Creating Custom Plan Groups for Accounts - m3ter Documentation

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You can create custom Plan Groups for an Account:

• Custom Plan Groups can only be attached to that specific Account.
• When you create custom Plan Groups, they are attached automatically to the Account to create an Account Plan Group based on the start and end dates you have entered.
• You can then edit the details of the Account Plan Group you’ve created for the Account, such as first bill date or adding the Account Plan Group to a Contract that’s linked to the Account.
• When you create the custom Plan Group, you can add Plans to the Plan Group and review and edit the pricing of these Plans straightaway.

Important!

• Creating Custom Plan Groups for Accounts. We strongly recommend you review the Attaching Plan Groups to an Account and Working with Plan Groups topics before you proceed to create custom Plan Groups for an Account.
• Account Plan Group is type of Account Plan. When you attach a Plan Group to an Account, an Account Plan Group is created. However, the m3ter data model does not support a separate Account Plan Group entity, and an Account Plan Group is a type of Account Plan where a Plan Group id is used instead of a Plan id when it’s created. See the Create Account Plan API call.

Creating a custom Plan Group for an Account and performing the required configuration work to prepare the attached Plan Group for charging the Account involves four stages:

• Stage 1: Creating Custom Plan Group
• Stage 2: Attaching Custom Plan Group to Create Account Plan Group
• Stage 3: Adding Plans to Group and Reviewing and Pricing Plans
• Stage 4: Editing Account Plan Group Details

You can delete an Account Plan Group from an Account on the Attached Plans tab:

• Deleting an Account Plan Group

Creating Custom Plan Group

To create a custom Plan Group for an Account:

1. Select Accounts. The Accounts page opens.
2. Select the Name text of the Account. The Account page opens with the Overview tab selected.
3. On the Account actions menu, select Plans>Create custom plan group:

Alternatively:

• Select the Attached plans tab.
• On the Active and pending attached plans panel, select the actions Menu button.
• On the menu, select Create custom plan group.

The Create page opens.

4. Enter the required Plan group details:

• Name. Descriptive name for the Account Plan Group. When you create a custom Account Plan Group, a default name is loaded for which prefixes the Account name. You can edit this name text as required.
• Code. Unique identifier for Account Plan Group. When you create a custom Account Plan Group, a default code string is loaded. You can edit this string as required.
• Currency. Select the currency for the Plan Group:

Warning: You must create at least one Currency for your Organization before you can create a Custom Plan Group! If you haven’t, the Currency drop-down list will not be available and you’ll see a warning:

• Select the create a new currency hotlink text provided. This takes you directly to the Create page to create the Currency you want to use for the Plan Group. See Creating and Managing Currencies.
• When you create the new Currency, you are taken directly back to the Custom Plan Group Create page and the Currency is selected.

5. Enter Standing charge settings for the custom Plan Group, which are optional:

• Standing charge. Optional field to set standing charge to be applied for Plan Group.
• Standing charge billing. If you want to override the default Use organization-wide configuration setting for billing either in arrears or in advance for standing charges, and which is shown in brackets, select the setting you want for the Plan Group.
• Standing charge accounting product. If your accounting operations require it, you can use this to link the standing charge on the Account to a particular Product. (Optional)
• Standing charge description. You can enter a description for any Standing charge amounts, which will appear in the bill line item (Optional).

6. Enter Minimum spend settings for the custom Plan Group, which are optional:

• Minimum spend. Optional field to define minimum spend across all Plans included in the Plan Group.
• Minimum spend billing. If you want to override the default Use organization-wide configuration setting for billing either in arrears or in advance for minimum spend amount, and which is shown in brackets, select the setting you want for the Plan Group.
• Minimum spend accounting product. If your accounting operations require it, you can use this to link the minimum spend on the Account to a particular Product. (Optional)
• Minimum spend description. You can enter a description for any Minimum spend amounts, which will appear in the bill line item (Optional).

7. Select Next to complete Stage 1: Create plan group. The page adjusts to allow you to complete Stage 2: Attach plan group- see next section.

Attaching Custom Plan Group to Create Account Plan Group

When you’ve created a custom Plan Group for the Account, you can complete Stage 2: Attach plan group to create an Account Plan Group.To attach custom Plan Group and create Account Plan Group:

1. Under Plan group attachment settings, enter Start date and End date to define the period you want the Account Plan Group to be active for the Account for charging for Product usage:

• If you omit an End date, the Account Plan Group will be applied to the Account perpetually or until such time as you delete the Account Plan Group.
• End dates are exclusive. For example, if you set the End date of June 1st 2022, then the Account Plan Group ceases to be active for the Account at midnight on May 31st 2022, and any billing is calculated up to that point in time, NOT up to midnight on June 1st. If you want to include end customer Account usage occurring on June 1st for billing, you must set the End date to June 2nd:

2. If you want to set the date the first Bill is due for the selected Account using the Plan Group, you can use the Billing cycle date option. This allows you to set the date of first billing against the end-customer Account using the Plan Group. Subsequent billing will be determined from this first date. For example, if the Plan Group is configured for monthly billing frequency and you set Billing cycle date as February 14th 2022, then m3ter will create a first bill for the Account on that date and every month from that date. If left blank, then start of billing defaults to the billing cycle date configured for the Account. (Optional)
3. If you want to add the Account Plan Group to a Contract you’ve created for the Account, use the Contract drop down to select it.

Notes:

• Once you’ve attached a Plan Group to an Account, you can quickly add it to a Contract from Plan group attachment details.
• For more details on Contracts, see Creating Contracts for Accounts.

For more details on Contracts, see Creating Contracts for Accounts. (Optional)

4. If the Account is either a Parent or a Child Account, you can select for Account hierarchy billing mode, which determines how billing will be handled and shown on bills for charges due for the Parent Account and charges due for Child Accounts:

• Bill parent account - bill line item per account. Default setting.
• Bill parent account - single bill line item for all accounts.
• Bill child account.

Notes:

• The billing mode options are only operative if the Account is a Parent or Child Account. For a full explanation of what each means when attaching Plans to create Account Plans for Parent or Child Accounts, see Billing Hierarchy Modes for Parent/Child Accounts.
• If you price a Plan using a Counter for unit-based pricing, then Parent/Account billing is not available for the charges or credits due under the pricing.

5. Add any required Custom fields to the Account Plan Group. For more on Custom Fields, see Working with Custom Fields.
6. Select Create plan group and attach to complete Stage 2: Attach plan group:

• The custom Plan Group is created for the Account - it’s created as an Account specific Plan Group, which means you can only attach it to this Account.
• The custom Plan Group is attached to the Account and an Account Plan Group is created.
• You are taken directly to the Plan group attachment page of the newly created and attached Plan Group:

7. For the Account Plan Group created when you attached the Plan Group to the Account, under Plan group attachment details you can:

• Check the dates for the period the Account Plan Group will be active for the Account.
• Read-off the Account Plan Group ID with the option to Copy this directly to your clipboard.
• Manage linking of the Account Plan Group to a Contract:
  • If not previously added to a Contract, select Add to contract.
  • If previously added to a Contract, select Remove from contract.
• Select Edit if you need to make any changes to the Account Plan Group, such as update the start and end dates.

8. If you scroll down the page, you can review the Plan group attachment metadata:

Custom Fields. Any fields created for the Account Plan Group entity are listed:

• Note that because an Account Plan Group is a type of Account Plan, any Custom Fields created at Organizational level for Account Plans will be listed and you can Copy the number or string value of a field directly to your clipboard.

External mappings. Any mappings created for the Account Plan Group are listed:

• The External system and External table mapped to are shown - such as Stripe - Pricing in the above example. The External entity ID mapped to is also shown.
• If a listed External mapping is linked to an Integration, under Linked integration a hotlink text will be shown which you can use to open the Integration.
• Under Actions, you can edit or delete the External mapping.
• If the Account Plan Group has multiple External mappings created for it, you can use Search external mappings to search by External table and External entity ID and filter the list.
• You can commence a workflow to Create external mapping for the Account Plan Group directly.

Integration runs. If you go on to set up an integration that synchronizes the Account Plan Group data with an external system, the date/time and status of the Latest integration run will be shown. You can use a text hotlink to open details of this latest run or View all runs.

9. Scroll down the page to the Plan group details panel:

For the new custom Plan Group you’ve just created, you can:

• Check the details of the Plan Group and select Edit if you want to make any changes, such as updating the minimum spend amount.
• Read-off the Account Plan Group ID with an option to Copy this directly to your clipboard.
• Use hotlink texts to open the Plan group details page directly or the Account details page directly.

Adding Plans to Plan Group and Reviewing and Pricing Plans

There are two ways you can add Plans to a custom Plan Group:

• Go to Pricing>Plan groups and open the custom Plan Group you want to add a Plan to. On the Included plans panel, select Add plan. For more details, see the Adding Plans to Plan Groups section in the Working with Plan Groups topic.
• When you’ve attached a custom Plan Group to an Account, open the Plan group attachment details page from the Account>Attached plans tab and add Plans to the custom Plan Group directly from there.

This section explains how to add Plans to a custom Plan Group from the Plan group attachment details page.To add Plans to Plan Group and review and price Plans:

1. Go to Accounts and search for and open the Account.
2. Select the Attached plans tab.
3. On the Active and pending attached plans panel, select the NAME hotlink text of the attached custom Plan Group you want to add Plans to. The Plan group attachment page opens.
4. Scroll down the Plan group attachment page.

• Note: If you have just created a new custom Plan Group and attached it to an Account, the new Plan Group will not yet have any Plans added and a blue help text will show to advise you.

5. On the Plan group details panel, select Add plan. A Select plans dialog appears and lists all the Plans created for Products in your Organization and any custom Plans created for the Account you’ve created the custom Plan Group for.
6. Select the Plans you want to add to the custom Plan Group and select Confirm. The Select plans dialog closes and:

• The Plans are added to the Select a plan drop-down list on the Plan details panel.
• The blue help text advising you the Plan Group doesn’t currently contain any Plans is no longer shown.
• The Edit linked plans button on the Plan group details panel is enabled.

Warning: Constraints on Adding Plans to Custom Plan Groups:

• Only one Plan per Product! If you try to add more than one Plan for the same Product to the Plan Group, you’ll receive an error message.
• Custom Plans for other Accounts can’t be added to a Custom Plan Group. The Select plans dialog lists only Custom Plans belonging to the same Account as the Custom Plan Group and any non-Custom Plans.

7. To review a Plan and its pricing that you’ve added to the Plan Group, select it from the Select a plan drop-down list:

On the Plan details panel, you can:

• Check the details of the Plan.

• Use hotlink texts to open the Plan details page directly and the associated details page for the Plan template or Product.

• Under Associated pricing:

• If the Plan is a custom Plan for the Account, then:

• If you’ve already priced the Plan, the pricing is shown and you can Edit, Delete, or review the Details of the existing pricing.

  • If you’ve not already priced the Plan, you can Create Plan pricing.
  • If the Plan is not a custom Plan for the Account, then:

• If you’ve already priced the Plan, the pricing is shown but you cannot edit the pricing but can select to review the Details of the pricing.

  • If you’ve not already priced the Plan, then you cannot price it but must open the non-custom Plan in the Pricing Editor and price it there.

At the bottom of Plan details, you can:

• Read-off the Plan ID and Copy it to your clipboard.
• Check the audit data for the Plan for who Created and Last modified the Plan and when.

8. When you have added the required Plans to the Plan Group and priced them, return to the Attached plans tab to complete Stage 3: Adding plans to group and Reviewing and Pricing Plans. The Active and pending attached plans panel shows the new custom Account Plan Group:

Tip: Removing Plans from Plan Group? To remove Plans from a Plan Group from the Plan group attachment page, on the Plan group details panel select Edit linked plans. The Plan group details page opens and the Included plans panel lists the Plans added to the Plan Group.

Editing Account Plan Group Details

To edit Account Plan Group details:

1. On the Active and pending attached plans panel, select Edit:

The Edit page opens.

2. On the Plan group attachment details card, edit Start date and End date, as required:

3. On the Plan group attachment settings card:

• If you want to set the date the first Bill is due for the selected Account using the Plan Group, you can use the Billing cycle date option. Allows you to set the date of first billing against the end customer Account using the Plan Group. Subsequent billing will be determined from this first date. For example, if the Plan Group is configured for monthly billing frequency and you set Billing cycle date as February 14th 2022, then m3ter will create a first bill for the Account on that date and every month from that date. If left blank, then start of billing defaults to the billing cycle date configured for the Account. (Optional)
• If you want to add the Account Plan Group to a Contract you’ve created for the Account, use the Contract drop down to select it. For more details on Contracts, see Creating Contracts for Accounts. (Optional)
• If the Account is either a Parent or a Child Account, you can select for Account hierarchy billing mode, which determines how billing will be handled and shown on bills for charges due for the Parent Account and charges due for Child Accounts:

Notes:

4. Add or edit any Custom fields required for the Account Plan Group.
5. Select Update Plan group attachment to complete Stage 4: Edit Account Plan Group Details. You now have a fully configured custom Account Plan Group on the Account and Bills will be calculated for the Account in accordance with the priced Plans that belong to the Plan Group.

Deleting an Account Plan Group

To delete an Account Plan Group:

1. On the Active and pending attached plans panel, select Delete:

A confirmation popup appears.

2. Select Yes to confirm the Account Plan Group deletion.
3. Alternatively, on the Active and pending attached plans panel, select the Name hotlink text of the Account Plan Group you want to delete. The Plan group attachment page opens.
4. Select Delete:

A confirmation popup appears.

5. Select Yes to confirm the Account Plan Group deletion. You are taken back to the Attached plans tab.

Important: Deleting or Editing the Custom Plan Group! Deleting or editing the Account Plan Group that is created automatically when you create a custom Plan Group for an Account does not mean the custom Plan Group is deleted or edited. If you want to delete or edit a custom Plan Group you’ve created for an Account, you must go to Pricing>Plan groups, and then delete or edit the Plan Group there. Similarly, if you have added several Plans to the custom Plan Group, you must go to Pricing>Plan groups, select the custom Plan Group, and delete the linked Plans under Included plans.