3 G/L Reporting Case Studies

This chapter shows an example of how revenue is reported for Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management (BRM) general ledger (G/L) reports.

For more information, see the following:

About G/L Case Studies

The following case studies show the results of various plans on customer accounts. Each study contains a short description of the plan followed by actual outputs from running the pin_ledger_report utility. The default pin_glid file has been modified to contain some G/L accounts as shown in Figure 3-1.

Figure 3-1 Modified pin_glid File with G/L Entries

Description of Figure 3-1 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-1 Modified pin_glid File with G/L Entries''

Case Study 1

Plan details:

  • Customer created: July 6, 2000

  • G/L posting: Monthly G/L posting

  • Purchase: Plan 1 – Measured Web access with discounts from an example .ipl file.

    • Monthly email fee: $3.00 (G/L ID 104)

    • Monthly pro-ratable IP fee: $9.95 (G/L ID 102)

  • Accrual-based accounting

The G/L output for July displays as shown in Figure 3-2:

The G/L output for August displays as shown in Figure 3-3:

The unbilled revenue for the duration of July 1 through August 1 appears on the billed report for the duration of August 1 through September 1. To do reversals, you need to reverse the data in your company's accounting software.

Figure 3-4 is an example of the September G/L report:

Figure 3-4 September G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-4 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-4 September G/L Report''

From this report on, the monthly fees of $9.95 and $3.00 become earned revenue for all successive months. However, because the monthly fee is pro-ratable, the amount depends on the number of days per month. Therefore, the amount earned in September is prorated for 30 days (25/30 * 9.95 = 8.29). The amount that was reported as unearned revenue in August becomes earned revenue in September.

Case Study 2

Plan details:

  • Customer created: July 6, 2000

  • G/L posting: Daily G/L posting

  • Purchase: Plan 1 – Measured Web access with discounts from an example .ipl file.

    • Monthly email fee: $3.00 (G/L ID 104)

    • Monthly pro-ratable IP fee: $9.95 (G/L ID 102)

  • Accrual-based accounting

The G/L report for July 6 displays as shown in Figure 3-5:

The full payment was received for the cycle forward fees because the customer account was created with the credit card payment method.

The cycle forward fee remains unbilled until the first billing cycle on August 6. In the G/L reports for July 7 and July 15, BRM decreases the unbilled_unearned revenue and increases the unbilled_unearned revenue amounts.

Figure 3-6 shows the July 7 G/L report.

Figure 3-7 shows the July 15 G/L report.

Figure 3-7 July 15 G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-7 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-7 July 15 G/L Report''

When billing is run on August 6, the amounts change from unbilled to billed as shown in Figure 3-8. The entire amount is now earned and reported in the billed_earned revenue type.

Figure 3-8 August 6 G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-8 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-8 August 6 G/L Report''

From the report run on August 7, the earned revenue is now posted under the prev_billed_earned revenue type as shown in Figure 3-9.

Figure 3-9 August 7 G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-9 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-9 August 7 G/L Report''

Figure 3-10 shows the August 15 G/L report.

Figure 3-10 August 15 G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-10 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-10 August 15 G/L Report''

Case Study 3

Plan details:

  • Customer created: July 6, 2000

  • G/L posting: Daily G/L posting

  • Purchase: Plan 1 – Measured Web access with discounts from an example .ipl file.

    • Monthly email fee: $3.00 (G/L ID 104)

    • Monthly pro-ratable IP fee: $9.95 (G/L ID 102)

  • Accrual-based accounting

  • On-demand billing: You generate a bill immediately after the deal is purchased. For more information, see the discussion of on-demand billing in BRM Configuring and Running Billing.

The G/L report run for July 6 shows that the revenue is earned on the same day that the deal was purchased as seen in Figure 3-11:

Figure 3-11 July 6 G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-11 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-11 July 6 G/L Report''

In the following example, BRM generates the bill and reports the revenue as earned when the customer purchases a deal. The following examples show the results of running G/L reports on a bi-monthly cycle with the on-demand billing feature.

Figure 3-12 shows the July 7 G/L report.

Figure 3-12 July 7 G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-12 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-12 July 7 G/L Report''

Figure 3-13 shows the July 15 G/L report.

Figure 3-13 July 15 G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-13 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-13 July 15 G/L Report''

Figure 3-14 shows the August 6 G/L report.

Figure 3-14 August 6 G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-14 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-14 August 6 G/L Report''

Figure 3-15 shows the August 7 G/L report.

Figure 3-15 August 7 G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-15 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-15 August 7 G/L Report''

Figure 3-16 shows the August 15 G/L report.

Figure 3-16 August 15 G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-16 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-16 August 15 G/L Report''

Case Study 4

Plan details:

  • Customer created: July 6, 2003

  • G/L posting: Last day of the month

  • Purchase: Plan 1 – Unlimited Web access with recurring discounts.

    • Quarterly email fee: $45.00 (G/L ID 102)

  • Accrual-based accounting

This case study shows how BRM handles multi-month cycle fees. In this case, the quarterly fee is $45.00. BRM amortizes the fee over the life of the 92-day multi-month cycle. Because the customer's first billing date is August 6, 2003, the revenue for July is considered unbilled in the report as shown in Figure 3-17.

In the August report, you can see that BRM defers revenue based for quarterly fees. Only 26 days of revenue is earned for a quarterly fee that spans 92 days (26/92*45 = 12.71). The remainder is unbilled_unearned revenue.

The report generated for August is shown in Figure 3-18 and Figure 3-19:

Figure 3-18 August 1 G/L Report 1

Surrounding text describes Figure 3-18 .

Figure 3-19 August 1 G/L Report 2

Description of Figure 3-19 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-19 August 1 G/L Report 2''

In this report, the fee is billed and is reported in the unbilled_earned revenue type. 52 days out of 92 are shown as earned revenue.

The report generated for September is shown in Figure 3-20:

Figure 3-20 September G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-20 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-20 September G/L Report''

The previously billed date, September 6, 2003, falls outside this report, so the prev_billed_earned option still reports how much is earned during that month. From the 92-day multi-month cycle, the month of October earned 31 days (31/92*45 = 15.18).

Figure 3-21 shows the October G/L report.

Figure 3-21 October G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-21 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-21 October G/L Report''

Case Study 5

Plan details:

  • Customer created: October 6, 2000

  • G/L posting: Last day of the month

  • Purchase: Plan 1 – Unlimited Web access with discounts. The plan is modified to include a cycle arrears fee instead of a cycle forward fee.

    • Cycle arrears fee: $19.95 (G/L ID 102)

    • Purchase fee: $15.00 (G/L ID 101)

  • Accrual-based accounting

The cycle arrears fee, $19.95, is reported as earned when it is billed. The fee was charged on November 6 and the entire amount became billed and earned on that day.

Figure 3-22 shows the October G/L report.

Figure 3-22 October G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-22 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-22 October G/L Report''

Case Study 6

Plan details:

  • Customer created: October 6, 2000

  • G/L posting: Monthly G/L posting

  • Purchase: Plan 1 – Unlimited Web access with discounts. The plan is modified to have a cycle arrears instead of a cycle forward fee.

    • Monthly email fee: $19.95 (G/L ID 104), with a 10% discount

    • Monthly IP fee: $15.00 (G/L ID 102)

  • On-demand billing

Figure 3-23 shows the October G/L report.

Figure 3-23 October G/L Report

Description of Figure 3-23 follows
Description of ''Figure 3-23 October G/L Report''