Understand Your Billing Documents
The Marketplace Platform's automated billing process issues documents based on subscription charges or usage data recorded in the previous calendar month.
For many cloud-based services, such as Microsoft Azure and Adobe VIP Marketplace, the usage data can result in multiple charge lines on a single billing statement. When each charge line is printed individually on a single invoice, it can be challenging to read and interpret.
To enhance clarity and help you monitor charges more efficiently, the Marketplace Platform issues two types of billing documents: Invoices and Statements. These billing documents contain important information about your transactions. Understanding these documents is crucial to ensure accuracy.
Use the information on this page or watch the following video guide to learn more:
Billing invoices
An invoice is a billing document you receive for your purchases.
Marketplace invoices are issued as PDFs in the context of specific agreements. They contain a summary of charges and details like your customer information and payment terms. Invoice PDFs also include subscription details and the consolidated charges for all items within the subscription.
Marketplace invoices contain sections so you can understand them easily. To view a sample invoice, use the following link:
Invoice header
The invoice header contains general information, such as the date when the invoice was created, your customer number, and contact person details. The invoice number and address details are also included in the header.
The following table describes the key data in the invoice header:
Purchase order number (PO No.)
The value is taken from the value in the Additional ID field, available on the Details tab of the agreement details page.
If the value exceeds 20 characters, only the first 16 characters are shown on the invoice, followed by 3 dots (...).
If the Additional ID field is empty, the PO No on the invoice is displayed as "—". To add a value, go to the Details tab on the agreement details page. Then, select Edit, and enter the value under Additional IDs.
External document number
Represents the ID of the agreement for which the invoice has been generated. Agreement IDs are shown on the agreement details page.
Your reference
Displays the ID of the statement associated with the invoice.
Invoice details
The invoice details section includes all subscriptions and items for which you are being invoiced . Note that this section may be more than one page, depending on the data.
The following table describes the key data in this section:
Description
Includes a header that displays identifiers such as account ID, agreement ID, and more. You can also see all subscriptions linked to the agreement and the items within each subscription.
If split billing has been enabled, the configured allocation percentage is also displayed.
Quantity
Displays the quantity of items. The value is always '1' because we consolidate all charges. Refer to your Marketplace billing statement for details on the actual item quantity.
Unit price
Displays the total charges for each item in the subscription.
Billing statements
A billing statement is a detailed record of charges, and it's issued for each invoice.
Unlike an invoice PDF, which only provides a summary of charges, a statement contains a comprehensive breakdown of all charges. To view a sample statement, use the following link:
A SoftwareOne Marketplace billing statement contains these tabs:
Summary - Contains different objects associated with the statement, such as agreement, licensee, and orders. The page also contains links that you can use to access these objects directly in the platform.
Charges - Contains a list of charges and subscriptions for the billing period. You can also view all items within the subscription, their quantities, and prices. If split billing has been enabled, the subscription allocation percentage and estimated license count (ELC) details are also displayed.
Orders - Contains all orders placed during the billing period and their corresponding details, such as the type of order, the date when the order was placed, and more.
Differences between invoices and statements
An invoice and a statement are both billing documents, but they serve different purposes. The following table lists the key differences between these two types of documents:
Purpose
Provides a high-level summary of the charges.
Provides a full record of the charges from the vendor.
Format
Excel
Level of detail
Contains aggregated lines, such as per item, per subscription, and so on.
Can have hundreds or thousands of lines for precise usage.
Use case
Used as an official billing and record-keeping document.
Used for reconciliation, in-depth audits, and analysis.
Quantity
Always displays the quantity as 1 because multiple lines are consolidated.
Each line shows the actual quantity of items.
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