Common Parameters

All calculation rules use the following common parameters:

  • Calculation Group: The calculation group to which the rule belongs
  • Calculation Rule: The user-defined name given to the calculation rule
  • Sequence: The relative position of the calculation rule in respect of the other rules in the calculation group. This controls the order in which the system performs the calculation.
  • Description: A short description of the rule. This is used as the Information String for the rule in the user interface.
  • Detailed Description: A detailed description of the rule.

In addition, several of the base package calculation rules also use the following parameters:

  • Description On Bill: The text that appears on the bill line generated for this calculation rule. Variables can be used to dynamically generate text (such as, price and quantity) when billing calculates the charges. Refer to How To Use Description on Bill for more information about available substitution variables.
  • Print (Yes or No): A flag that specifies if the bill line created by this calculation rule should appear on the customer's bill. All bill lines are shown on Bill Segment - Calculation Details. However, only those lines marked as Print are presented to the customer.
  • Print If Zero (Yes or No): A flag that specifies if a bill line should be printed if the bill line's value is zero.
  • Rounding Type: This flag specifies if the calculated value should be rounded Down, Up, or Nearest. Used with Precision to control how the system rounds the rule's calculated value.
  • Precision: This field defaults to a value consistent with the decimal positions defined on the rate schedule's currency code. Used with Rounding Type to control how the system rounds the rule's calculated value.
  • FCPO (For Calculation Purposes Only): A flag that indicates if this calculation rule exists purely to calculate a value used by another calculation rule. When set to Yes, the system does not include the calculated amount in the bill total. The following are required when FCPO is set to Yes:
    • Create Bill Line: Determines if a bill line should be created for the rule (if there is no need to show the results to the customer or a user, there is no need to create a bill line).
    • FCPO Retention Rule: If a bill line created, this defines if the FCPO amount should be set to zero on the bill line or whether the bill line's amount should be set equal to the FCPO amount.
  • Override Proration: A flag that specifies if an override proration algorithm should be used. This is used in situations when the standard proration logic does not satisfy your requirements. In this case, you may plug in an override proration algorithm to calculate the proration factors required by your implementation. This algorithm can be specified on the calculation rule business object or on the parent calculation rule business object if the override proration applies to all rates.
  • Seasonal (Yes or No): A flag that specifies if charges associated with the calculation rule are only levied during a specific season. If set to "Yes", the following must be specified:
    • Season Start: Defines the start of the season for the calculation rule.
    • Season End: Defines the end of the season for the calculation rule.
    • Seasonal Prorate Method: Defines how the system should prorate a seasonal charge when a bill segment's period is not entirely within the seasonal period. The following options are available:
      • Accounting Date, Consumption End Date and Consumption Start Date options will not prorate the charge calculated by the calculation rule. Rather, it will only calculate the charge if the accounting date associated with the bill segment is within the seasonal period, or if the consumption period's end date is within the seasonal period, or if the consumption period's start date is within the seasonal period respectively.
      • Prorate will prorate the calculation rule charge based on number of days in the season that is included in the bill period.
      • The Prorate Seasonal SQ option is only pertinent if you have:
        • Seasonal service quantity (SQ) charges, AND
        • Meters that measure seasonal consumption on separate registers, AND
        • You have a bill that crosses seasonal boundaries, AND
        • You have multiple rate version calculation groups effective across the bill period.

          If the Prorate Seasonal SQ option is used, the system will prorate the charge calculated by a SQ calculation rule based on the number of days in the season that is included in the rate version calculation group's period.

  • GL Distribution: If the charge calculated by the calculation rule impacts the general ledger, you must define the distribution code used to construct the GL account.
    • Distribution Code Source: Specifies the type of GL distribution to use for this calculation rule.

      If the calculation rule's charges should be booked to a single GL account regardless of the service agreement's SA Type's revenue class, select the Specific Distribution Code source and enter a Distribution Code.

      If the calculation rule's charges are booked to a different GL account depending on the service agreement's revenue class, select the Revenue Class source and insert the appropriate Revenue Class and Distribution Code for each that uses the rate.

  • Cross Reference: Defines the calculation line categories that the resultant calculation details belong to. For example, for a rate that calculates city and state taxes on consumption and demand based charges, the following categories could be used to calculate these taxes:
    • A calculation line category type called "Taxable" with a category value for City Tax and another for State Tax.
    • Each of the rate's calculation rules used for consumption and demand based charges should define the Member Category(s) that it belongs to ("Taxable - City Tax" and "Taxable - State Tax"). In other words, these rules would be defined as a member of the city tax and state tax categories.
    • The Apply To rules used to calculate city tax and state tax should define the respective Target Category(s) ("Taxable - City Tax" and "Taxable - State Tax") that they are applied to.

      There are two types of cross-reference categories:

    • Target Category: Specifies the category that the calculation rule targets. Used with Apply To, Maximum Charge, and Minimum Charge calculation rules.
    • Member Category: Specifies the category to which the calculation rule belongs.
  • Characteristics: Defines additional calculation rule attributes that may be used in rate processing or for reporting purposes. A calculation rule's characteristics are copied onto the resultant bill lines for those characteristic types that are allowed on bill segment calc lines. You can indicate that “C1-ADDSC” characteristic ad hoc value of a bill line should be substituted into the bill line's description by using the %V substitution variable in the calculation rule's Description On Bill field.