Flat-fee pricing

Concepts

Flat-fee pricing is the simplest model in Zenskar. It involves charging a fixed, recurring, or one-time amount regardless of how much the customer uses the service. This model provides maximum predictability for both the vendor and the customer.

The logic of dimensions

Flat-fee pricing is a 0-dimensional model. It depends on zero external factors; it is a mathematical constant.

Think of this as "The anchor." In a world of shifting usage and complex variables, the flat fee remains stationary. It does not move based on volume, attributes, or transaction values. It serves as a solid foundation for a contract, ensuring a baseline of revenue regardless of activity.

SaaS example: Cloud log storage

A monitoring platform offers a "Platform access fee" that grants the user the right to use the dashboard and storage infrastructure. This fee is the same whether they store 1 GB or 1,000 GB.

The "Anchor" calculation: Because there are no variables to consider, Zenskar simply applies the constant value defined in the product.

Get started

To implement flat-fee pricing, you must first define the product in your library.

1. Navigate to the Library: Go to Contracts > Products.
2. Create a Standalone Product: Click + CREATE NEW and choose Standalone Product from the dropdown. The Create Standalone Product page will appear. Fill in the required details and click Save & Proceed at the bottom right.
3. Open Price Details: You will be redirected to the Price Details page. Click + Add Price to configure pricing for the product.
4. Select Flat Fee Pricing Model: In the Pricing Model dropdown, select Flat Fee.
5. Add Price Details and Save: Fill in the required details and click Confirm. Once complete, click Done on the Price Details page to finalize the setup.

How-to: Add a flat-fee product to a contract

1. Via Contracts

1. Open the target contract in Contracts > Contracts.

2. In the Summary tab, click + ADD PRODUCT V3.

3. Search for and select your configured flat-fee product.

4. Click ADD PRODUCT. You will be redirected to the Summary page. Click Publish.

2. Via Customer

1. Open the target customer in Customers.
2. Go to Contracts and click + CREATE CONTRACT.
3. In the Summary tab, click + ADD PRODUCT V3.
4. Search for and select your configured flat-fee product.
5. Click ADD PRODUCT. You will be redirected to the Summary page. Click Publish.

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Constraint: You can attach only one pricing model to a single product instance.

Reference

Technical specifications

System architecture

In Zenskar, all pricing models are governed by a hierarchical relationship between entities:

• Contract: The legal agreement between you and your customer.
• Phase: A specific time-bound period (e.g., Q1, implementation phase) within that contract.
• Product: The actual service or software module being sold.
• Pricing model: The specific logic (flat-fee pricing) that defines how that product is billed.

Entity hierarchy:

flowchart LR
    CONTRACT[Contract] ---|"has one or more"| PHASE[Phase]
    PHASE ---|"has one or more"| PRODUCT[Product]
    PRODUCT ---|"has exactly one active"| PRICINGMODEL[Pricing model]

style PRICINGMODEL fill:#90ee90

Price resolution flow

The following flow describes how flat-fee pricing calculates the final price:

1. Product library: Defines the global flat fee (c) and the billing frequency.
2. Contract: Links the product to a customer.
3. Billable metric: Does not require usage data (q); the value is pulled from the product definition itself.
4. Billing engine: Bypasses usage aggregation and directly injects the constant as a line item on the invoice.