Subscriptions

Subscription and Subscriber

The core admin must create a subscription that defines what it entails, along with the standard price and period. Once the subscription is created, it can be purchased by the user, but this must be done by the core admin by adding users as subscribers to the subscription.

Create a Subscription

1. Click on BILLING in the navigation menu on the left, and then on Subscriptions in the submenu.
2. Click on the +Add button at the top right of the page.
3. You will see a new page where you can fill in information about the subscription.Please note the following:
   • SUBSCRIPTION PERIOD and SUBSCRIPTION COST: These values will appear as default when adding subscribers. However, they can be manually adjusted for each subscriber. 
   • ENTIRE CORE (checkbox): If this is checked, everything in the core is included regardless of Fee Type. (Note! Due to a bug as of August 5th 2024, checking ENTIRE CORE does not hide the REQUEST SERVICES field. However, it is not necessary to add service types manually.)
   • ONLINE SERVICES, OFFLINE SERVICES, REQUEST SERVICES: If you did not select ENTIRE CORE, you must select which services are included in the subscription.

Add Subscribers

Regular users cannot purchase a subscription themselves. Only the core admin can add a user as a subscriber to a subscription.

1. Click on BILLING in the navigation menu and then Subscribers in the submenu.
2. Click on the "Add" button with a + icon at the top right of the page.
3. You will see a new page where you can fill in information about the subscription purchase. The valid period and cost of the subscription can be edited manually here.
4. Click on Add to save.

Important Notes on Subscriptions

• A subscription purchase may take some time before it is registered by the system. You must ensure that the user can see the subscription purchase on the Charges page (Click on BILLING and select it in the submenu) before creating a new booking, otherwise the booking may be charged.
• When REQUEST SERVICES are included in the subscription, the cost is charged on the day the service is marked as completed. This means that if a service is completed after the subscription end date, the cost of that service will not be covered by the subscription even if it was ordered within the valid period; thus, the user will be charged for the service according to the pricing rules.

Frequently Asked Questions about Subscriptions

Can a user switch to a subscription to cover costs for previous bookings?

Yes, it is possible, but it must be done before the previous bookings are invoiced.

1. The core admin adds a subscriber with a period covering the dates for the previous bookings.
2. Then he/she needs to recalculate the estimated costs for the bookings:
   1. Click on BILLING in the navigation menu and then Billing Preview.
   2. Use filters to bring up relevant reservations or orders.
   3. Click on the Recalculate button.

Please note that the project amount and hard limit (or the user's individual User Limit) must be set high enough to cover the estimated costs for the already completed bookings in addition to the subscription price upfront. The project amount can be set back to a lower value later.

Can assisted reservations or training sessions be charged separately?

When an instrument is added to a subscription, all costs regardless of fee type (Fee Type set on Instrument Price Category), including Assisted Reservation Override and Training Sessions, are covered by the subscription. If the assistance fee needs to be charged separately (i.e., if the subscription should not cover the costs of staff time for assistance or training), the following options can be used:

Option A: Assistance as an offline service (Consumables)

How to:

1. Create a new consumable and name it "assistance" or similar.
2. Set up a new price rule for this so that it is charged for units times price rate (e.g., hourly rate).
3. Make it an optional offline service for the relevant instrument.

Advantages:

• Users/staff can flexibly specify how many assistance units (hours) are needed for this booking.
• The same offline service can be set as an option for multiple instruments.

Disadvantages:

• The assistant must be meticulous with their schedule and set the schedule separately.
• Unless a user clicks on More Options, it is not clear what the unit is.

Option B: Assistance as an instrument

How to:

1. Create a new instrument called "assistance" or similar and set up a new price rule for this instrument.
2. Set the instruments requiring assistance (e.g., microscopes) as either mandatory or optional instruments for this assistance instrument.

Advantages:

• The schedule for possible assistance can be set in the Working Hours tab.
• Assistance and the instrument can be booked simultaneously.

Disadvantages:

• If users want to continue using the main instrument without assistance, it must be booked separately.