A billing template saves the switches and options from a billing run so you can reuse them. Its date windows stay relative to the day you generate a run from the template, so the same template can produce the right dates each month.
Prerequisites
- You need the billing templates permission in Setup.
- Before you start, choose the business unit and billing actions the template should include, such as charges, reminders, and cancellations. You can change them later, but review the warning below if the template is already in use.
Where to Find It
Go to Finance & Billing › Setup › Billing › Templates to view all billing templates in your account. Select Create Billing Template to create one, or open a row to edit an existing template.
The Settings
| Setting | Options | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Any text | Empty; required | Identifies the template when you create a billing run or recurring billing run from it |
| Description | Any text | Empty | Adds notes for your own reference |
| Notification email | A valid email address | The signed-in staff member's address | Sends run-completion notifications to this address |
| Status | Active, inactive | Active | Controls whether the template appears in the new run wizard or recurring billing run form |
| Business unit | The business units in your account | The business unit you are working in | Sets which unit's invoices, payments, and installment schedules the template's actions use |
| Billing actions (charges, reminders, cancellations, and others) and their options | Same as the billing run wizard | Off | Determines which billing work the template performs |
| Each action's date window | A window relative to the day a run is generated, instead of fixed calendar dates | — | Lets one template produce the correct dates each time you build a run from it |
When you turn on reminders, add each reminder on its own. Select Add Reminder, choose the billing notice for that reminder, then select the template schedule dates that reminder should cover. Repeat Add Reminder for each additional reminder you want the template to send.
Change Impact and How to Revert
Warning
Editing a template changes every future run generated from it, including runs created automatically by a recurring billing run. If at least one recurring billing run already uses the template, the form warns you how many recurring runs your change will affect before you save. Runs that were already generated keep their own copy of the settings; only runs generated after your change use the new terms.
After you save a template change, there is no undo. To revert it, reopen the template and change the settings back.
Deactivating a Template
Set a template's status to inactive when you want to remove it from the billing run wizard and the recurring billing run form. Staff will not be able to start new work from it.
Deactivating a template does not visibly stop a recurring billing run that already uses it. Because the generation step does not show a check for the template's active status, the recurring run can keep producing new billing runs from a template marked inactive. To stop a recurring run entirely, edit or cancel the recurring run itself instead of relying on the template status.
Why You Cannot Delete a Template in Use
You cannot delete a billing template while any billing run, finished or not, or any recurring billing run names it. Rhythm refuses the deletion and leaves the template in place, but the message does not identify which runs are holding it. If you need to remove an old template you no longer want, deactivate it so it no longer appears in the pickers without disturbing runs that already used it.
Permissions
Creating, editing, deactivating, and deleting a billing template requires the billing templates permission in Setup.
Validation and Errors
| Message contains | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The name field will not save empty | No name was entered | Enter a name |
| The notification email will not save | The address is missing or not a valid email | Enter a valid email address |
| A red warning naming a number of recurring billing runs | The template you opened is used by that many recurring billing runs | Confirm the change is intended before you save; it applies to those runs too |
| Delete refused | A billing run or a recurring billing run still names this template | Deactivate the template instead of deleting it |