

In this model, the amount of charge is a single amount, but it depends on the quantity (number of units) being purchased.

Volume Per Unit Pricing Example

A company is selling additional data space for its Cloud-Based backup service. It’s using a volume per unit based pricing model with different ranges being presented in a table below:

If a customer chooses to buy 50 GB of storage data, he or she will be charged 50 * 0,032 $ = 1,6 $ per month.

Charge Tier

Charge Tiers are used to generate ranges which will be a basis for price calculation. Every tier can have its own price. Below you will find step-by-step instructions on how to create charge tiers.
Step 1. To add a Charge Tier to a Charge, edit a charge using Pricebook Management Tool - Product Context.

Step 2. The right sidebar contains information about charge tiers. You can use it to add and delete charge tiers (if you do not see it, expand it using the arrow button on the right side of the window). Confirm your modifications using Save.

Step 4 Set Charge List Price by entering values into the data grid and confirm by clicking Save.

Charge Criteria Definition

Complex product configuration may result in an increased number of charges that are applied only in particular conditions. In order to cover these scenarios, the criteria field is defined on Charges.

The following rules apply to all criteria:

• they define additional rules that have to be met in order to set a charge,

• if a criteria field is empty, it means that no additional rules will have to be met in order to execute an action,

• a criteria field have a unified way of definition across all system - syntax is the same regardless of the object that you work on.

Elements that can be used when defining criteria include:

• Comparison operators,

• Logical AND/OR operators,

• Attribute and Attribute Values,

If you want to use item fields in charge criteria, make sure to include them in:

• Setup > Object Manager > Cart Item > Field Set > Custom Fields

• Price Item (Cart Item or Product Order Item) fields.

Detailed syntax explanation is provided below:

Example Of Charge Implementation

Detailed information on how each charge model works along with the possibility to simulate price calculation can be found in the following file: Charge Models Explained

Additional Remarks

Charge Name should not contain symbols and special characters, such as { } ; : *

If you define a charge that has a multiplier attribute defined and a multiplier attribute is not set during configuration, the charge will not appear as a part of product pricing.

Usage charges:

• should not have Multiplier attribute populated

• should not have Flat fee Charge Model

• should have Standard List Pricing Method