Managing Annual Price Increases

Overview

Annual price increases are a common part of telecom billing. Contracts often allow you to raise prices each year by a set percentage, typically linked to CPI or RPI. The platform provides an end-to-end workflow for this:

1. Tag your customers, numbers, and features with increase profiles and reference dates
2. Run and download the Service Charges Report in the Annual Increase Bulk Update format
3. Edit the spreadsheet to calculate new prices
4. Import the updated file using bulk import

This guide walks through each step with a worked example.

Quick Start

Setting Up Increase Profiles and Reference Dates

The platform has two optional fields for tracking annual increase schedules:

• Annual Increase Profile: Records which type of increase applies. Options are CPI, RPI, Fixed Amount, or None.
• Annual Increase Reference Date: Records when the next increase is due.

These fields exist on four levels:

• Customers (Account Details section)
• Numbers (Number Details section)
• Services (Service Details section)
• Features (Date Details section)

The fields are for reference and filtering only. They do not trigger price changes automatically. If you apply the same increase to everyone on a fixed schedule, you may not need them at all. They become valuable when you have different customers on different increase types or dates and need to filter the report accordingly.

Most commonly, you set the profile and reference date at the customer level. This covers the typical case where all of a customer’s features increase on the same date. For more control, set them at the number, service, or feature level. The report shows all four levels side by side, so you can filter on whichever suits your needs.

Tip: We recommend keeping the feature-level reference date up to date, because the bulk import updates feature records directly. The report makes this straightforward by including a dedicated import column for the feature reference date.

Running the Service Charges Report

The Service Charges Report has a special output format designed for annual price increases. It gives you a file you can edit in a spreadsheet and then import straight back.

Steps

1. Go to Reports > Service Charges
2. Set the Format dropdown to Annual Increase Bulk Update
3. Use the filters to select the features you want to increase:
   • Feature Annual Increase Reference Date: Set a date range to find features due for review (e.g. 01/04/2026 to 30/04/2026)
   • Feature Annual Increase Profile: Select CPI, RPI, or Fixed Amount to filter by profile type
   • Feature Status: Typically set to Active
4. Click Run Report. The report opens in a results tab — check that the output looks correct (customer names, feature types, current charges).
5. Go back to the previous tab and click Download to save the CSV file.

You can also filter by customer, number, or service-level annual increase fields to narrow the results further.

Understanding the Report Columns

The report produces a CSV with two groups of columns. The exact number of columns depends on which fields are enabled on your platform.

Read-only columns (marked “Information Only”)

These columns give you context about each feature. They are suffixed with (Information Only) in the header row, which means the bulk import system skips them automatically during import.

The Customer ID, Number ID, and Service ID columns are included so you can use the same file to update customer, number, or service records if desired (for example, to record when a customer’s prices were last reviewed). This is optional; the standard workflow only imports against features.

Editable columns (for import)

These three columns at the end of the file are the ones you edit. They use plain headers that the bulk import system recognises.

Editing the Spreadsheet

Open the downloaded CSV in Excel, LibreOffice Calc, or your preferred spreadsheet application. The key task is to calculate the new recurring charge for each feature.

Calculating the New Charge

For a percentage increase, use a formula that multiplies the current charge by the increase factor. The current charge is in the Feature Actual Recurring Charge (Information Only) column. The Recurring Charge column (the import-ready one near the end of the file) is prefilled with the same value, ready for you to overwrite with a formula.

Example: If the Feature Actual Recurring Charge column is in column Z, apply a 3.5% increase in the Recurring Charge column with:

=ROUND(Z2 * 1.035, 2)

This takes the current actual charge, increases it by 3.5%, and rounds to two decimal places. Check the column letter in your own download, as it may differ depending on which fields are enabled.

Setting the Effective Date

The Change Effective From column controls when the platform switches to the new price. In most cases, leave this blank. A blank effective date means “from the next charge”, so the new price applies when the feature next falls due. This avoids refunds or pro-rating of charges that have already been billed.

This is especially important for features billed quarterly or annually, where the current charge period may straddle your intended increase date. The Feature Due Date (Information Only) column in the report helps you check when each feature next falls due.

If you do need the increase to take effect on a specific date (for example, to match a contractual anniversary), enter it in a consistent date format (e.g. 01/04/2026). Be aware that setting a date in the middle of an existing charge period may trigger a pro-rated refund and re-charge.

Updating the Reference Date

Enter the next review date in the Annual Increase Reference Date column. This updates the feature’s reference date so it appears in next year’s report. For an annual cycle, this is typically one year after the current reference date (e.g. if the current date is 01/04/2026, set the new one to 01/04/2027).

We recommend keeping the feature-level reference date up to date. This is the most reliable way to track when each feature was last reviewed and when it next needs attention.

Worked Example

A customer has a line rental feature currently charged at £12.00 per month, with an Annual Increase Reference Date of 01/04/2026 and a CPI profile. This year’s CPI figure is 3.5%.

After import, the feature’s recurring charge becomes £12.42 from the next billing due date, and the reference date moves forward to 1 April 2027 ready for next year.

Importing the Changes

Once your spreadsheet is ready, import it using the bulk import system.

1. Go to Add menu > Bulk Import File
2. Upload your edited CSV file
3. Set File Type to Features
4. Set File Mode to Update
5. Click Actions > Test File to validate
6. Review the log for any errors
7. Click Actions > Import File to apply the changes
8. Fill in the Import Reason (e.g. “Annual Price Review”) and Import Details (e.g. “CPI 3.5% increase effective 01/04/2026”)

The (Information Only) columns in the file are ignored automatically. Only the Feature ID, Recurring Charge, Change Effective From, and Annual Increase Reference Date columns are processed.

For full details on the import process, see Bulk Import Files.

Verifying the Results

After importing, check that the changes applied correctly.

Spot-check individual features

Open a few feature records and verify:

• The recurring charge shows the new amount
• The effective-from date is set correctly
• The annual increase reference date has moved forward

Re-run the report

Run the Service Charges Report again with the same filters. The Feature Actual Recurring Charge column should now show the new values, and the Annual Increase Reference Date should show the updated dates.

Check the activity log

The bulk import creates activity log entries for each updated feature. You can trace any change back to the import file and specific line number.

Alternative Approaches

The workflow described above updates individual feature charges. For simpler scenarios where all customers on the same tariff or standard feature get the same increase, consider using the platform’s Price Increases feature instead. This applies a percentage increase directly to a tariff or standard feature, affecting all linked records in one action.

See Price Increases for details on the tariff-level approach.

Related Pages

• Price Increases — in-place and clone modes for tariff and standard feature increases
• Bulk Import Files — full guide to the bulk import system
• Features — feature record management
• Service Charges Report — report details and filters
• Managing Features — feature lifecycle and worked examples