Create bill runs

What is a target date

The target date is used to determine which charges to bill. All charges to bill as of or before the target date are included in the bill run. Zuora automatically keeps track of all charges that need to be billed and that have not been billed before the target date.

To send an invoice before a billing period, set your invoice date to the date of your bill and the target date to the billing period you are billing in advance. For example, if you want to send an invoice on March 1 for an April 1 to April 30 billing period, set the invoice date to March 1 and the target date to April 30.

Zuora has set a 10-year limit on bill runs created in the Zuora UI or from the Bill Run SOAP API. You can no longer schedule a bill run over 10 years after the current date.

Create an ad hoc bill run

To create a new ad hoc bill run, complete the following steps:

1. Navigate to Billing > Bill Runs in the navigation section and click New Bill Run.
2. (Optional): Enter a name for the bill run.
3. Select either Multiple Accounts or Single Account.
   • If you select Multiple Accounts, do the following:
     • Select which customer accounts to include. Select All Batches, or select one or more batches from the list.
     • Select the bill cycle day to use. Select All Bill Cycle Days, or select Specific Billing Cycle Day and then select a day from the list. See Customer Accounts for more information about billing batch and billing cycle start dates.
   • If you select Single Account, search and select the specific customer account to be invoiced.
     • If you want to invoice all the subscriptions of one customer account, select the specific account to be invoiced.
     • If you want to invoice specific subscriptions of one customer account, select the specific account, clear the All subscriptions checkbox below the Invoice Owner Account field, enter the subscription number or search for the subscriptions that you want to invoice, and then click to add one or more subscriptions.
       Note that the specified account must be the invoice owner account of the selected subscriptions.
4. Specify your desired bill run dates in the Bill Run Dates section.
   • Invoice Date: The invoice date displayed on the invoices.
   • Target Date: The date used to determine which charges will be billed. All charges that are to be billed on this date or prior will be included in this bill run. By default, the target date is equal to the bill run date.

     Creating a bill run whose target date is over one year from the creation date might cause the bill run to run for an extended period of time. See Future dated bill runs for more information.

5. (Optional): Select the processing rules that apply to the bill run. See Bill run processing rules below for more information.
6. (Optional): Filter charges based on charge type. Deselect charge types that you want to exclude from the bill run.
7. Click Create Bill Run to create the bill run.
8. In the displayed confirmation dialog, click Yes to confirm the bill run creation.

Additionally, you can also create ad hoc bill runs in any of the following approaches:

• On the customer account detail page, click Create Bill Run at the top right corner or in the Transactions section.
• On the subscription detail page, click Create Bill Run at the top right corner.

If you set the subscriptions to be invoiced separately and create an ad hoc bill run by subscription, each subscription will still be on its own invoice.

Create a scheduled bill run

To create a new scheduled bill run, complete the following steps:

1. Navigate to Billing > Bill Runs in the navigation section and click New Scheduled Bill Run.
2. (Optional): Enter a name for the bill run.
3. Select either Multiple Accounts or Single Account.
   • If you select Multiple Accounts, do the following:
     • Select which customer accounts to include. Select All Batches, or select one or more batches from the list.
     • Select the bill cycle day to use. Select one of the following:
       • All Bill Cycle Days: Includes all accounts.
       • That Matches the Bill Run Day: Includes all accounts with a bill cycle day that matches the bill run day. When the bill run day is the last day of the current month, including all accounts with a bill cycle day greater than or equal to the bill run day.
       • Specific Billing Cycle Day: Select a day from the list. 
     • See Customer Accounts for more information about billing batch and billing cycle start dates.
   • If you select Single Account, search and select the specific customer account or accounts that you want to invoice.
4. In the Schedule Dates section, specify the following information:
   • Bill Run Date: The date that the first bill run is executed. The default value is today's date.
   • Invoice Date: The invoice date displayed on the invoices. You can choose any date before, on, or after the bill run date. The invoice date updates each time the bill run is repeated. If you choose an invoice date that is, for example, five days after the bill run date, then the invoice date will always be five days after the bill run date each time that the bill run is repeated. For example, if you create a scheduled bill run with a bill run date of 01/01/2016 and an invoice date of 01/06/2016, if the bill run repeats on 02/01/2016, then the invoice date for that bill run will be 02/06/2016. By default, the invoice date is equal to the bill run date.
   • Target Date: The date used to determine which charges are to be billed. All charges that are to be billed on this date or prior will be included in this bill run. By default, the target date is equal to the bill run date.

     Creating a bill run whose target date is over one year from the creation date may cause the bill run to run for an extended period of time. See Future dated bill runs for more information.

   • Time of the Day: The time of day in the tenant time zone that the bill run is executed. The bill run is executed plus or minus 20 minutes from the specified time.
   • Repeats: How often the bill run is repeated. You can choose not to repeat the bill run, or to repeat daily, weekly, or monthly. For daily, weekly, or monthly, you must specify the range. The range determines how long the scheduled bill run is repeated. For weekly, you must additionally specify which days of the week the bill run is to be executed.
5. (Optional): Select the processing rules that apply to the bill run. See Bill run processing rules below for more information.
6. (Optional): Filter charges based on charge type. Deselect charge types that you want to exclude from the bill run.
7. Click Create Bill Run to start the scheduled bill run.

Bill run processing rules

The following options assist with fine-tuning your bill run processing.