Add discounts and annual price increases

Discounts and price increases change what an agreement charges without editing its lines. A discount shows on every invoice as its own line, so the client sees the full price and what you take off it. A price increase raises a price on a schedule, and Outpost emails the client before each step. This page shows how to add both and how to check what they did.

Before you begin

• The agreement is saved. The card appears under a saved agreement only.
• Editing discounts and price increases needs psa:write.
• Price increase notices go to the client’s billing contact. A client with no billing contact email gets no notice, and a step does not take effect until its notice has gone out. See Set a client’s billing profile.

Add a discount

1. Open the agreement and find the Discounts and price increases card.
2. Select Add a discount.
3. In Applies to, choose one line, or The whole agreement.
4. In By, choose A percentage or A fixed amount, then enter the Percent or the Amount.
5. In Starts on, enter the first day it applies. Leave Ends on empty to run it for the life of the agreement.
6. In Description, enter what the invoice line calls it, such as Loyalty discount.
7. Select Save discounts and increases.

A discount is checked against the start date of each billing period: it applies to a period that starts on or after Starts on, and before Ends on when one is set.

What a discount takes off:

• A discount on one line applies to that line’s charge, including its per seat overage and its usage true-up. It is capped at that amount, so a line discount never turns into a credit, and it never discounts a credit.
• A discount on the whole agreement applies to the recurring lines and their true-ups together. It never discounts hourly work or adjustments you add to a draft by hand.

Schedule a price increase

1. Open the agreement and find the Discounts and price increases card.
2. Select Add a price increase.
3. In Applies to, choose one line, or The whole agreement. A fixed amount increase needs one line.
4. In By, choose A percentage or A fixed amount, then enter the Percent or the Amount each step adds.
5. In Starts on, enter the date of the first step.
6. In Every, enter the months between steps. The default is 12.
7. In Notice, enter how many days before each step the client is emailed. The default is 60.
8. In Description, enter the name the notice email uses.
9. Select Save discounts and increases.

The card then shows Next step on with its date, and the date the client is told.

How steps are applied:

• Percent steps compound. A 3% increase on $100.00 makes $103.00, then $106.09, then $109.27. Amounts are rounded half up to the cent.
• The price in force on the first day of a period applies to the whole period.
• A price never rises before its notice has gone out. If the notice is sent late, for example because the client had no billing contact, the step moves to the notice date plus the notice days. Nothing is backdated, and later steps keep their anniversary.
• One email covers every line an agreement-wide increase moves. It names each line with its old and new price, and says that nothing is due because of the notice.

To stop future steps, clear Active on the row, or select Remove, then select Save discounts and increases. Steps already in force stay in force.

Check the price history

The Price history card under the agreement lists every step a price increase has made:

Column	Shows
Line	The line the step changed.
New price	The new unit price, and the new overage price on a per seat line.
Scheduled for	The date the step was planned for.
Takes effect	The date it applies from. Moved later: the notice went out late shows when it differs from the scheduled date.
Notice sent	When the notice email was queued, or Not yet.
State	Notice not sent yet, Scheduled, or In force.

A step in Notice not sent yet does not bill. Most often the client has no billing contact email.

Verify

• The agreement’s Next bill card shows each discount as its own line with a negative amount. See Check a client’s next bill.
• After a step’s notice goes out, Price history shows it as Scheduled, then In force from its Takes effect date.

Next steps

• Check a client’s next bill
• Invoice clients