Fixed Fee Tariffs

A fixed fee tariff centralises pricing for non-usage charges. Rather than entering prices on every feature individually, you define rates in one place. The platform then looks up the tariff whenever it needs a price for a one-off charge, recurring charge, carrier-imported charge, or manual transaction.

Fixed fee tariffs are especially useful when you have standardised pricing across many features. A single tariff can hold different rates for different number types, feature types and transaction types, and the platform picks the best match automatically.

Key Benefits

  • Centralised pricing — change a rate in one tariff and it applies everywhere that tariff is used
  • Flexible matching — define rates by number type, feature type, transaction type and carrier
  • Inheritance — base one tariff on another so you only need to enter the differences
  • Wholesale and retail — track cost and customer price separately with paired tariffs

How Fixed Fee Tariffs Work

A fixed fee tariff contains one or more rates. Each rate specifies:

  • What it applies to — which number types, feature types, transaction types and carriers
  • How to calculate the charge — the charge type (fixed, pro-rata, markup, etc.)
  • The value — the amount or percentage to use

When the platform needs a price for a transaction, it finds the tariff, scans the rates, and picks the best match. If multiple rates could apply, the most specific one wins.

When Tariffs Are Used

The platform checks for a fixed fee tariff in these situations:

  • One-off and recurring charges — when a feature has no explicit charge amount, and the linked standard feature (if any) also has no amount
  • Carrier-generated charges — when importing fixed fee files from carriers, to calculate the retail price from the wholesale cost
  • Manual transactions — when you add a transaction and leave the value, wholesale value, commission profile or transaction code empty

See Non-Usage Charges for the full charge resolution chain.

Tariff Lookup Chain

When the platform needs a fixed fee tariff for a feature, it checks these locations in order and uses the first tariff it finds:

  1. Feature — a tariff set directly on the feature
  2. Standard feature — a tariff on the linked standard feature
  3. Number — a tariff on the number the feature belongs to
  4. Service — a tariff on the service the feature belongs to
  5. Customer — a tariff on the customer record

This means you can set a default tariff on a customer and override it for specific numbers or features where pricing differs.

Example: You set your standard tariff on customer Acme Corp. All their features use it by default. When Acme migrates from another provider, you want to honour their existing rates on the migrated numbers. Set a legacy tariff on those numbers. Features on the migrated numbers use the legacy tariff; new numbers use the standard tariff.

Tariff Inheritance (Based Upon)

You can base one tariff on another. The child tariff inherits all rates from the parent, and you only enter the rates that differ. This is useful for creating bespoke pricing for a customer without duplicating every rate.

  • Rates defined directly on a tariff always override inherited rates
  • If the parent tariff changes, those changes flow through to the child (for any rates the child hasn’t overridden)
  • You can layer tariffs up to ten levels deep

Example: Your standard tariff charges £12/month for line rentals. A customer has negotiated £10/month. Create a new tariff based upon the standard one, and add a single rate for line rental at £10. All other rates come from the standard tariff automatically.

Cloning vs Based Upon

If future changes to the parent should not affect the child, clone the tariff instead of basing upon it. Cloning copies all rates at that point in time, with no ongoing link. Use the Actions menu > Clone action to do this.

Charge Types

Each rate in a tariff has a charge type that controls how the value is calculated.

Do Not Bill

Creates a zero-value transaction. Use this to mark a charge as explicitly non-billable. The transaction exists for tracking but nothing appears on the customer’s invoice.

Fixed Cost

Charges a fixed amount with no pro-rating for the billing period. Suitable for one-off charges such as connections or installations.

Example: A rate with a fixed cost of £50.00 always charges £50.00, regardless of when in the month the charge is raised. If a feature count of 3 is set, the charge is £150.00.

Pro-Rata Cost

Charges a pro-rated amount based on the billing period. You must set a Charge Period (e.g. Monthly) so the platform knows the full-period rate.

Example: A rate with a pro-rata cost of £12.00 per month, where the service runs for half a month, charges £6.00. With a feature count of 2, the charge is £12.00.

Percentage Markup

Calculates the retail price as a percentage markup on the wholesale cost. The wholesale cost comes from either the carrier transaction value or a wholesale tariff.

Example: A carrier charges £8.00 wholesale for line rental. A markup rate of 50% produces a retail charge of £12.00. For negative values (credits), the markup is subtracted rather than added.

Percentage Markup (Suggested Retail)

Works like percentage markup, but applies the markup to the suggested retail value from the carrier transaction rather than the wholesale cost. Use this when your carrier provides a recommended retail price in their files.

Rates and Priority

The Rates tab on a tariff shows all active rates, including those inherited from a parent tariff. Rates are listed in priority order (highest first).

How Priority Works

When a transaction matches multiple rates, the platform uses these rules to pick the winner:

  1. Depth — rates from the tariff itself beat rates from a parent (and grandparent, etc.)
  2. Specificity — rates that match fewer types are more specific and win over broader rates. A rate for “0800 numbers with line rental features” beats a rate for “all number types”

This means you can define a catch-all default rate (e.g. 25% markup on all transactions) and then add specific rates where needed (e.g. £12 fixed for line rentals). The specific rate applies where it matches; the default covers everything else.

Applies To

Each rate can be filtered by:

  • Number Types — e.g. Geographic, Non-Geographic, 0800
  • Service Types — e.g. Broadband, Hosted PBX
  • Feature Types — e.g. Line Rental, Voicemail, Call Divert
  • Transaction Types — e.g. Service Charge, Connection Fee
  • Carriers — e.g. only apply to charges from a specific carrier

Leave a filter blank to match all values for that filter. The more filters you set, the more specific (and higher priority) the rate becomes.

Wholesale and Retail Tariffs

When the wholesale fixed fee module is active, tariffs are marked as either Retail or Wholesale.

Retail tariffs calculate the price shown on the customer’s invoice. They are looked up through the standard tariff lookup chain (feature → standard feature → number → service → customer).

Wholesale tariffs calculate the expected carrier cost. They are matched based on the carrier providing the service, using the Wholesale For field on the tariff. A wholesale tariff with no carriers specified acts as a default for all carriers.

The Two-Step Pattern

When both wholesale and retail tariffs are in use:

  1. The platform finds the wholesale tariff (matched by carrier) and calculates the cost
  2. The platform finds the retail tariff (matched by feature/number/customer) and calculates the customer price

If the retail tariff uses Percentage Markup, the markup is applied to the wholesale value calculated in step 1. This lets you set a consistent margin across all carrier charges.

Example: Carrier A charges £8.00 for line rental. Your wholesale tariff records this as the cost. Your retail tariff has a 50% markup rate. The customer is charged £12.00, and the platform records £8.00 as the wholesale cost and £4.00 as the margin.

Fixed Fee Tariff List

View all fixed fee tariffs from List Fixed Fee Tariffs on the main menu. The list shows:

  • The tariff name and description
  • The customer, if it’s a bespoke tariff (highlighted in green)
  • The parent tariff, if it’s based upon another

Tariff Availability

Each tariff has an availability setting:

  • Available — can be assigned to any customer
  • Historic — only usable by customers already on it; not shown for new assignments
  • Headline — highlighted and shown at the top of tariff lists

You can also restrict a tariff to specific customer groups or a single customer.

Creating a Fixed Fee Tariff

  1. Go to the fixed fee tariff list
  2. Click Add New Fixed Fee Tariff
  3. Enter the tariff name and description
  4. Set the availability and, if needed, the customer or customer groups
  5. Optionally select a Based Upon tariff to inherit rates from
  6. Click Save

The tariff page appears. You can now add rates.

Adding a Rate

  1. On the tariff page, click Add New Rate (or Add menu > New Rate)
  2. In the Applies To section, select the number types, feature types, transaction types and carriers this rate should match. Leave fields blank to match all.
  3. In the Costs section:
    • Select the Charge Type (Fixed Cost, Pro-Rata Cost, etc.)
    • Enter the Cost (amount in £ or percentage)
    • If using Pro-Rata Cost, select the Charge Period
    • Optionally set a Commission Profile and Transaction Code
  4. Click Save

Repeat for each rate you need.

The rate form also has an optional Discount Plans section. If this rate should add allowances to a discount plan pool, see Discount Plan Allowances below.

Discount Plan Allowances

Each rate can optionally add allowances to up to four discount plans. When the billing run creates a service charge from the rate, it automatically tops up the linked discount plan pools.

This is useful when bundle inclusions are driven by the tariff rather than by the feature — for example, when a carrier’s fixed fee file includes a line rental charge that should also grant inclusive minutes.

How It Works

On the rate form, the Discount Plans section has four slots. For each slot you can set:

  • Discount Plan — the plan to add allowances to
  • Multiplier — how many units of allowance to add (defaults to 1). The allowance amounts come from the plan’s base values (minutes, data, events, calls, cash), scaled by the multiplier and the feature count.
  • Allowance Pool Name — an optional named pool. Use this with named pool sharing to direct allowances into a specific pool.

Example: Carrier File with Bundled Minutes

A carrier sends a fixed fee file containing a £10 line rental charge per number. Each number should also receive 500 inclusive UK minutes.

  1. Create a discount plan called “UK Calls 500” with 1 free minute as its base allowance
  2. On your fixed fee tariff, add a rate for the carrier’s line rental charge type
  3. In the Discount Plans section of that rate, select the “UK Calls” plan and set the Multiplier to 500
  4. When the billing run processes the carrier file, it creates the £10 service charge and adds 500 minutes to the UK Calls pool for that number

This approach is especially helpful when bundle sizes vary by number type or carrier — you can set different multipliers on different rates without creating separate features for each bundle.

Editing a Fixed Fee Tariff

  1. View the tariff
  2. Click Edit
  3. Make your changes
  4. Click Save

Changes to a tariff affect all features that use it from the next billing run.

To edit a rate, click the rate link in the Rates tab, then click Edit.

Actions

Use the Actions menu on a fixed fee tariff for these operations:

  • Clone — create an independent copy of the tariff with all its rates. The clone has no ongoing link to the original. Use this when you want to freeze rates at a point in time, or create a starting point for a substantially different tariff.
  • Apply Increase (In Place) — increase all rates on this tariff by a percentage. Modifies the existing tariff in-place. Available from the Expert menu (requires expert level 5 to edit). See Price Increases.
  • Create Increased Version — create a new tariff with rates increased by a percentage, leaving this tariff unchanged. See Price Increases.

Practical Examples

Standard line rental pricing

You charge £12/month for all line rentals. Create a tariff with one rate:

  • Feature Types: Line Rental
  • Charge Type: Pro-Rata Cost
  • Cost: £12.00
  • Charge Period: Monthly

Assign this tariff to customers (or set it as the default). Every feature with a “Line Rental” feature type and no explicit charge uses this rate.

Bespoke override for one customer

A customer has negotiated £8/month for internal numbers but standard pricing for everything else. Create a tariff based upon your standard tariff, with one rate:

  • Number Types: Internal
  • Feature Types: Line Rental
  • Charge Type: Pro-Rata Cost
  • Cost: £8.00
  • Charge Period: Monthly

Set this tariff on the customer. Internal line rentals charge £8; all other charges fall through to the standard tariff’s rates.

Markup on carrier costs

Your carriers supply wholesale costs in fixed fee files. You want a 40% markup on everything except 0800 numbers (which get 25%). Create a retail tariff with two rates:

Rate 1 (catch-all):

  • Applies To: (all blank)
  • Charge Type: Percentage Markup
  • Cost: 40%

Rate 2 (0800 override):

  • Number Types: 0800
  • Charge Type: Percentage Markup
  • Cost: 25%

Rate 2 is more specific, so it wins for 0800 numbers. Everything else uses Rate 1.

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