At Zero Friction, we work with Products that group specific invoice items. A product can be applied to a single contract or used for multiple contracts with the same billing plan.

Each product consists of various invoice items. These can be fixed costs with a fixed price and variable costs that depend on consumption (e.g., gas, heating, water, etc.). The sum of all invoice items forms the total invoice amount. Grouping invoice items into a product for a specific contract type simplifies work, as a product can be used for multiple contracts that follow a specific billing plan.

Within your products, you can easily update prices and rates, either annually or for a specific period. When you edit a product, all contracts in which it's used are automatically updated, and the new prices are applied to them. There's no need to update each contract individually.

When creating an invoice item, you can choose from 4 invoice calculation types:

The billing item is calculated based on a certain consumption of a service (measurements) provided during the billing period.

It is possible to create custom properties for the following entities:

Property types are defined in Configuration > Custom Entity Properties. They are added to an entity on its details page.

Possible data types that can be selected are text, number, decimal, yes/no, and date.

Two usage examples are described below:

When exporting data from the list pages for these entities (customer, service location, meter, property group, contract), any custom properties are exported to the Excel file. Each property is in a separate column.

The invoice item is a fixed price and is not dependent on usage or parameters, such as a rental fee or a fixed subscription fee.

When adding rates to an invoice item, you can choose different calculation types that determine how the rate is applied for a product's billing period.

In Zero Friction it is possible to use a self-defined formula to calculate the invoice item.

The user can use a fixed value (a number) in combination with arithmetic operators (/, +, -) and parentheses to create a formula. It is also possible to work with input variables* that you have defined in the configuration settings under Products.

These input variables can be used as cost components defined annually. This way, you only need to update the input variables and not each individual formula that uses them.

A fixed price is used for the invoice item. This is a defined unit price for a specific period.

The price of an invoice item depends on the quantity. For example, the higher the quantity, the lower the price. You will define tiers (price ranges) for each quantity level. Zero Friction will determine the price based on the quantity reached during the invoice period, using the price of the corresponding tier.

For example:

Level 1: 0-10 - Unit Price: 50

Level 2: 10-20 - Unit Price: 40

When the volume is 15, level 2 is applied and the amount is calculated as 15*40.

The price of the invoice item depends on the quantity. The difference with Tiered is that a price is chosen that matches the quantity used. There is no multiplication.

For example:

Level 1: Quantity 10 - Unit Price: 50

Level 2: Quantity 20 - Unit Price: 60

When the volume is 20, level 2 is applied and the amount is 60. No multiplication.

The price of the billing item depends on the quantity, but different prices are used for each quantity reached for that defined price range.

For example:

Level 1: 0-10 - Unit Price: 50

Level 2: 10-20 - Unit Price: 40

If the quantity consumed is 15, level 1 applies to the first 10 quantities. Level 2 applies to the remaining quantities. The price of the billing item is (10 x 50) + (5 x 60)

Zero Friction allows you to specify the frequency of an invoice item on your invoices. There are five options, which we explain below:

Normal behavior

The invoice item appears on every invoice and on the final bill. It follows the regular billing cycle as defined in the contract.

Only when moving in

The invoice item will only appear on the first invoice issued after the move. After that, it will no longer appear on future invoices.

Only when moving out

The invoice item will only appear on the final bill once the contract is terminated. It will not appear as an invoiced item on previous invoices.

Fixed number of times

The invoice item only appears on a fixed number of invoices for a contract. This number is user-defined. After this number is reached, the item will no longer appear on any invoices.

Fixed term

The invoice item is defined by a periodicity (day, month, or year) and a number. For example, if you define the periodicity as monthly and the number as 5, the invoice item will only appear on the first annual invoice for a period of 5 months. If the rate is annual, it will be recalculated to the equivalent of 5 months.

When creating a product, it's possible to override the default rate for invoice items by adjusting the rate at the product level. Product-specific rates allow users to use an existing invoice item and only change the price for that specific product, saving time. Rates specified at the product level always override the default rates on the invoice item.

You can set a start and end date for which an invoice item is active on a product. This allows you to limit the period of invoice entries. For example, you might want to include a specific invoice item in the invoices for that product for only three months. After these three months, this invoice item will no longer be included in subsequent invoices.