Billing Unit Types
Track and bill customers based on recurring billing units (users, licenses, devices, etc.) assigned to different billing unit types
Key Concepts
1. Billing Unit Types
These are the categories you define for different types of recurring billing items (e.g., "Full-time User", "Part-time User (20-30 hrs)", "Software License", "Device"). You create these once for your organization, and they're available for all your contracts.
2. Contract Type Templates
When you create a contract type (like "Managed Services Agreement"), you can set up default rates for each billing unit type. When you create a new contract using that contract type, these rates are automatically copied to save you time.
3. Contract-Specific Rates
Each contract can have its own rates that you customize. Even if you change the template rates later, your existing contracts keep their own rates.
4. Billing Unit Assignments
This is where you assign specific contacts (people) or items to billing unit types on a contract. You can track when assignments start and end, which helps with billing history.
Contracts can also carry unassigned quantity for sold seats that are not tied to contacts yet. When you later assign contacts, Core consumes that unassigned quantity first and keeps future scheduled billing in step.
5. Scope and Unit
Each billing unit type on a contract has two choices:
- Scope:
- Per Contact: Requires contact assignments.
- Org-wide: Applies to the whole customer and cannot have contact assignments.
- Unit:
- Flat Rate: A scheduled recurring charge. Flat-rate items can use quantity multipliers, such as 3 licenses × $10 billed monthly = $30 per billing cycle.
- Hourly: Metered from billable time entries. Hourly items use Time & Materials, Retainer, or Block of Hours rules.
Getting Started
Step 1: Create Your Billing Unit Types
- Go to Settings → Contracts → Billing Unit Types
- Click "Add Billing Unit Type"
- Enter:
- Name: e.g., "Full-time User", "Software License", "Device"
- Description: Optional description of what this type means
- Default Rate / Billed Every: Suggested price and cadence
- Default Scope / Default Unit: Suggested when this type is added to a contract (Per Contact vs Org-wide, Flat Rate vs Hourly). Operators can still change these on the contract.
- Active: Check this box to make it available for use
- Click "Create"
- Repeat for all your types
- Drag and drop the types to arrange them in the order you want them to appear
Tip: Create all your types before setting up contract types. This makes the setup process smoother.
Step 2: Configure Contract Type Templates
- Go to Settings → Contracts → Contract Types
- Find the contract type you want to configure (or create a new one)
- Click "Configure Billing Unit Types"
- For each billing unit type you want available:
- Check the box to include it
- Select the Scope: "Per Contact" or "Org-wide"
- Select the Unit: "Flat Rate" or "Hourly"
- Enter the default monthly rate
- For flat-rate and per-contact items, set the quantity (default is 1) - this multiplies the rate (e.g., 5 licenses × $10 = $50/month)
- For per-contact items, quantity can include unassigned sold seats before every contact is known
- For flat-rate items, set how often to bill (e.g., every 1 / 6 / 12 months)
- Click "Save"
When you create a new contract with this contract type, these rates will automatically be copied to the contract.
Step 3: Set Up Billing Items on a Contract
- Create a new contract or open an existing one
- Select a Contract Type (if you configured billing unit types for it, rates will be copied automatically)
- Go to the "Billing Items" tab on the contract
- Add billing unit types and configure them:
- Click "Add Type"
- Select a billing unit type — Scope, Unit, rate, and cadence pre-fill from the type's catalog defaults when set
- Adjust the Scope if needed (still overridable):
- Per Contact: For items tied to assigned contacts, such as user coverage
- Org-wide: For charges or hourly pools that apply to the whole customer
- Adjust the Unit if needed:
- Flat Rate: For scheduled recurring charges
- Hourly: For time-entry-based billing with T&M, Retainer, or Block of Hours rules
- Enter the rate details for the selected unit
- For flat-rate items, set the quantity (default is 1) - this multiplies the rate (e.g., 5 licenses × $10 = $50/month)
- For flat-rate items, set Bill every (how often the add-on should be billed)
- For flat-rate items, set the Next billed date (the next month it should appear on reports/invoicing)
- Click "Add"
- Review and customize rates if needed:
- Edit rates by clicking the pencil icon
- Remove types by clicking the trash icon
- For per-contact types only: Assign contacts to billing unit types:
Note: Org-wide items don't require contact assignments. Org-wide flat-rate items are billed on the cadence you choose, while org-wide hourly items meter all billable time for the customer through the Billables Report.
Automatic Alerts
The system will automatically notify you (as the tenant owner) when:
- A ticket is created by a contact who isn't assigned to any billing unit type on the contract
This helps ensure all billing units are properly categorized so you don't miss billing anyone.
New contacts can also be billed automatically. When the contract's "Auto-bill new contacts" switch is on (the default) and a new contact is added to the company, Core assigns them to the single matching per-contact item, or opens a billing review item for your team if more than one could apply. See the "Auto-billing New Contacts" section of the Contracts guide.
Who Can Do What
Viewing Billing Unit Information
- Anyone who can view contacts can see billing unit types, rates, and assignments
Assigning Contacts to Billing Unit Types
- Technicians and above can assign contacts to billing unit types on contracts
- This allows your team to categorize users as they work with them
Managing Billing Unit Types and Rates
- Admins and above can:
- Create, edit, or delete billing unit types
- Configure contract type templates
- Set contract-specific rates
Default Billing Unit Types
When you first set up the system, you'll have these default billing unit types already created:
- Full-time - $60/month (40+ hours per week)
- (20-30 hrs) - $55/month (20-30 hours per week)
- (10-20 hrs) - $45/month (10-20 hours per week)
- (3-10 hrs) - $35/month (3-10 hours per week)
- (0-2 hrs) - $25/month (0-2 hours per week)
- SAT License - $15/month (Security Awareness Training license)
- Premium Support - $75/month (Premium support tier)
- Backup User - $20/month (Backup and disaster recovery license)
These are already configured for the "Managed Services Agreement" contract type with the rates shown above. You can edit these or create your own.
Best Practices
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Set Up Types First: Create all your billing unit types before configuring contract types. This makes setup faster.
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Use Templates: Configure contract type templates with default rates. This saves time when creating new contracts since rates are automatically copied.
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Customize Per Contract: Adjust rates per contract as needed. Each customer might have different pricing, and that's okay - the template is just a starting point.
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Track History: When reassigning a contact to a different billing unit type, set the effective date. This helps maintain accurate billing history.
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Monitor Alerts: When you get an alert about an unbilled contact, assign them to a billing unit type right away to ensure proper billing.
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Keep Types Active: Only mark types as inactive if you're sure you won't use them anymore. Inactive types won't appear in dropdowns, which can be confusing if you need them later.
Common Use Cases
Per-User Billing
- Contract Type: "Managed Services Agreement"
- Billing Model: Per User
- How it works: You track how many users of each type are on the contract, and bill monthly based on those counts
- Example: 5 full-time users × $60 = $300/month, plus 3 part-time users × $45 = $135/month, total = $435/month
Software License Billing
- Billing Unit Types: "Office 365 License", "Adobe Creative Suite", "Security Software License"
- How it works: Track licenses assigned to contacts and bill monthly based on license counts
- Example: 10 Office 365 licenses × $12 = $120/month
Device Billing
- Billing Unit Types: "Managed Device", "Server", "Network Equipment"
- How it works: Track devices assigned to customers and bill monthly based on device counts
- Example: 5 managed devices × $50 = $250/month
Flat-Rate Add-On Services
- Billing Unit Types: "Cloud Server Administration", "Network Management", "Backup Service"
- Billing Mode: Flat Rate (Org-wide)
- How it works: These are organization-wide services billed on a schedule (monthly, yearly, or every N months), regardless of the number of contacts. You can set a quantity multiplier for items like licenses or devices
- Example: Cloud Server Administration billed every 12 months at $500 (flat rate, not per user)
- Example with quantity: Software License billed every 1 month at $10 × 5 quantity = $50 per billing cycle
Org-wide Hourly Retainers
- Billing Unit Types: "Monthly Retainer", "T&M Support", "Block of Hours"
- Scope: Org-wide
- Unit: Hourly
- How it works: Every billable time entry for the customer can roll into one hourly billing item, without assigning each contact. Choose T&M to bill all hours, Retainer for included hours plus overage, or Block of Hours for a purchased pool.
- Example: A 20-hour monthly retainer includes the first 20 hours for the customer; extra hours bill at the overage rate.
Hourly, Block Hours, or Retainer Contracts
- Billing Model: Hourly, Block Hours, or Retainer
- How it works: These contracts can now include billing items (both per-contact and flat-rate) as add-on services alongside the primary billing model. The primary billing model determines how time/work is billed, while billing items track recurring charges.
Troubleshooting
I Can't Assign a Contact to a Billing Unit Type
Problem: When you try to assign a contact, you get an error or the option isn't available.
Solution:
- Make sure the billing unit type is added to the contract's billing rates first
- Go to the contract's "Billing Units" tab
- Add the billing unit type if it's not there
- Then you can assign contacts to it
Rates Aren't Showing Up on My Contract
Problem: You created a contract with a contract type, but the billing unit rates didn't copy over.
Solution:
- Check that the contract type has billing unit types configured (Settings → Contracts → Contract Types → Configure Billing Unit Types)
- The rates should have copied automatically when you created the contract
- If they didn't, you can manually add them using the "Add Type" button on the contract's Billing Items tab
I'm Getting Alerts About Unbilled Contacts
Problem: You're receiving notifications about contacts that should be billed.
Solution:
- Go to the contract's "Billing Units" tab
- Find the contact mentioned in the alert
- Assign them to the appropriate billing unit type
- The alerts will stop once all contacts are properly assigned
I Want to Change the Order of Billing Unit Types
Solution:
- Go to Settings → Contracts → Billing Unit Types
- Simply drag and drop the types to reorder them
- Click "Save Order" when you're done
- The new order will be reflected everywhere these types appear
See also
- Contracts Guide - Learn how to create and manage contracts