Products Meter-Based Billing

Meter-based billing that stays reconcilable from usage to invoice

Govern usage-based billing with versioned pricing validated usage and an audit trail from meters to invoices.

LINE ITEMS
Convert usage events into reconcilable billing line items
Manual + CSV
Line item SKU Inventory tags Amount
API Calls (1.2M) MTR-API Rated $14,400
Storage GB-hours MTR-STO Plan v3 $6,980
Overage MTR-OVR Reconciled $2,420
Total $23,800
Trusted by teams who can't afford revenue leakage

Meter-based billing you can reconcile from usage to invoice

Usage-based revenue breaks when the usage source is unclear, pricing changes mid-cycle without versioning, and finance cannot explain how an invoice line was calculated. Sanka is designed to make meter-based billing a governed workflow: define what is measured, validate events, rate them against approved pricing, and keep an audit trail that ties back to CRM and accounting.

A
Versioned pricing and rating

Treat rate plans as controlled records with effective dates, approvals, and history so re-rating and audits are explainable.

B
Usage you can trust

Validate and de-duplicate events, preserve raw usage, and make corrections explicit instead of silently overwriting data.

C
Revenue leakage controls

Surface gaps between contract terms, meters, and invoices early with exceptions, alerts, and review steps.

Define meters and keep terms aligned to the customer record

Meter-based billing is not only a calculation problem. It is a data contract between product usage, sales terms, and finance rules.

  • Define meters (what is counted, unit of measure, aggregation window)
  • Associate meters to customers, subscriptions, and contracts in your CRM
  • Support tiers, minimum commits, included usage, and overages with clear rules
  • Keep invoices and payment status synced back to CRM for customer-facing teams
Where usage billing fails Typical root cause What to standardize
Underbilling Missing or dropped events Ingestion validation + completeness checks
Disputes No explanation of rating Versioned rate plans + audit-ready calculation trail
Manual rework Ad-hoc credits and adjustments Explicit adjustment objects and approvals
Forecast drift CRM and billing terms mismatch Single source of terms and effective dates

Rate usage with audit-ready workflows

Automation should remove manual work, not remove accountability. Treat rating and invoicing as repeatable steps with clear states.

  • Rate usage on a schedule (daily/weekly/monthly) with “in review” checkpoints for exceptions
  • Re-rate when pricing changes, with history preserved for “what changed and why”
  • Generate invoices that show the billed quantity, unit price logic, and period covered
  • Handle credits, true-ups, and backfills as governed adjustments (not hidden edits)

Built for real usage patterns

Most teams end up combining recurring terms with usage, exceptions, and contract constraints. Make the patterns explicit so finance can close without detective work.

D
Hybrid billing

Combine subscription line items with usage and one-time charges without breaking reporting or customer statements.

E
Tiering and minimums

Encode included usage, minimum commits, and tier breakpoints as readable rules with effective dates.

F
Backfills and corrections

Late events and corrections happen. Preserve raw history and track adjustments explicitly for auditability.

Governance is a feature for usage revenue

Usage billing is measurable, but only if definitions and changes are controlled. Make approvals and traceability first-class.

G
Approvals for pricing changes

Route rate plan edits and exception discounts through reviewers with thresholds and history.

H
Audit trail for calculations

Track source usage, applied pricing version, adjustments, and invoice generation steps with timestamps and owners.

I
Role-based actions

Control who can change meters, override pricing, approve credits, and finalize invoices.

Frequently asked questions

Can we combine seat-based and usage-based billing?
Yes. Hybrid billing is common. The key is to keep recurring terms, usage meters, and one-time charges as explicit objects with a consistent audit trail.
How do we handle pricing changes mid-cycle?
Treat pricing as versioned rate plans with effective dates and approvals. When changes happen, re-rate with history preserved so the outcome is explainable.
What prevents revenue leakage?
Validation, completeness checks, exception queues, and governed adjustments. The goal is to surface gaps early, not after invoices are sent.