Using an Allowance Counter

Objectives

After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
  • Define Allowances
  • Outline the Allowance creation process
  • Outline the Allowance use process
  • Describe the Allowance Subscription product design
  • Explain the Subscription Contract change process for Allowance creation

Allowances

The image explains the concept of an allowance in subscription contracts, detailing its features and providing industry examples such as credit buckets, spending limits, and promotions. It highlights how allowances are used, defined, and monetized within service plans.

Features Product Modeling:

  • Manage the allowance definition group using an SAP Fiori app.
  • During product modeling in Cross-Catalog Mapping, you can define the availability and activation behavior of allowances by assigning allowance definition groups to the charge plan.

Features Order / Contract:

  • Simulate determination of allowance during order capture and display allowance on subscription order.
  • Activate allowances during contract distribution for new and changed contracts.
  • Process manual allowance refill.
  • Display the current balance of allowances on a subscription contract.
Diagram explaining an allowance used by customers to consume services, showing components like counters, parameters, identifier, start date, and end date. Example provided includes an allowance with ID 123, 200 SMS quantity, and type SMS.
A diagram illustrating the allowance lifecycle, showing stages from creation to activation, allowance use during the validity period, and expiration leading to the retention period before purging.
The image shows a mapping table named MT_T00_CLOUD_ALLOW_DEF_V01 with three rows of data, including identifiers, allowance definitions, start and end dates, amounts, bonuses, validity, and carry-over values. The table instance and additional information tabs are visible, with the SAP data type set to String and the value set to AllowanceDefinition.

The Allowance Creation Process

This flowchart illustrates the allowance creation process, detailing steps from subscription contract creation to managing CIT and BIT storage, including provider contracts, charge plans, and allowance logic creation. Key elements include subscription orders, allowance definition tables, and allowance counters.

In your SAP Solution, the Cross-Catalog Mapping (CCM) in Sales Order Management (SOM) defines which allowances must be created, when end customers sign contracts for a subscription product, or when changes are made to the customers' contract. SAP SOM creates allowances in the SAP Convergent Charging (CC) system, on demand, or automatically, when the SAP Convergent Charging provider contract is activated or changed.

  1. Step 1: Create a subscription Order with an allowance subscription product.

    SAP SOM sends a charging operation request to SAP Convergent Charging with an ALLO chargeable item (1). This specialized chargeable item contains the identifier of the allowance definition to be created and the date/time at which the allowance must be activated.

  2. Step 2: In SOM a webservice request is sent to SAP Convergent Charging for an allowance creation request. Allowance creation is an additional step in the Order Distribution Infrastructure (ODI) scheme.

    SAP Convergent Charging processes this charging request, and identifies and executes the relating contracted charge (2) in this contract.

  3. Step 3: Create an allowance.

    This charge retrieves the corresponding allowance definition from the allowance definition table, creates the corresponding allowance, and initializes the allowance according to the allowance definition (3).

  4. Step 4: The charge can generate billable items for reporting purposes (4), and the allowance can generate billable items for deferred revenue recognition purposes (4).

The Allowance Use Process

This flowchart illustrates the allowance creation process, detailing steps from subscription contract creation to managing CIT and BIT storage, including provider contracts, charge plans, and allowance logic creation. Key elements include subscription orders, allowance definition tables, and allowance counters.

In your SAP Solution, the Cross-Catalog Mapping (CCM) in the SAP Sales Order Management (SOM) system defines which allowances must be created when end customers sign contracts for a subscription product or when changes are made to the customers' contract. SAP SOM creates allowances in the SAP Convergent Charging system, on demand or automatically, when the SAP Convergent Charging provider contract is activated or changed.

SAP SOM sends a charging operation request to SAP Convergent Charging with an ALLO chargeable item (1). This specialized chargeable item contains the identifier of the allowance definition to be created, and the date/time at which the allowance must be activated.

SAP Convergent Charging processes this charging request, and identifies and executes the relating contracted charge (2) in this contract.

This charge retrieves the corresponding allowance definition from the allowance definition table, creates the corresponding allowance, and initializes the allowance according to the allowance definition (3).

The charge can generate billable items for reporting purposes (4), and the allowance can generate billable items for deferred revenue recognition purposes (4).

The Allowance Subscription Product Design

The image shows an SAP Allowance Definition Group interface, detailing Allowance Definition IDs, their validity periods, and activation behaviors, including automatic and manual refill options. Key fields such as Table ID, Class ID, and status are highlighted.
The image shows a configuration screen for an MT Allowance Group in a cloud selection service, detailing charge plans and allowances. It highlights the assignment of charge plans to subscription products, the loading of allowance definitions from charge plans, and the navigation to the allowance definition/mapping table.

You can use the Manage Allowance Definition Groups app to define allowance definition groups, and assign them to a charge plan in the Cross-Catalog Mapping for a subscription product.

The Subscription Contract Change Process for Allowance Creation

The image shows an SAP Subscription Contract interface with options to execute various processes, such as allowance refill and contract extension. The right side displays the Execute Process screen, detailing allowance definitions and parameters for activation.

To perform an allowance refill, execute the Refill Allowance change process on the subscription contract. This process triggers the creation of an allowance in SAP Convergent Charging for the current subscription contract. When the process is executed, a contract history record is stored.

The Allowances App

Use the Fiori App Display Allowances

A description and feature list for the SAP Fiori app Display Allowances, which helps users view and manage allowances for subscription contracts, including tracking monetary values, viewing allowance details, and triggering refills. The app can be found in the Fiori app library under ID F5597.

Prerequisites

In an integrated scenario with Convergent Invoicing, you must activate the interface component Data for Creating an Allowance (ALLOW_CREATE).

To use the BIT amount, the BIT Class must contain the interface component ALLOWANCE, and the charge plan must send the creation and usage BITs with a BIT amount from SAP Convergent Charging to Convergent Invoicing.

If the interface component for handling the deferred revenue (DEF_REV_BY_E) is in use, a mapping to the structure, required by the allowances can be established via the BAdI: Select Billable Items for Allowance Display (CRMS4_SOM_CC_ALLOW_BIT_BADI). This BAdI also allows determination of the BIT status for the billable items used for the key figure aggregation.

BAdls

You can find the BAdIs for the Display Allowances app in this Customizing under

Service → Master Data → Transactions →  Settings for Subscription Transactions → Integration → Integration with Convergent Charging → Business Add-Ins (BAdIs)

Important Authorization Objects

To run the app Display Allowances, you need several authorization objects:

  • Check at Start of External Services (S_SERVICE):

    Access to the application via the OData service is controlled by the authorization object

  • Convergent Charging Allowance (SOM_ALLWNCE):

    Main authorization object controlling the app

  • Allowance Definitions for Provider Documents (CRM_ISX_AD):

    Control access to the allowance definition

In addition, you need:

  • Authorization Object CRM Order - Allowed Organ. Units (CRM_ORD_OE) and Authorization Object CRM Order – Business Transaction Type (CRM_ORD_PR):

    Controls access to the app on list report level

  • All other objects are controlled by their specific authorization objects, such as Subscription Product (SOM_PROD), billable items display.
The image shows a SAP interface for searching subscription contracts by various criteria, with options to navigate to subscription contract details or allowance details via hyperlinks. Notes indicate that only contracts with a cross-catalog mapping number and either technically active or the latest historical contracts are listed.
The image shows a SAP interface for managing contract allowances, highlighting contract KPIs, individual allowances, and allowance definitions with navigation options for detailed views. Key metrics include contract expiration, refill totals, consumed amounts, and balance.

KPI

Only monetary values from SAP Convergent Invoicing are taken into account for the creation and usage of BITs. This requires that SAP Convergent Charging sends monetary creation and usage BITs (BIT amount). BIT quantities are not considered. Balance is a pure amount value based balance completely independent from SAP Convergent Charging counter balances.

If you have multiple charge plan assignments in one allowance definition, the refill needs to be triggered one level deeper on the charge plan level.

Allowance definition defines how certain parameters are set during an allowance creation (create/refill).

The image shows an SAP interface displaying allowance details, including KPIs, counters, and parameters, with navigation to the SAP Convergent Invoicing app to view refill and usage records. It highlights the current state of allowance counters and relevant parameters from SAP Convergent Charging.

Counter values are the current valid counter values.

Parameters are set during allowance creation from allowance definition.

The image shows an SAP Allowance Definition interface displaying KPIs for allowances, allowance definition details, and assigned charge plans with options to trigger refills. Key sections include consumption progress, allowance mapping table, and charge plan assignments.
The SAP Charge Plan Assignment screen shows refill, consumption, and balance details for an allowance plan, with options to trigger a refill and display the allowance mapping table. Key information includes the allowance ID, description, and validity dates.

Add an Allowance to a Subscription Product

ExerciseStart Exercise

Log in to track your progress & complete quizzes

Learning

SAP FacebookSAP YoutubeSAP LinkedIn