📘 Billing Overview
The Billing module in Canary7 allows you to automate and manage how customers are charged for services such as storage, handling, picking, and more. It works through a series of interlinked components. Charge Classes, Charge Types, Rate Cards, and Contracts. These components define how charges are calculated, when they’re triggered, how much is charged, and to whom. Once billing is set up, the Bill Screen provides visibility into all chargeable activity, enabling efficient review and confirmation of charges.
📚 Refined Definitions
🔧 Charge Class
A system-defined billing formula that determines how a charge is calculated (e.g., per unit, per time period). Not configurable. Used by Charge Types to define the method of calculation.
🏷 Charge Type
A configurable billing rule that defines when and why a customer is charged. Applies a Charge Class, sets criteria (like conditions or triggers), and defines what data is used for the calculation.
📄 Rate Card
A collection of Charge Types with assigned rates. Defines how much the customer is charged for each type of activity or service.
📑 Contract
A link between a Rate Card and a specific Company and Warehouse. Determines which rates apply to which customer in which warehouse location if required.
💳 Billing Enquiry
The interface for reviewing and confirming automatically generated bills. Displays all chargeable activity as calculated through Contracts and Rate Cards.
🧩 Summary: How Billing Components Work Together
Component | Role | Example |
|---|---|---|
Charge Class | Defines calculation logic | Per unit, per pallet, per hour, per shipment |
Charge Type | Defines what/when to charge | Picking Fee (charged per item picked, per pallet received, per shipment despatched) |
Rate Card | Assigns monetary rates to charges | Picking Fee = £0.20 per item, Storage = £2.50 per day |
Contract | Assigns a Rate Card to a client | Customer A in Warehouse X uses Rate Card B |
Bill Screen | Displays and finalises the charges | Shows monthly charges for Customer A, ready to export |