Prepaid commitment with postpaid overages
An example-based guide that helps you create a prepaid-commitment-with-postpaid-overages contract and generate invoices
This is an example-based guide to help you understand the prepaid commitment with postpaid overages business model. You may use this guide as a starting point to build a bespoke template and/or contract.
The example
You are an artificial intelligence SaaS provider that helps relocation service providers perform virtual household surveys.
Contract details
Your customer chooses the Silver Survey Plan contract:
Service | Fees |
---|---|
Up to 25 end-user surveys | $ 850 per month |
Unused surveys | Credited for future use, but no refunds |
Additional surveys | $34 per survey |
Onboarding and support | $ 400 per year |
Create a contract
You can create a contract using a contract template as base or you can create a contract from scratch.
Create a contract using a contract plan as base
Why create a contract plan?
A contract template is reusable. That is, a contract template can be used to create bespoke contracts. You can create a contract without creating a contract template.
Read the Zenskar contract plan documentation for better understanding.
The contract explained in the previous section needs to be translated into a Zenskar contract template.
Product | Pricing model | Details |
---|---|---|
Silver Survey Plan | Flat fee (refer: how to create a flat-fee product. | $ 850 Recurring, per month |
Previous month overages | Per-unit pricing (refer: how to create a per-unit-pricing product) | $ 34 per survey |
You can create a contract template with the following properties:
- Template name: Silver Survey Plan
- Billing cadence: Monthly
- Contract type: Prepaid
- Currency: USD
![](https://files.readme.io/0265845-Screenshot_from_2023-11-30_12-13-53.png)
Product 1: silver survey plan
Service | Fees |
---|---|
Up to 25 end-user surveys | $ 850 per month |
The first product of your contract plan addresses the first clause of the contract and has the following properties:
- Product name: Silver Survey Product
- The following product settings help the product inherit the global contract template settings:
![](https://files.readme.io/111484d-Screenshot_from_2023-11-30_12-17-46.png)
- Billing cadence: inherits the monthly billing cadence from the contract template settings
- Contract type: inherits the prepaid contract type from the contract template settings
- Pricing model: Flat Fee
![](https://files.readme.io/744adb6-Screenshot_from_2023-11-30_12-58-27.png)
Note
We have not added an important contract condition to this product: the flat-fee is applicable to 25 end-user surveys. This condition is handled in the next product.
Product 2: previous month overages
Service | Fees |
---|---|
Additional surveys | $34 per survey |
Unused surveys | Credited for future use, but no refunds |
This product of your contract template addresses the second and third clauses of the contract and has the following properties:
- Product name: Previous Month Overages
- The following product settings help the product deviate from the global contract template settings:
![](https://files.readme.io/66dee71-Screenshot_from_2023-11-30_13-21-24.png)
- Billing cadence: monthly billing cadence
- Contract type: postpaid (as opposed to the prepaid contract type of the contract template)
- Pricing model: Per Unit Pricing
- Metered: overages are calculated
- Usage aggregates: the usage or consumption aggregates that will help in determining the charges
![](https://files.readme.io/baa89cd-Screenshot_from_2023-11-30_13-08-55.png)
Features
- Free units: 25
Note
This product covers an important contract condition in the Free Units feature: the flat-fee is applicable to 25 end-user surveys.
- Expiry: at the end of the contract billing period, the unused surveys accrued shall expire
Product 3: onboarding and support fee
Service | Fees |
---|---|
Onboarding and support | $ 400 per year |
This product of your contract template addresses the second and third clauses of the contract and has the following properties:
- Product name: Onboarding and Support Fee
- The following product settings help the product deviate from the global contract template settings:
![](https://files.readme.io/66dee71-Screenshot_from_2023-11-30_13-21-24.png)
- Billing cadence: yearly billing cadence
- Contract type: prepaid
- Pricing model: Flat Fee
![](https://files.readme.io/c2027b2-Screenshot_from_2023-11-30_13-50-34.png)
The final contract template
You performed the following operations:
- Created a contract temple
- Added products to the contract template to satisfy the contract requirements
The final contract template should look as shown below:
![](https://files.readme.io/5f65286-Screenshot_from_2023-11-30_10-53-25.png)
Save the contract template.
Create a contract
- In the side panel, navigate to Contracts > Contracts, and click on the + ADD NEW CONTRACT button.
- Select the Silver Survey Plan contract template, as shown below.
- Fill in the following details:
- Contract name: Silver Survey Plan
- Customer: assign the contract to a customer. You must add customers before performing this step.
- Start date: enter the start date of the contract
- End date: enter the end date of the contract
- Description: add a description
- Currency: select the currency in which you would like to generate invoices
- Billing cycle details: the start date of the billing cycle and the frequency: monthly, quarterly, or annual
- Renewal policy: refer contract renewal documentation
![](https://files.readme.io/ab747ca-Screenshot_from_2023-12-07_13-49-37.png)
- Click on the Create button.
- Customize the contract:
- change contract template values
- add or remove features
- add or remove products
- Click on ADD CONTRACT button to save the contract.
![](https://files.readme.io/8b0e0e4-Screenshot_from_2023-12-07_13-50-41.png)
Create a contract without using a contract template
Creating a contract from scratch is similar to creating a contract template.
Note
Currently, products are created directly in the contract template. This means, products created directly in a contract template are not available in the products module.
In a contract, only existing products can be selected. This means, only products created using the products module can be added to a contract.
Work is in progress to make contract templates behave the same way as contracts.
The process of creating a product, however, is same irrespective of where it is created.
- In the side panel, navigate to Contracts > Contracts, and click on the + ADD NEW CONTRACT button.
- Select + New Contract. The following page will appear.
![](https://files.readme.io/162ba23-Screenshot_from_2023-12-07_16-17-22.png)
- Fill in the details as described above and click the CREATE button.
![](https://files.readme.io/d30d9ff-Screenshot_from_2023-12-07_16-25-44.png)
- Click on the +ADD NEW PRODUCT button, and select all applicable products.
Note
Only one product can be selected at a time. The process must be repeated to add multiple products.
![](https://files.readme.io/b6a5fac-2023-12-07_16-24.png)
- The final contract is ready with all products included. Click on ADD CONTRACT.
![](https://files.readme.io/942d6a0-Screenshot_from_2023-12-07_16-29-46.png)
Create an invoice
Invoices will be generated automatically based on the contract settings you configured. However, invoices can be created manually.
- In the side panel, navigate to Contracts > Contracts.
- Select the desired contract.
- Click on Generate Invoice.
- Select the month for which you would like to generate an invoice.
- Click on Generate Invoice.
![](https://files.readme.io/ecb3043-Screenshot_from_2023-12-07_16-33-07.png)
- A message appears when the background invoice generation processes is successfully triggered.
![](https://files.readme.io/2bc8e57-Screenshot_from_2023-12-07_16-36-35.png)
- Click on View Invoice to view the invoice immediately. You can also navigate to Invoices in the side panel, to view all invoices.
![](https://files.readme.io/e796cc7-Screenshot_from_2023-12-07_16-39-24.png)
Refer invoice documentation to learn about invoices and operations applicable on invoices.
Updated about 2 months ago