Welcome back to our double feature about aggregating usage-based charges. In the previous blog post, we looked at configuring aggregations to enable multiple rating periods within a billing cycle to be considered during price calculation for usage-based charges. If you haven’t read it yet, get up to speed here.
Today, we’ll learn how you can use business rules when defining aggregations. We’ll take the same example use case as we did before: X-ray as-a-Service.
Example Use Case: X-Ray as-a-Service
For our example scenario, we still consider a usage-based charge for the images produced, which is configured with a tiered price condition. The number of images is billed each month according to the defined tiered pricing. The technical resource ID is the serial number of the X-ray machine. The fee is charged in arrears and all usage charges are accumulated.
| Charge Type | Rate Element | Unit of Measure | Price |
| Usage-Based (Tiered) | IMAGES Rate Subelements:
| EA (Each) | Highres:
Lowres:
|
We also still assume that the billing cycle is split into two rating periods due to a new subscription snapshot for a replacement X-ray machine and a resulting change in the technical resource ID.
So that was the recap. Now, we want to offer a specified number of images free of charge as an included quantity with the subscription: 50 high-resolution images and 100 low-resolution images.
As in the previous blog post, the total quantity for July is 600 high-resolution images (285 + 315) and 1020 low-resolution images (498 + 522). Have a look at the priceable document items listed below for reference:
| Item | rateElement | rateSubElement | billingCycleStart | ratingPeriodStart | ratingPeriodEnd | quantity |
| 1 | IMAGES | Highres | 2023-07-01 | 2023-07-01 | 2023-07-15 | 285 |
| 2 | IMAGES | Lowres | 2023-07-01 | 2023-07-01 | 2023-07-15 | 498 |
| 3 | IMAGES | Highres | 2023-07-01 | 2023-07-16 | 2023-07-31 | 315 |
| 4 | IMAGES | Lowres | 2023-07-01 | 2023-07-16 | 2023-07-31 | 522 |
*For simplicity, the productCode and other attributes are not listed in the table.
If we now deduct the included quantity (50 high-resolution images and 100 low-resolution images), the quantity that needs to be charged changes: 550 high-resolution images and 920 low-resolution images.
This results in the following net amounts:
- Highres: 500x30 USD + 50x25 USD = 16250 USD
- Lowres: 500x15 USD + 420x10 USD = 11700 USD
With the split of the billing cycle, the included quantity is considered in the first rating period:
- Highres: 235x30 USD = 7050 USD (first rating period)
265X30 USD + 50X25 USD = 9200 USD (second rating period)
- Lowres: 398X15 USD = 5970 USD (first rating period)
102X15 USD + 420X10 USD = 5730 USD (second rating period)
Setup in SAP Subscription Billing
To enable included quantities to be considered by the calculation, we have to configure a corresponding aggregation in the Manage Aggregation Catalog app.
After defining the grouping criteria and the item contribution, we specify the Business Rule, which defines specific constraints influencing the calculation. For our scenario, we select Included quantity. Additionally, we define the source for the value of the included quantity. Typically, this is defined in a lookup table with a Quantity Field as output field.
In general, we recommend using the lookup table that stores the price condition for a product also for the included quantities, although you can also define a specific one.
The pricing tree of the price element specification looks quite similar to the one in our previous blog post, which had no business rule specified. Here, the only difference is that the aggregation Usage_IQ is used for calculation, thus considering the included quantity.
For this scenario, we don’t need to define the properties coming from the business rule, as the price calculation only requires the aggregation total and the item contribution.
In the Manage Billing Data app, in the bill item, we can then see the calculated amounts. The included quantity has been deducted in the first rating period:
How Included Quantity is Used
Let’s see what happens if the full included quantity isn’t used within the first rating period. For our example use case, we assume that only 35 high-resolution images were produced in the first rating period. In this case, the remaining included quantity, that is, 15 high-resolution images, is considered in the next rating period. The total quantity of high-resolution images produced for July is still 600 (35 in the first rating period, 565 in the second), which results in the same total amount of 16250 USD. But, as the distribution of quantities among the rating periods differs, so does the calculation, even though the total net amount stays the same:
Highres:
0x30 USD = 0 USD (first rating period)
500x30 USD + 50x25 USD = 16250 USD (second rating period)
This concludes our example of how you can configure aggregations that consider included quantities. To learn more about aggregations and other business rules you can define, see our Pricing with Pricing Schemes: Configuration Guide.
If you find this post useful, please like it and stay tuned for more updates following the tag SAP Subscription Billing.
That’s it, thanks for your interest!
More Information
- Price Calculation - Aggregations
- What’s New in SAP Subscription Billing
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