Setting Up a Charge Plan

A charge plan defines the charging conditions to access or consume services sold by a service provider, for example RAM usage, used CPU time, used data bandwidth and so on. They are created by grouping charge objects together that belong to the same catalog. A charge can be referenced several times by the same charge plan as well as different charge plans.

In the Cloud Selection Service business example, there are three charges implementing the logic to rate service usage:

• The charge "CHG_G_00_USG_CPU_TABLE_MACRO_COUNTER_V01" handles all CPU related usage.
• The charge "CHG_G_00_USG_RAM_TABLE_MACRO_COUNTER_V01" handles all RAM related usage.
• The charge "CHG_G_00_USG_BANDWIDTH_TABLE_MACRO_COUNTER_V01" handles all bandwidth related usage.

All three charges are grouped to a charge plan CHP_00_CLOUD_SERVICE_V01. This grouped charge plan is shown in the following figure.

Charge plans can later be activated as part of a contract. When the charge plan CHP_00_CLOUD_SERVICE_V01 is activated in a contract, the subscriber gains access to all services the charges inside the charge plan handle.

The charge plan has two levels of settings:

• Settings on the header level / root level of the charge plan.
• Settings for each charge added to the charge plan as an item.

The following numbered tabs correlate to the preceding figure:

1. On the Definition tab each charge plan has a status indicating, whether the charge plan is under construction, ready to be used or obsolete.
2. The Counters tab allows you to define and expose counters for the charge plan in the same way as for parameters.
3. On the Parameters tab each charge plan can provide a set of parameters, that it can expose to SAP Subscription Order Management, so that these parameters can be provided with values when it is activated as part of a contract.
4. Just like a set of charging references had to be defined in the charging plan of a charge, account references must be defined on the Account Assignments tab.
5. Charge plans containing charges with usage rates must provide a placeholder on the Technical Data tab to keep the technical identifier of the subscriber. This placeholder is called a user id. This user id identifies the technical entities consuming the services like a mobile phone, a car, a computer, or any other entity. As the exact ID is not known yet when the charge plan is built, the best you can do is create a placeholder that will be filled once a contract is created for a customer.
6. On the Dependencies tab, the charge plan also defines the dependency relationships between the charges it keeps as items. This tab, however, is only active when there is at least one master charge and one dependent charge present in the charge plan.

Each charge added to a charge plan has a set of settings as well. These settings are the following:

1. On the Definition tab, relationship to the business partner as well as the transaction operation (credit or debit) is set for each charge.
2. The Counters tab allows you to link any counter of the charge to a corresponding counter on the charge plan level.
3. The Parameters tab allows you to link parameters of charges to parameters on the charge plan level and exposed to SAP Subscription Order Management from there if necessary.
4. The Tax tab provides dedicated tax settings for each charge plan item. When used in an integrated BRIM scenario, taxes are usually calculated in SAP Convergent Invoicing and thus disabled in SAP Convergent Charging.
5. Each charge plan item requires an output item mapping to be configured on the Output Item Mapping tab. This mapping assigns charge output values like the charged amount, unit prices, and additional data to the fields of a specific charged item class selected at design time.
6. The Response Item Mapping tab allows you to create a dedicated mapping to be used for the Java-based APIs of SAP Convergent Charging.
7. The charging references defined for each charge must be mapped to the account references defined on the charge plan’s root level on the Account Assignments tab. This mapping allows you to pass account information from the charge plan down to its charges, so that it is available when the charging plan is executed for a charge.
8. For each charge containing a usage rate the Technical Data tab requires you to define a service identifier. This identifier is used in chargeable items / consumption items to indicate which service was used. Together with the user id and a consumption date, it allows the system to find the right contract, charge plan, and charge to process the chargeable item.

Let’s look at the steps in detail.

When creating a new charge plan, a specific sequence of steps should be followed as described in the following section.

Step 1: Create a new charge plan and set its name

Create a charge plan by choosing File → New → Charge Plan in the Core Tool. On the Definition tab provide a name and a description. Leave the Status as open.

The Additional Information tab allows you to create information that is only descriptive and not reused by SAP Convergent Charging at any stage of the process. For example, you can add the author's name of the charge plan, the author's code, the creation date, and other information on that tab. This information is also provided by the APIs of SAP Convergent Charging.

Step 2: Add charges to the charge plan as items

After creating the charge plan, add all charge plan items to the charge plan by right-clicking on the root node of your charge plan and select Add Charge. Then select the charge that you want to add from the catalog and choose OK. You can repeat the process for all charges that you want to add to a charge plan.

The charges will become part of the charge plan as new charge plan items.

Many configuration tabs of the charge plan’s root node require you to have added all charge plan items before you can finalize their setup. Therefore, it is recommended to add all charges to the charge plan before continuing with the remaining setup.

Step 3: Adding counters to the charge plan

For each charge plan you can set up a specific set of counters on the counters tab - just as you can for charges.

A counter visibility level is either Internal or External. When you want to share a counter value among charge plan items of the same charge plan only, the visibility level of the counter on the charge plan level can be "internal". When you want to share the counter value across charge plans though, you must set the visibility level of the counter to External.

External counters of charge plans must be part of the counter dictionary of SAP Convergent Charging. This dictionary contains all counters that can be shared across charge plans. It can be maintained by choosing Tools → Counter Dictionary → Edit in the Core Tool.

When you set a charge plan’s counter visibility to "external", the system resets the counter name and forces you to pick a name from the counter dictionary. You need to add new counters to the dictionary before you can select them on the charge plan counter configuration.

The counters together with the parameters form the so called "interface" of the charge plan. For a working integration between SAP Subscription Order Management and SAP Convergent Charging, it is important to keep this interface stable during runtime. As a consequence, changing external counter names as well as adding external counters is not possible once a charge plan is set to Released.

Step 4: Adding parameters to the charge plan

For each charge plan you can set up a set of parameters on the parameters tab - just as you can for charges. You will create parameters on a charge plan level when you want to expose them to SAP Subscription Order Management, so that their values are provided when a contract is created.

When you want to link parameters, you need to make sure they have the same data type. They do not have to have the same name though.

A parameter visibility level could be set to Internal, External Optional , or External Mandatory. When you expect a charge plan parameter value to be provided by SAP Subscription Order Management during contract creation, the parameter must be set to External Optional or External Mandatory. Mandatory parameters do not have a default value as SAP Subscription Order Management must provide a value for them. Optional parameters provide a default value that is assigned when no value is provided by SAP Subscription Order Management at the time the contract is created.

Step 5: Create account assignments

Just as you set up the charging references in the charging plans of a charge, you must set up account references for each charge plan on the Account Assignments tab. The account references work like charging references. They are placeholders for real customer external accounts or prepaid accounts, which are not known at the time the charge plan is designed.

Each account reference on the charge plan level must have a type, which could be either Postpaid or Prepaid. It is only possible to link account references and charging references with the same type. The following graphic shows how charging references in charges / charge plan items relate to account references in charge plans. It also shows how the account references are assigned to specific external accounts when a contract is created.

Step 6: Create user technical identifier names

The technical data tab of a charge plan contains a list of technical identifier names for a user of a service (called "user service identifier" or short "user ID"). For example, a user ID could be the IP address of your cloud instance, the identifier of a SIM card, the serial number of a printer, and so on. Again, the actual value of such a user ID will only be known when the contract is created, so you are only creating a container for that value. On the charge plan item level, these containers will be assigned to the services IDs of the charge plan items.

Step 7: Define charge plan item dependencies

When you intend to use dependent charges in your charge plan, you need to set up the dependencies. This is done on the Dependencies tab.

Each dependent charge must be assigned to a master charge or another dependent charge. Once the master charge or dependent charge is triggered, the dependent charge will be triggered as well, unless a Free function is reached in the price plan of the predecessor charge. You can cascade these dependencies as you need.

Every charge plan item has its own settings to be maintained.

Step 8: Set charge plan item relationship type and operation

On the Definition tab of each charge plan item, the relationship type and operation must be selected.

The relationship type can be Client or Partner. When you select Client the system calculates the fees in a normal way and billable items created by the charge will be client transactions. Choosing Partner as the relationship type will lead to a sign inversion for all fees calculated by the charge. Additionally, the fees will be tagged as Partner transactions.

The relationship type (Partner versus Client) allows you to verify that the transaction type is compatible with the account type selected for the external account. If on the external account the Control Charged Transactions Compatibility checkbox is checked, SAP Convergent Charging will verify that fees calculated by a charge are compatible with the account type of the associated subscriber account. If both are incompatible, an error is raised.

Client transactions are compatible when charged against accounts receivable, while partner transactions are compatible with accounts payable.

The operation ("Debit" or "Credit") will again flip the sign of the transaction. The default is "Debit".

Dependent charges provide a different option set. The settings control how the dependent charge calculates its own fee, whether to create a new transaction with that amount, and whether to modify the amount of the master charge with its own fee. The "Role" setting provides four different predefined configurations for these settings. The fifth role "Other" allows you to freely adjust the settings as you need (with one exception).

Let’s go through the settings that are available:

1. Create New Transaction

When you tick the box "Create New Transaction" the dependent charge will create a separate charged item. When the box is unticked, it will modify the charged item amount of the master charge implicitly.

2. Relationship Type

When the box Create New Transaction is ticked, the relationship type can be selected for the separate charged item as already explained above.

3. Adjust Master Transaction

When the box Create New Transaction is ticked, ticking the box Adjust Master Transaction will adjust the master transaction AND create a separate charged item at the same time.

4. Use previous discounted amount (if any)

The Use previous discounted amount (if any) checkbox allows to have modifications of a previous dependent charge applied to a master charge’s base amount, before the base amount is forwarded to the next dependent charge to execute. This way, several discounts calculated in sequence can consider the discount already granted by previous dependent charges. This setting is only available when the role Discount is selected.

Step 9: Link counters

Any charge's counters can be linked with the counters defined at the charge plan level.

Once counters are linked, all the charges associated with a counter linked to the same counter at the charge plan level use, update, and set the same counter value. Counters can also be shared between several provider contract items via the counter dictionary.

Step 10: Link or redefine parameters

Any charge's parameters can be linked with the parameters defined at the charge plan level. Linking parameters allows parameter information to be passed down from the charge plan to the charge plan items.

Alternatively, you can decide to redefine the default value of a parameter. To do that select redefined instead of linked as the parameter’s status.

Step 11: Assign account assignments to charging references

On the Account Assignments tab you must assign an account reference to each of the charging references you have set up in the charging plan of your charge. When the external account is known, it will be available in the respective charge plan item during the execution of the charging plan.

Step 12: Define the service IDs and assign it to user technical identifier names

On the Technical Data tab of the charge plan item you must define at least one service id, when your charge plan item contains at least one usage rate. The service id identifies the service that the customer can consume, and the charge is responsible for. You can set any service id you want. However, make sure to consider the maximum field length in SAP Convergent Invoicing. At the time this training was created, the maximum field length allowed is 12 characters.

Step 13: Maintain the output item mapping

On the Output Item tab, you can map the result properties of the price plan and charging plan to the fields of a chargeable item class.

Once you have selected a chargeable item class to use, the table will show all fields available in that class. A default mapping will already map certain standard fields. The remaining fields can be mapped manually at this point. There are up to four options to set up a field mapping:

1. Empty

   When a field is not supposed to be supplied with a value, you can select Empty as the value to map. This leaves the charged item field empty.

2. Static value

   You can also decide to enter a specific value at this point, instead of referring to a property calculated in the charge. This is usually done for fields that cannot change their values with each charged item generated.

3. Value Selection

   Some fields like BITYPE and SUBPROCESS provide a list of valid values to choose from. You can select a field from the dropdown list.

4. Property selection

   When you have calculated a value as part of your price plan, it is available as a property value. You can assign any property calculated by the price plan to any type-compatible field of a charged item class.

Fields covered by the default mapping are disabled. If needed, default mappings can be overridden by ticking the "Redefine" checkbox in the table. This enables the field again and allows the configuration of a mapping which deviates from the default. Unticking the box "Redefine" ties the field back to the default mapping again.

Note

As you can only map one property name to a chargeable item field, you need to make sure that the property is spelled exactly the same way (including its sentence case) in each branch of the charge’s price plan. Otherwise, the property will show up in different spellings in the dropdown list. As you can only pick one spelling variant to be mapped, the other will not be considered and the properties value will be dropped when creating the charged item.

Step 14: Optionally maintain the response item mapping

The Response Item tab works the same way as the output item mapping does. However, the mapping set up on this tab controls the data sent back in the Java APIs of SAP Convergent Charging. In an integrated BRIM scenario, the systems use the SOAP APIs and not the Java APIs to communicate. Thus, maintaining the output item mapping is usually sufficient.

When you have finished the configuration of a charge plan, you can save it to the database. Note though, that a new charge plan is saved in the Open state. In this state it cannot be used by SAP Subscription Order Management. To publish a new charge plan, you must first save it to the database, then edit it again, change its status to Released on the Definition tab and save it again. After that, SAP Subscription Order Management will be able to use the new charge plan.

In this video, Melissa shows her colleague Jonathan how to create a charge plan that implements the recurring base fee of €1000 per month for the cloud selection service.