Billing Management: #2 Fair way of Billing- Prorated Billing
Hello,
From speaking about the traditional ways of billing in the previous post, we are moving into the deep sea of billing. We are now in a zone to break out the most complex yet, I would call it the fairest way of billing, the Prorated Billing.
Prorated Billing ensures that customers pay only for the exact portion of a service they consume. Whether they join mid-cycle, switch plans, or cancel early, proration guarantees transparency and fairness.
What is Prorated Billing?
In short, prorated billing involves splitting charges according to the length of service used within a billing cycle. Instead of charging the customer for the entire month regardless of when they sign up or amend the subscription, businesses calculate charges accurately based on time or usage. This directly enhances customer trust and satisfaction and eliminates disputes over charges.
In this post, we will understand how proration works in different industries by examining the major industry types that need/must have proration in their billing strategy.
In this post, we will understand how proration works in different industries by examining the major industry types that need/must have proration in their billing strategy.
Scenario: SaaS
A SaaS customer starts the month on the Basic plan, which costs $30/month. Midway through the billing cycle, on the 15th, they realise they need additional features and decide to upgrade to the Pro plan, which costs $60/month.
Without proration, businesses might charge the full $60 or keep them on Basic until the next cycle, which is unfair. With proration, this can be solved by splitting the bill into the part that will be used and the period that has elapsed.
In this scenario, part of the month is charged at the Basic plan cost, and the remaining is charged at the Pro plan cost.
Old Plan | New Plan |
Basic Plan: $30 | Pro Plan: $60 |
Charges per day: $30/30=$1 | Charges per day: $60/30=$2 |
No.of days remaining: 15 | No.of days to be charged: 15 |
Credits Remaining: $1x15=$15 | Amount to be charged: $2x15=$30 |
Net Payable: Amount to be charged- Credits Remaining: $30-$15= $15 | |
The Final Invoice Amount must be charged on the 15th, and the customer's subscription will be moved to the Pro Plan.
Scenario: Telecom
Imagine a customer activating a mobile plan costing $60 on the 20th of the month. The company has a standard billing cycle of 30 days. Some businesses might activate the plan for the full plan amount and allow it to be charged again on the set billing cycle. However, that's not the ideal approach.
With Proration, the days before the activation date are excluded, and charges are made only for the exact number of days used.
Plan Amount: $60
Charge per day: $60/30= $2
No.of days to be billed: 10
Final Payable Amount: $20
The Final Payable Amount will be charged on the plan activation date, and the next charge will occur after 10 days, aligning with the billing cycle.
Scenario: Streaming Service
A streaming subscriber who is active in the $120/month Premium plan decides to switch to the $60/month Standard plan after 10 days of usage in the current billing cycle.
Without proration, the customer might feel overcharged for unused Premium days. So, to balance the charges between the higher-priced plan and the lower one, credits will be added to the customer account, which can either be refunded or adjusted for the next invoice cycle.
Old Plan | New Plan |
Premium Plan: $120 | Standard Plan Cost: $60 |
Charges per day: $120/30= $4 | Charges per day: $60/30= $2 |
No.of days used: 10 | No.of days remaining: 20 |
Charges for used days: $4x10= $40 | Amount to be charged: $2x20=$40 |
Remaining Credits: $80 |
|
Net Credit: Remaining Credits- Amount to be charged for 20 days: $80-$40= $40 | |
The Net Credit will stay with the customer account and will be applied to the next invoice, or it can be refunded.
Proration Across Industries
While SaaS, Telecom and Streaming services are the most common businesses where prorated billing happens quite often, other industries need this,
Logistics Companies operate with standard shipment charges. They might need proration when the volume of the consignment changes in the middle of the cycle.
Internet Service Providers use this when there is a change in plan within the billing cycle.
Fintech and Payment Apps prorate service fees when accounts are opened or closed in the middle of the billing cycle.
Zoho Billing has the finesse to handle these contract amendments effortlessly across industry types. Whether it's a mid-cycle upgrade, a partial cancellation, or a new customer subscribing during the middle of the billing cycle, Zoho Billing ensures invoices are adjusted seamlessly. Proration can be enabled in Zoho Billing with a simple toggle, and the application automatically takes care of all the math in the backend.
Proration Billing is not a burden but a gift wrapped in a hard cover.
Offering fair charges based on usage during billing increases confidence and provides businesses with a reputation for being fair and transparent. But what about usage that happens before it hits the bill? Even with proration in place, there are scenarios where usage happens before it's billed. For instance, a customer may request an add-on, consume additional resources, or make a one-time transaction in the middle of the billing period. These often fall into the category of unbilled charges.
In the next post, we will explore how businesses manage these unbilled charges and why keeping them in check is critical for accurate billing.
Stay Tuned!
Topic Participants
Hari | Zoho Billing
Sticky Posts
Community Learning Series | Digest #5 — September 2020
Dear customers, We're happy to bring you the September edition of our #CommunityDigest! Keep track of your subscription KPIs right from your smartphone: Last month, we enhanced our Android mobile app to help our customers get daily updates on their business health. We got to know from a lot of customers that this has made their job much more easier because they no longer have to keep a reminder to manually check on the previous day's revenue or activations. If you have not downloaded it yet, here'sCommunity Learning Series | Digest #4 - August 2020
Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. I'm happy to bring you the fourth edition of our #CommunityDigest with some brand-new updates from us. 1. Daily Business Updates (for Android users) The Zoho Subscriptions Android app has got a cool new update: You can now get a push notification to your smartphone that lets you know how many activations and cancellations have taken place, and what's the net revenue for the previous day. The best part is, you can tell the app when exactly youCommunity Learning Series | Digest #3 - July 2020
Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. We're glad to bring you the July edition of our #CommunityDigest. New community members can view our previous newsletters here. This time, we have two major updates and three interesting topics for you: 1. Zoho Subscriptions Developer Community Since the inception of Zoho Subscriptions, our team believed that the recurring billing platform we provide should be able to offer an extensive API library that empowers businesses to automate mostIntroducing: Community Learning Series | Digest #1 - May 2020
Dear customers, We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Helping businesses manage their customer subscriptions more efficiently has always been, and always will be, our goal at Zoho Subscriptions. We strongly believe this is possible if we grow together as a community and share what we know with each other. To nurture this shared learning experience, here is our brand-new Community Learning Series! Welcome to the first edition of our digest! Each edition of our community digest includes guides
Recent Topics
Null
If a result is null how do I make it so that a custom error pops up instead of the default error? Can someone write an example as if I were using the script builder?Error "Invalid client task found corresponding properties" only when triggered from workflow ?
Hi All, I am facing an error message I never encountered previously: Error in executing On Add - On Load script Error in executing thisapp.get_all_projects_api_call function. Line:(2) Error in executing thisapp.getAccessTokenFromRefreshToken function.No Zoho Support Response in Months
I want to say that I love Zoho FSM, Books, and CRM, but the support is scary bad. About 2-3 months ago, I emailed Zoho FSM support with two specific issues I needed help with, and I have still not received one single response. I also submitted a supportIntroducing Zoho Creator's 2025 Release Projection 2
Hello Creators! I'm Prakash, from the Creator product management team, and today I'm delighted to unveil our next set of features as part of Release Projection 2 for 2025. With thoughtful analysis and planning, we've curated powerful new capabilitiesZoho Expense and Chase Bank Visa credit cards - Direct Feed?
Our company uses JP Morgan Chase Visa credit cards. We can't be the first to try and use a combination of Zoho Expense + Chase Bank + Visa Credit Cards --- anyone successful with this combination? 1. The direct feed automation isn't working. When I goSlow uploads of large files
I'm wanting to use Workdrive for transferring large images and video (we're talking things from 100MB-5GB). I'm running solo on a 500MBit/sec fiber connection. I'm getting upload speeds to Workdrive of no more than about 1-3Mbytes/sec when going throughHiding Pre-defined Views
You can enhance Zoho with custom views - but you cannot hide the pre-defined views. Most users focus on 4 or 5 views. Right now for EVERY user EVERY time they want to move to one of their 4 or 5 views - they have to scroll down past a long list of pre-defined views - we don't use ANY of the pre-defined views. Adding the feature to allow a predefined view to be hidden completely or only visible to certain users would be a big improvement in usability for Zoho CRM. This feature is already availableHow do I filter contacts by account parameters?
Need to filter a contact view according to account parameter, eg account type. Without this filter users are overwhelmed with irrelevant contacts. Workaround is to create a custom 'Contact Type' field but this unbearable duplicity as the information alreadyFeature Request: Tag, Search, and Report on Individual Private Comments
Zoho Desk Team, First, I want to say that we are extensive users of Zoho Desk and it is a core part of our support operations. We rely heavily on the private comments feature for internal communication, knowledge sharing, and maintaining a clear historyFormat a "return" message
Good day, Is there a way to format the message of the "return" function in CRM deluge script?Items Below Reorder Point Report?
Is there a way to run a report of Items that are below the Reorder Point? I don't see this as a specific report, nor can I figure out how to customize any of the other stock reports to give me this information. Please tell me I'm missing something sHaving Trouble Opening The Candidate Portal
Recently am having trouble opening the Candidate Portal. It keeps loading but cannot display any widgets. Tried Safari, Chrome and Edge. Non of them work. Please solve the problem ASAP.Dynamically catching new file creations
I have a team folder with many subfolders, and in those folders we add new documents all the time. I'd like to have a workflow or script to notify me (and then take other actions) when a file is added anywhere in that structure that ends in "summary.txt".Tip of the Week - Spot Risky Sales with Conditional Formatting
In Zoho Analytics, small tweaks can lead to big insights. One such feature is Conditional formatting based on other columns, your key to instantly spotting where sales success is overshadowed by product returns. Our tip this week shows you how to applyHow do I duplicate / copy a campaign
I am evaluation Zoho Campaigns and sent an email to one of my personal email accounts from Zoho Campaigns. It went into my junk file in Hotmail. I want to duplicate that same (1-page) campaign and send it to another of my personal accounts to try toFor a Bill, can "Pay via Check" - Can we also "Pay via Check" when documenting refund for payment?
We really like when we have a Bill in Zoho Books that we can record payment by selecting "Pay via Check" and that will cut the check for us from Zoho Books. However, when we have to write checks as a result of invoice overpayment, we can not select "PayCreator Change History: Ways to improve
Hi Everyone, Recently been working in developing this change history(an idea from Zoho Forms) - unlike forms that you can this with a click but using Creator, we can use "old" keyword. The concept I come up with is to put the result in a table however,Suitability of Zoho One (Single User License) for Multi-State GST Compliance & Cost Analysis
Hello Zoho Team, I am an e-commerce business owner selling on platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, and Meesho, and I'm currently using their fulfillment warehouses. I have two GSTIN registrations and am planning to register for an additional 2-3 to expandadd employees and customiz
I want a Zoho software to track employees record. I logged in a demo so now I tried adding employee, first thing when I click on add employee it takes me to a page where it says add user maximum 10 users, my first doubt why users I don't want employeesInactive User Auto Response
We use Zoho One, and we have a couple employees that are no longer with us, but people are still attempting to email them. I'd like an autoresponder to let them no the person is no longer here, and how they can reach us going forward. I saw a similarZoho People Attendance Module - Split Shifts
Hello, Our business employs a number of college students who often split their workdays between work hours and class schedules, resulting in split shifts. For example: Employee 1 works 9am to 11:30am and then leaves for class, returning to work at 3pmZoho One subscription
we have got Zoho CRM for 3 users and we paid for the app , and we have still 9 months to go , but if we join Zoho one , does it mean the payment for that subscription would be a waste? Please help. Thanks.How Zoho CRM Can Enhance Your Faucets Accessories Business Operations?
In today's competitive market, having a reliable CRM system is crucial for managing customer relationships and streamlining business operations. For businesses in the faucets accessories niche, Zoho CRM offers powerful tools to help manage everythingDashboard
I’m currently working on a project using the Zoho IoT Cloud with an ESP32 and MQTT. I’ve successfully connected the ESP32 to Wi-Fi and MQTT, and the data from the ESP32 is displayed in the telemetry section of the cloud. However, when I try to createCan i connect 2 instagram accounts to 1 brand?
Can i connect 2 instagram accounts to 1 brand? Or Do i need to create 2 brands for that? also under what subscription package will this apply?Assistance Needed: Ticket Status Not Updating and Sorting by Last Customer Reply in Zoho Desk
Hello, I’m facing two issues in Zoho Desk that I’d like your guidance on: Ticket Status Not Updating: When a customer replies to a ticket, the status does not change to Reopened. Instead, it remains in Waiting on Customer, even after the customer’s responseZoho Forms - Improved Sub-Forms
Hi Forms team, I'm helping a client move from JotForms to Zoho Forms and I've found another opportunity for improvement. In the below screenshot, JotForm left and Zoho Forms right. The Zoho Forms Sub-Form is quite a poor visually. There is no way to makeRound robin
Hi, I'm trying to set up a round robin to automatically distribute tickets between agents in my team but only those tickets that are not otherwise distributed by other workflows or direct assignments. Is that possible and if so which criteria should ITime Entry Notifications
Hi All - I have support staff who place notes of their work in the time entry section of Zoho Desk. Is there a specific workflow or setting I need to enable to have the ticket holder updated via email when an entry is saved?Change text in help desk
Hi, Please let me know how can i change the this text, see screenshot.What's New in Zoho Billing | Q3 2025
Hello everyone, We are excited to share the latest set of updates and enhancements made to Zoho Billing in Q3 2025. From the latest GST updates to multi-level discounting, Zia-powered report summaries, and customizable web forms, these updates are designedHow to Delete Personal Account Linked with My Mobile Number in past or by someone else
How to Delete Account Created with My Mobile Number in past or by someone else This is creating issues in making or sync with my credentials mobile and email address..WhatsApp Business Calling API
Dear Zoho SalesIQ Team, I would like to request a feature that allows users to call WhatsApp numbers directly via Zoho SalesIQ. This integration would enable sending and receiving calls to and from WhatsApp numbers over the internet, without the needDoes Zoho Learn integrate with Zoho Connect,People,Workdrive,Project,Desk?
Can we propose Zoho LEarn as a centralised Knowledge Portal tool that can get synched with the other Zoho products and serve as a central Knowledge repository?Enhancing Zia's service with better contextual responses and article generation
Hello everyone, We are enhancing Zia's Generative AI service to make your support experience smarter. Here's how: Increased accuracy with Qwen One of the key challenges in AI is delivering responses that are both contextually accurate and empathetic whileMarketer's Space - Going beyond basics: Smarter ecommerce marketing with Zoho Campaigns
Hello Marketers, Welcome back to this week's Marketer's Space. In the last post, we discussed the basics of email marketing and how to get started with email marketing in ecommerce. In this part, we'll dive much deeper into some other advanced featuresExperience effortless record management in CRM For Everyone with the all-new Grid View!
Hello Everyone, Hope you are well! As part of our ongoing series of feature announcements for Zoho CRM For Everyone, we’re excited to bring you another type of module view : Grid View. In addition to Kanban view, List view, Canvas view, Chart view andConnecting two modules - phone number
Hi, I’d like some guidance on setting up an automation in Zoho CRM that links records between the Leads module and a custom module called Customer_Records whenever the phone numbers match. Here’s what I’m trying to achieve: When a new Lead is createdSOME FEATURES ARE NOT IN THE ZOHO SHEET IN COMPARISION TO ZOHO SHEET
TO ZOHO sir/maam with due to respect i want to say that i am using ZOHO tool which is spreadsheet i want to say that some features are not there in zoho sheet as comparison to MS EXCEL like advance filter and other Features which should be there in ZOHOI’ve noticed that Zoho Sheet currently doesn’t have a feature similar to the QUERY formula in Google Sheets or Power Query in Microsoft Excel.
These tools are extremely helpful for: Filtering and extracting data using simple SQL-like queries Combining or transforming data from multiple sheets or tables Creating dynamic reports without using complex formulas Having a Query-like function in ZohoNext Page