Manage extra charges with cost codes

Display extra charges with cost codes

Administrators create cost codes in the Cost codes section in Pricing view.

• The privileges for viewing and managing cost codes in Pricing view are the ones for Pricing view: Access pricing view and Manage pricing.

Open

the new extra charges tab to easly manage them

Open

All the extra charges with methods and units

Extra charges privileges

Abiquo 6.1 has the following privileges for extra charges.

Create an extra charge with a cost code

Create an extra charge

Add extra charges with cost codes to VM templates and hardware profiles

The Extra charges tab will always display when you edit a VM template.

To make changes to extra charges, you will need the privileges to Manage virtual machine template extra charges and/or to Manage hardware profile extra charges.

To add an extra charge to a VM template:

1. Edit the VM template and go to extra charges
   
   

2. Click the + add button

3. Select an extra charge, click Add
   
   

4. After you finish adding extra charges and editing the template, click Save

You can also add an extra charge to a hardware profile in the same way.

Create VMs and add extra charges with cost codes

When you create a VM, Abiquo will automatically add extra charges from the hardware profile and the VM template as inherited extra charges with cost codes.

The user cannot change the inherited extra charges.

The Extra charges tab will display for all users who can edit the VM with the privilege to View virtual machine extra charges.

• You can add more extra charges to the VM. This requires the privilege to Manage virtual machine extra charges

• If you are using an extra charge that will be billed for Usage user licenses, enter the number of users. This requires the privilege to Manage virtual machine extra charges

• When you later edit a VM and change the hardware profile, Abiquo will update the extra charges.

Capture a VM and add extra charges

When you capture a VM, you can also add extra charges of type Virtual machine, VM template, Hardware profile, or All. To save extra charges, your user role must have the privileges to Display VM extra charges and Manage VM extra charges. If your user role does not have these privileges, then Abiquo will check if there is a matching hardware profile with an extra charge, and assign this extra charge to the VM.

When you release a VM, the extra charges will no longer apply.

Create enterprise products with extra charges

The extra charge of type enterprise product lets you charge for Enterprise products, such as managed services.

There are two new privileges to control the use of this feature.

If you have pricing privileges and the Manage extra charges privilege, you can create these extra charges in Pricing view.

When you create the Extra charge, select the Enterprise product type and the subscription or the One-time unit.

You can assign and remove enterprise products in the Users view.

First select the enterprise and then assign the extra charge for the enterprise product.

You can also allow administrators to edit the products for their enterprise from the user icon menu option (as for enterprise credentials). See Configure the user icon menu

One time charges

To charge the full price of an extra charge once, create an extra charge with a one-time unit.

Abiquo on-premise and public cloud billing will charge the full price of this extra charge when it applies.

When you add a one-time extra charge to an enterprise or a VM, the platform will charge the full price.

If you add a one-time extra charge again, the platform will charge the one-time cost code price again (in this example, 2 times).

You can add one-time cost codes to VMs and to enterprises as enterprise products. You cannot add them to hardware profiles or VM templates.

Subscription unit for extra charges

The subscription unit for extra charges of enterprise products will create a monthly charge on the first day of the month.

For on-premise billing, the billing periods always start on the first day and end on the last day of the month using UTC dates and times. So it is important to note that if the user buys a subscription item on day 1, but in a different time zone, then the subscription could start in their previous billing period.

Previously, the subscription was available for custom queries only, e.g. a cost code of type Custom service for SQL server licenses.

The subscription unit can also apply to extra charges for custom services, but custom services are not currently active for built-in on-premise or public cloud billing.

Extra charges for custom services

The Custom service cost code type will apply to custom queries in the old Abiquo billing integration only. It is not assigned to any entities in Abiquo and it is not billed in on-premise billing.

Extra charge for Max vCPU

addresses the need for a more robust mechanism to bill SQL Server licensing based on the maximum CPU count utilized during the month, aligning with Microsoft's licensing agreements (And others).

Examples

1. Minimum vCPU Requirement: If a customer runs a VM with 2vCPU for any duration within a month, they are billed for 4vCPUs for the entire month, reflecting the minimum licence count requirement.

2. Adaptive vCPU Billing: In cases where a VM's vCPU count is increased during the month — for example, from 6vCPUs to 12vCPUs — the billing will reflect the highest vCPU count used (12vCPUs in this case) for the entire month, regardless of any subsequent decreases or whether the VM was powered on or off.

This enhancement not only ensures compliance with licensing agreements but also equips service providers with the ability to offer more transparent and fair billing practices to their customers. By accurately tracking and billing based on actual CPU usage, providers can offer a more tailored service, potentially leading to higher customer satisfaction and improved financial management.

fields

A part from the traditional fields to fullfill on Extra charge creation, abiquo has incorporated the new fields:

• min (not required) that determines the minimum vCPU that it’s going to be charged

• max (not required) that determines the maximum vCPU that can be charged