Before a billing run changes anything, it builds a plan. It reads the certifications and applications in your Rhythm account, decides which records qualify for each action, and saves one pending action for each record. This article explains what the run reads, how filters narrow the selection, and what happens when you refresh an existing plan.
Planning Starts on Its Own
Rhythm checks every five minutes for runs whose planning time has arrived, then starts planning them automatically within five minutes. A completed run cannot be planned again. If someone tries to plan one, Rhythm marks the run in error and emails a failure report.
What a Run Reads
A run reads certifications when it sends renewal reminders, performs drops, or forecasts renewals. It reads applications when it sends application reminders, activates applications, or expires applications. The run reads only the record types needed for the actions you turn on.
Tip
In a Rhythm account with a very large number of certifications or applications, planning has a limited time to finish. If planning takes too long, the run ends in error instead of completing, so watch for this when your Rhythm account has an unusually large catalog.
Deleted certifications and applications are never candidates because there is nothing left for the run to read. Planning does not change any certification or application. It only writes the plan, with one pending action for each record and type of work. If Rhythm cannot write the plan, the whole run ends in error and a failure report is emailed.
Narrowing the Selection: Filters
You can narrow each action you turn on with the same filters:
- Programs — all certification programs, only the programs you choose, or all programs except the ones you choose.
- Training providers — the same three choices, but only when training-provider billing is switched on for your Rhythm account.
- Status reasons — optionally, only records with certain status reasons. This filter is not offered for the training-provider invoicing action.
- Application types — for application actions only, optionally only certain types: Certification, Renewal, or Reinstatement.
Warning
If you set a training-provider filter while training-provider billing was switched on, that filter still applies after the setting is switched off. The picker no longer appears, but Rhythm still honors the provider restriction it saved. If an old run or template seems to exclude some providers, check whether someone added a provider restriction while that setting was on.
What Each Kind of Work Actually Selects
- Send Renewal Reminders — certifications with expiration dates inside the reminder window. A certification is reminded at most once per run, even when more than one reminder window applies. The run does not check the certification's current status, so a certification that has already been dropped can still receive a renewal reminder.
- Drop/Terminate Expired Certifications — lapsed certifications inside the drop expiration window. A certification marked Do not drop this certification is always skipped, without exception. The run does not check status here either, so an already-inactive certification that still falls inside the window can be dropped again. When that happens, its termination date moves forward to the new run's date.
- Forecast Renewals — certifications inside the forecast window. The run does not check status, so lapsed and inactive certifications are forecast along with active ones.
- Send Application Reminders — applications that are still missing requirements and fall inside the reminder window. Each application is reminded at most once per run.
- Activate Approved Applications — approved applications, with no status window narrowing them further.
- Expire Applications — applications inside the expiration window. Only applications already expired are excluded. Approved, activated, and rejected applications that fall inside the window are all planned for expiry together, regardless of where they actually stand.
- Bill Training Providers — everything already marked unbilled for a training provider within the run's window. See How a Billing Run Invoices Training Providers for how that invoice is built.
Warning
Activations and expirations do not re-check status beyond what is described above, so review a run's plan before scheduling it. Pay particular attention to expirations, because an application that has moved on to approved, activated, or rejected can still be swept up for expiry if it falls inside the window.
Refreshing a Plan
Review a run's plan before it executes, and refresh the plan when you need to bring it up to date. A refresh does two things:
- Drops out what no longer qualifies. If an action's record no longer passes its filters, window, or status test, or the record no longer exists, Rhythm keeps the action in the plan and marks it as no longer eligible so execution skips it.
- Adds in what newly qualifies. If a record has come to qualify since the plan was last built or refreshed, Rhythm adds a new pending action for it.
Related
For what happens once a run executes its plan, see How a Billing Run Carries Out Its Planned Actions. For setting up a run's actions, schedule, and filters, see Create a Billing Run. For keeping a specific certification out of every drop, see View and Protect Certifications During Billing Runs.