Product

Zenskar is a flexible billing and revenue management system that helps businesses automate invoicing and, where applicable, revenue recognition. At the core of this automation is the concept of a product. In Zenskar, products define what you are selling to your customers and how it should be priced, billed, and accounted for.

graph TD
  Contract["📄 Contract"]
  Phase["📆 Phase"]
  Product["📦 Product"]
  Feature["✨ Feature (e.g., Tax, Discount)"]

  Contract -->|"Includes one or more"| Phase
  Phase -->|"Contains one or more"| Product
  Phase -->|"Contains one or more"| Feature

style Product fill:#90ee90,color:#000

What is a product?

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Definition

A product in Zenskar is a structured, reusable representation of a good or service offered by your business.

It captures both descriptive and commercial information, such as name, SKU, pricing, and billing configuration. Products are used to define what is being sold and drive downstream processes like invoice generation and revenue recognition.

Products form the building blocks of contracts, which in turn power both billing and revenue workflows.

Why products matter

Products serve as the bridge between your offerings and how they are billed or recognized for accounting purposes. By clearly defining your offerings as products, Zenskar enables automation of:

• Invoice generation and delivery
• Usage metering and billing
• Application of discounts, taxes, and credits
• Revenue recognition scheduling (if required)

Where products are used

Products are attached to contracts in Zenskar. When a customer subscribes to a service or purchases a product, a contract is created with one or more associated products. This allows Zenskar to determine:

• What the customer is entitled to
• How much and how frequently they should be billed
• How and when revenue should be recognized

Key properties of a product

Each product in Zenskar can be configured with the following attributes:

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Note

Product identifiers, tax codes, and tags help Zenskar integrate smoothly with external systems and streamline compliance-related tasks like tax calculation and reporting.

Pricing and billing configuration

Beyond the base properties, a product in Zenskar is typically associated with pricing and billing rules when added to a contract. These can include:

• Pricing model: Flat fee, tiered, volume-based, usage-based, or custom logic
• Units of measure: Used for metered products (e.g., API calls, GB of storage)
• Billing frequency: Monthly, quarterly, annually, or custom intervals
• Minimum commitments: Optional minimum spend or usage thresholds

Example use cases

• A SaaS product offering a monthly subscription — defined as a standalone product with recurring billing.
• A cloud platform selling data usage in GBs — defined as a usage-based product with tax codes and metering units.
• A bundled solution combining software and onboarding services — defined as a grouped product with multiple child items.

Products vs features

While products define the core offering, Zenskar also supports features that customize pricing, billing, and accounting. These are not standalone products but rather additions to a contract and include:

• Service fee
• Discounts
• Taxes
• AvaTax integration
• Credits
• Custom currency settings
• Payment terms
• Minimum commitments

Summary

Products are foundational in Zenskar. They allow businesses to define what they are selling, manage how customers are charged, and enable structured revenue reporting. By accurately modeling your product catalog with appropriate attributes and billing rules, you unlock powerful automation in both billing and revenue management workflows.

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Tip

Start with a well-organized product catalog. Assign SKUs, tax codes, and identifiers early to make integrations and reporting seamless as your business scales.