Billing Strategy
A Billing Strategy is a pricing point that combines a billing frequency with a commitment term length. Billing strategies define the options customers see on your pricing table (e.g., “Monthly”, “Annually”) and control how rate plan prices are grouped and compared.
For worked examples of billing frequency, billing cycle (Fixed or Forever) and term length, see Billing Frequency, Billing Cycle and Term Length.
Understanding Billing Strategies
A billing strategy answers two questions:
- How often is the customer billed? — Determined by the billing frequency (e.g., every 1 Month).
- How long is the commitment? — Determined by the term length in billing cycles.
Examples
| Strategy Name | Billing Frequency | Term Length | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | 1 Month | 1 cycle | Month-to-month, no commitment |
| Annually | 1 Month | 12 cycles | Billed monthly, 12-month commitment |
| Semi-Annual | 1 Month | 6 cycles | Billed monthly, 6-month commitment |
| Yearly | 1 Year | 1 cycle | Billed once per year |
Savings Badge
When a product has multiple billing strategies with different term lengths but the same billing frequency, BillHive automatically calculates and displays a “Save X%” badge. For example, if the monthly price is $29 and the annual price is $290 ($24.17/month), BillHive shows “Save 16%”.
Managing Billing Strategies
View All Strategies
Navigate to Settings > Billing Strategy. The Billing Strategies table at the bottom lists all strategies with columns for:
- Status — Toggle switch to opt in/out.
- Strategy Name — The display label.
- Billing Frequency — The base cycle (e.g., “1 Month”).
- Term Length — Commitment duration in cycles.
- Actions — Delete button.
Create a Billing Strategy
- Click Add Strategy on the Billing Strategies panel.
- In the modal, fill in:
- Strategy Name — A customer-facing label (e.g., “Annually”).
- Billing Frequency — Select from opted-in billing frequencies.
- Term Length — Number of billing cycles in the commitment.
- Click Save.
Enable / Disable a Strategy
Toggle the switch in the Status column to opt a strategy in or out. Only opted-in strategies appear when creating rate plan prices.
Delete a Strategy
Click the trash icon in the Actions column. You cannot delete a strategy that is in use by active rate plan prices.
Field Descriptions
| Field | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Period Name | Yes | Customer-facing name for the strategy. |
| Billing Frequency | Yes | The base billing cycle this strategy uses. |
| Term Length | Yes | Number of billing cycles in the commitment period. 1 means no commitment beyond a single cycle. |
| Is Opted | — | Whether this strategy is available for selection across the application. |
How It’s Used
In Rate Plan Pricing
When creating a Rate Plan Price, you select a billing strategy from a dropdown. The strategy determines:
- The billing period (how often invoices are generated).
- The term length (commitment duration).
- The label shown on pricing tables and invoices.
On the Product Details Page
The product details page shows strategy toggle buttons (e.g., “Monthly | Annually”) that let you switch between viewing prices for different strategies. These toggles only appear when:
- The product has rate plan prices.
- There are prices for more than one billing strategy.
On the Pricing Table
Public-facing pricing tables use billing strategy names as toggle labels, allowing prospects to compare pricing across commitment tiers.