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.