Pricing, SKUs and Meters
Purpose
Defines how the CMS models chargeable items (SKUs), how prices are set (flat or tiered), how credits/discounts apply, and how this connects to commissions.
Core concepts
- SKU: A metered service or unit that can be priced (for example: VM vCPU-hour, managed disk GB-hour, static IP per hour).
- Price: The monetary rate attached to a SKU. Can be flat or tiered.
- Thresholds: Quantity breakpoints where a rate changes (tiered pricing).
- Adjustments: Bulk increases or decreases by percentage or absolute values, applied across selected SKUs.
- Credits and discounts: Monetary or quantity-based reductions that may apply at tenant, subscription, or resource scope.
Scoping and precedence
- Pricing selection and credits respect scope. In practice:
- Tenant-scoped pricing/credits override region defaults when configured.
- Subscription-scoped pricing/credits can further customize for a specific workload.
- Resource-level credits (when supported) apply last for fine-grained cases.
When no custom scope is present, region defaults are used.
Currency and FX
- Billing can run in a selected display currency.
- FX conversion applies at report time or during rating, depending on configuration.
- Historical FX rates should be preserved to ensure reproducibility of past invoices.
Operational guidance
- After changing prices or thresholds, re-rate affected periods or trigger targeted usage reprocessing, so billing reflects new prices where policy allows.
- Price comparison tools and cloning workflows help align price sheets across regions or offers.
Commission linkage
- Commission rates are defined at the Partner or Distributor level.
- Monthly billing aggregates by partner/distributor scope; commissions are calculated from those aggregates and stored for downstream reporting and payout.