Rate Schedule - Main

You start the rate definition process by selecting Menu > Rates > Rate Schedule > Search. On this page you enter general information about the rate.

Description of Page

Enter a unique Rate Schedule ID to identify the rate. The value that you supply will typically correspond with the identity of the rate in your rate book.

Enter a Description for the rate schedule.

Select the Rate Schedule Type that applies to the rate schedule. Rate schedules can be either Primary or Subsidiary. Primary rate schedules are the main type of rate schedule used to calculate charges and bills for customers. Subsidiary rate schedules can be used to define rate components that are shared by more than one primary rate. For example, if an organization has multiple rate schedules that reference the same tax rate components, these tax rate components could be placed into a subsidiary rate which the primary rates would reference. Note that subsidiary rate schedules may not be referenced on service agreements, or defined as default rate schedules on SA Types. See Use Sub Rate Schedules to Encapsulate Common Rate Components for more information about subsidiary rate schedules.

Note:

Service Type, Frequency, Currency Code and Allow Estimates defined for the primary rate schedule are used to drive the calculations at billing time and may not be specified on subsidiary rates

Select the Service Type that describes the service associated with this rate. When you maintain an existing rate schedule, this field will be disabled if the rate is referenced on at least one SA Type. See Setting Up Service Types for more information.

Select a Frequency to define the time period in which the rate's charges are expressed. See Defining Frequency Codes for more information.

Note:

Frequency may also affect the read used to bill a customer. If you use the base package's get consumption algorithm to amalgamate reads during billing, the rates frequency also affects whether a bill segment is created AND the period of time during which the system will look for an "end read". Refer to Meter Read Snapshot for more information.

Select a Currency Code to define the currency in which the rate's prices are expressed. See Defining Currency Codes for more information.

Note:

Currency note. All bill factors that are referenced on the rate's rate components must be denominated in the same currency as defined on the rate schedule. This is because bill factors are used when the price is "soft" and all prices in a rate, be they hard or soft, must be in the same currency. Also note - all rates referenced on an account's service agreements must be denominated in the same currency as defined on the account.

Turn on Allow Estimates if the bill process is allowed to estimate consumption for service agreements that use this rate. Consumption is estimated if all of the following points are true:

  • A real read cannot be found.
  • The service agreement allows estimation.
  • The bill cycle schedule allows estimation (if the bill is produced by the billing background process).
  • The rate schedule allows estimation.

Turn on Allow RVs Proration if a change in the Rate Version during a bill period should be prorated. If changes should not be prorated, indicate the RV Selection Date to use when the system determines which rate version to use; available options are:

Accounting Date

The rate version effective on the bill's accounting date will be used.

Bill End Date

The rate version effective on the bill's end date will be used.

Bill Start Date

The rate version effective on the bill's start date will be used.

Rate Schedule Tree

The right half of this page is dedicated to a tree that shows the rate schedule's SQ Rules, Register Rules, Rate Versions, and Primary/Sub Rates (primary rate schedules list any linked sub rates including the sub rates SQ Rules, Rate Versions, etc.; subsidiary rate schedules list any linked primary rates). You can use this tree to view high-level information about these objects. You may also transfer to a given rate version by selecting that rate version.

Note:

The Duplicate button enables you to copy another rate schedule and optionally, its rate versions. Refer to Duplicate Button in the system wide standards document for more information.

Where Used

Most SA Types contain a collection of valid Rate Schedules. Refer to SA Type - Rate for more information.

Most Service Agreements reference a Rate Schedule. Refer to Service Agreement - Rate Info for more information.