After exploring the following topics:
Let’s now move on to the next step in the SuiteBilling process flow which is creating the Subscription Plan.
A Subscription Plan in NetSuite is a template typically used by software or service companies to offer bundled services or products. This includes all items that can be sold as part of a subscription. The subscription plan includes price book information and renewal information.
Below are the key fields that you can find in a Subscription Plan:
Initial Term – In this field, you can select the default period for which the service is set to initially last. This is applicable to all Subscription Item Types except One-Time because One-Time items are only active for 1 day. The options that you could choose in this field are:
- Standard Term – You can create multiple Standard Terms for Subscription Plans. It could be in Days, Months, Weeks or Years. You may create a Standard Term on the fly, by clicking the New button beside the Initial Term field or navigate to Setup > Accounting > Accounting Lists > New and select Subscription Term. Once you have selected a Standard Term, the End Date will be calculated as the Subscription Start Date plus the Standard Term.
- Custom Term – This is only available to be selected in the Initial Term field of the Subscription record itself. When this value is selected in the Subscription, you may define the specific start date and specific end date.
- Evergreen Term – If you select Evergreen Term, this means that you are intending to provide the service indefinitely, thus, if this is selected, the Subscription will not have an end date.
Required – This box is checked if the Item on the Subscription Plan will always be included in the Subscriptions that will be created from it. If unchecked, the item will be optional.
Type – This field controls how the charges pertaining to the service items included in the Subscription Plan will be generated. The values that can be selected for this field are:
- One Time – This will result to just a single charge for the item once the Subscription is activated. Example of this are setup or one-time installation fees.
- Recurring – This will result to multiple charges generated throughout the subscription term that represent recurring service fees.
- Usage – This will result to charges that are based on how much and how often the customer incurred or used the service. An example of this is data usage on a mobile data plan that has imposed bandwidth cap or limit.
- Commit Plus Overage – This will result to charges generated in advance for a committed usage quantity, then, if additional usage is consumed over the committed quantity, additional charges will be generated.
Billing Mode – This field controls when the Payment is due for the charge. If you select In Advance, payment is due at the beginning of the charge period. If you select In Arrears, payment is due at the end of the charge period.
Prorate Start Date and Prorate End Date – This field controls the proration of the charges generated for the Subscription items or lines.
- If Prorate Start Date is checked for the item, the charge amount that will be generated will base on the number of days that the service has passed since the Activation. If the customer starts using the service after the billing period begins, NetSuite only charges them for the days they actually used, not the whole billing period.
- If Prorate Start Date is unchecked, then the charge amount generated will be the full amount, regardless of when the customer started using the service.
- If Prorate End Date is checked for the item, NetSuite stops charging the Customer on the day the service ends. If the service ends before the full billing period, NetSuite will only bill the customer for the days they used.
- If Prorate End Date is unchecked, the customer would continue to be charged up to the last day of the charge period regardless of if they cancelled the service earlier.
To know more about the step by step process in creating a Subscription Plan, you may visit the article SuiteAnswers 85973 | Creating Subscription Plans. For more information about Renewal Information on Subscription Plans, you may check SuiteAnswers 85996 | Adding Renewal Information to Subscription Plans.
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