Bill seat and device changes

Devices and people join and leave a client part way through a billing period. The usage method decides how those changes are billed. This page explains the three methods and shows where to set them for your whole practice, for one client, or for one agreement line.

Before you begin

• The practice default needs psa:admin. A client’s default and a line’s method need psa:write.
• The method applies to counted lines only: Per device, Per user, and Per seat. See Bill by device type and seat.

The three methods

Invoices are billed in advance. Outpost drafts each invoice at the start of its period, so it always bills the count on the day it is built. With peak or daily, the next invoice also carries a Usage true-up line for the difference between what was billed and what was used.

Method	Measures	True-up on the next invoice
Snapshot	The count on the day the invoice is built.	None. This is the default, and how agreements billed before usage methods existed.
Peak	The highest daily count in the period.	The peak minus the count billed, times the unit price.
Daily	Each device or person for the days they were present. One device present for 10 days of a 30-day period counts as 0.3333.	The measured quantity minus the count billed, times the unit price.

A true-up can be a charge or a credit. With daily, a client that removed devices during the month gets a credit on the next invoice. The unit price is the one in force at the start of the period being measured, so a price increase never reprices a period billed before it.

Outpost takes the client’s counts once a day. A day with no count, for example while the server was down, carries the day before’s count forward.

Worked example

A workstation line bills $35 per device with the daily method. On 1 October the client has 20 workstations, so the October invoice bills 20. On 21 October two workstations are retired, so for the last 11 days of the month the client has 18.

• Measured: 20 for 20 days plus 18 for 11 days, divided by 31 days, is 19.2903.
• The November invoice bills 18 workstations in advance, plus a Usage true-up of 19.2903 - 20 = -0.7097 times $35, a credit of $24.84.

With peak, the same month measures 20, so the true-up is zero.

Set the practice default

1. At the practice level, select Client billing > Settings.
2. Under Invoicing, in Usage method, choose Snapshot, Peak, or Daily.
3. Select Save settings.

Set a client’s method

1. In the client’s workspace, select Client billing > Billing profile.
2. Under Overrides, in Usage method, choose a method, or Use the practice default to inherit.
3. Select Save.

Under What this client is billed on, Counts devices by shows the method in effect and whether it comes from the practice default.

Set one line’s method

1. Open the agreement.
2. Under Lines, in the line’s Usage method, choose a method, or Use the client’s default to inherit.
3. Select Save.

The most specific setting wins: the line, then the client, then the practice.

What to expect when you change the method

• The first invoice after you switch a line to peak or daily bills in advance as usual. Its true-up arrives on the invoice after that, once a whole period has been measured. The Next bill card says when there is no earlier invoice to settle against yet.
• Switching back to snapshot still settles the last peak or daily period on the next invoice.
• The overage part of a Per seat line is always billed at the snapshot count. Peak and daily true up the seat count only.
• A true-up credit larger than the invoice it lands on is capped so the invoice stays at zero or above. The rest is left off, and the estimate says how much, so you can issue a credit note. See Invoice clients.

Verify

On the agreement’s Next bill card, each counted line shows its method under Counted, and a Usage true-up line appears once a peak or daily period has been billed. See Check a client’s next bill.

Next steps

• Add discounts and annual price increases
• Check a client’s next bill