For your customers who are billed for usage monthly, it is recommended that you set up email notifications or event notifications based on the customers’ PTD (billing-period-to-date) balances. This is because the PTD balance is derived from charges accrued between the dates on which a customer is invoiced.
Usage Monitoring Best Practices
Overview
Monthly Usage Billing
For your customers who are billed for usage monthly, it is recommended that you set up email notifications or event notifications based on the customers’ PTD (billing-period-to-date) balances. This is because the PTD balance is derived from charges accrued between the dates on which a customer is invoiced. For your customers who are always billed on a monthly basis, there is no need to track both MTD (month-to-date) and PTD balances.
Usage Billing for Intervals Greater than a Month
For your customers who are billed for usage in intervals greater than one month, you can set up email notifications or event notifications based on your choice of MTD (month-to-date) or PTD (billing-period-to-date) balances. The MTD and PTD balances for such customers will vary.
For instance, if a customer is billed every quarter on the fifth day of each quarter for usage-based services accrued starting from 1/5/15, then on 2/27/15:
- The MTD balance might be $30 (based on usage records covering a period from 2/5/15 to 2/26/15).
- The PTD balance might be $60 (based on usage records covering a period from 1/5/15 to 2/26/15).
- If the customer’s MTD threshold is $25, then the customer will receive an email message or you will receive an event notification.
- If the customer’s PTD threshold is $50, then the customer will receive an email message or you will receive an event notification.