How to generate multiple invoices for the same customer

This is possible to set up in Work 365 using the BIlling Contract structure. 

See also Linked Subscriptions

Let’s go through an example scenario:

Customer ABC is a hotel chain, and they want to have different invoices sent to each hotel’s location.

 

Here are some questions you will need to answer to set them up correctly in Work 365:

• Does the customer’s HQ want a full invoice of all subscriptions for each location, and a separate dedicated invoice just for the HQ location?
• Does this customer have multiple provider accounts in Work 365?
  • If so, each provider account needs to be mapped to its own CRM account, and each provider account should have its own Billing Contract.
• Are there CRM Accounts for each location?
  • The HQ CRM account will be the Parent account, and all the other locations should be marked as individual child accounts to the Parent.
    • This is important because the Billing address which is populated on the invoice will be pulling from the account. Furthermore, applicable taxes will be calculated based on the customer’s location (if Work 365 taxes are appropriately set up in Work 365).
      • For training on how to Set up Work 365 taxes see:
        • Video training 1
        • Video training 2: (if applicable)
• Does each location have a billing contract?
  • If HQ wants an invoice specific to their location, and an invoice for all locations, then HQ will need to have two billing contracts.
    • The HQ Parent billing contract will have an Automatic provider listed (like Microsoft Partner Center)
      • applicable for Direct CSP Partners.
      • Indirect CSP Partners will have manual subscriptions on the Parent billing contract with Manual Providers
        • See this document in reference to Providers for more details.
    • Then each of the child locations will have a ‘child’ billing contract will Manual subscriptions.
• How to break down the customer license quantity by location.
  • The Parent billing contract will have the total license quantity across the customer’s organization. These are roll up subscriptions for all the individual separate subscriptions of each location.
  • The subscriptions under the child billing contracts (child locations) will have the specific license quantities for that specific location. Then the total sum of all the license quantities must match the subscription quantity on the Parent billing contract.
• What is your business process for updating subscriptions for each location, and what needs to be adjusted so it can be managed from Work 365?
  • Bottom up approach:
    •  Whenever a license quantity change is made for the customer, the best approach will be to update the specific child location’s billing contract first on the manual subscription.
    • Then an internal notification email is triggered, see Reminder for Manual Provider Subscriptions on Email templates, notifying that the subscription must be provisioned for those license changes.
    • Then one would go to the Parent billing contract, and update the total subscription quantity, thus accounting for the quantity change for the specific location.
      • Automatic Providers: this quantity change will automatically provision CSP subscriptions with defined automatic providers.
      • Non-automatic providers: Subscriptions at the Parent billing contract level which are also manual subscription will also have a notification to provision the physical license.
        • For these subscriptions, Partners would then go to the provider portal to provision the customer’s subscriptions.

 

Setting up the parent and child billing contracts in this way enable each individual location to department to have their dedicated invoices specific to them, and at the same time have a roll up invoice of all subscriptions. In this scenario it is vital that the child subscriptions ALWAYS roll up to the subscriptions on the Parent billing contract, otherwise the invoices for the individual locations may not be accurate, or the subscription changes themselves may not have been made at the parent level indicating the change was not actually provisioned. 

After setting up this hierarchy of Billing Contracts and subscriptions, it's recommended an advanced view be created as a sort of true up to ensure all subscriptions on child billing contracts are consistent in quantity to the subscriptions with the parent billing contract. For this view to work, there will need to be a Parent CRM account, and child CRM accounts for the different locations. Then save the view so in the future you only need to go to Work 365 > Subscriptions > change the view to the one you save, and you have the results.