MSP Billing Rules Engine

The MSP Billing Rules Engine enables MSPs to apply rule-based transformations to cloud billing data before it is surfaced to child tenants. It is used to adjust costs, credits, and margins so customer-facing billing reflects negotiated pricing, target margins, exclusions, or standardized rates.

Rules are applied at the MSP level and deterministically modify how billing data appears in customer environments. All rule outputs flow through reporting, cost views, and billing statements presented to child tenants.

The MSP Billing Rules Engine is accessed from Billing Rules Engine → Create Rule.

What problems does the MSP Billing Rules Engine solve?

The MSP Billing Rules Engine supports common MSP billing and financial control scenarios, including:

• Applying percentage-based discounts or uplifts to specific resources, services, or billing dimensions
• Adjusting billing amounts to cloud provider list prices or negotiated rates
• Applying operating margins to costs or credits for profitability tracking
• Creating multiple billing rules per tenant or apply rules globally across all tenants

How are billing rules created?

Creating a billing rule involves defining rule metadata, selecting a rule type, configuring rule-specific logic, and setting effective dates.

Rule details include:

• Name: A descriptive identifier that reflects the rule’s intent
• Start Date: The date from which the rule becomes effective
• End Date: Optional. Defines when the rule stops applying

Once a rule type is selected, the configuration options update based on the selected rule.

What types of MSP billing rules are supported?

Adjust to List

The Adjust to List rule normalizes billing amounts to cloud provider list prices, regardless of the actual invoiced cost. This rule is commonly used when reporting or billing must reflect public pricing instead of negotiated or discounted rates.

Configuration includes:

• Automatically resetting the base rate to the cloud provider’s list price
• Apply optional source filters to select the eligible costs. Adjust to List has no percentage-offset setting.

Adjust to List rules are typically used to present standardized list pricing, support rebate or discount calculations, or ensure pricing consistency across tenants or reports.

Back Out Line Item

Back Out Line Item retains imported records and adds negative adjustments that offset their matching amounts and quantities in combined results. Original rows can remain visible in source-level reports.

Configuration includes:

• Define at least one source filter to match billing line items, using dimensions such as service, SKU, project, or other supported attributes.
• Offset matching amounts and quantities with negative adjustments in combined results.

Back Out Line Item rules are commonly used to remove internal service charges, exclude experimental or non-billable services, back out refunded credits, or omit managed service fees that are billed through separate processes.

Operating Margin

Operating Margin calculates a target margin rather than a percentage markup. Without list normalization, a billed cost of 100 and a 20% margin produce a total of 125: 100 / (1 - 20/100). Use this distinction when estimating customer-facing billing; a 20% markup would instead produce 120.

Configuration includes:

• Selecting the base field to apply the margin to, such as Billed Cost or Absolute Credits.
• Defining the target margin percentage for matching line items.
• Optionally selecting Adjust to List within the Operating Margin configuration. The example above applies when this option is off.

Operating Margin rules are commonly used to apply consistent profit margins across services or ensure margin visibility and profitability at the resource or SKU level.

Rerate

Rerate applies a percentage adjustment to the selected costs or credits. When Billed Cost and the Rerate configuration's Adjust to List option are selected and list cost is available, the billed total uses list cost multiplied by one plus the percentage. If list cost is absent, the percentage applies to billed cost. Without Adjust to List, the current billed amount is the basis.

Configuration includes:

• Selecting the base metric to adjust, such as Billed Cost or Absolute Credits
• Defining a positive or negative percentage offset
• Optionally selecting Adjust to List within the Rerate configuration, using the basis described above.

Rerate rules are commonly used to apply negotiated customer discounts, reflect exchange rate adjustments, or introduce temporary pricing changes such as time-bound promotions.

How are MSP billing rules scoped and targeted?

Filters

Filters restrict a rule to selected billing dimensions, such as service name, SKU, project or resource attributes. Back Out Line Item and Rerate require source filters in the UI. Adjust to List and Operating Margin allow optional filters.

Filters determine which billing records are eligible for transformation.

Tenant scope

Rules can be applied:

• To specific child tenants
• Globally to all current and future child tenants

Tenant scope determines where the rule is enforced across the MSP environment.

Where are rule results visible?

All adjusted or transformed billing values are surfaced in:

• Ternary Reporting Engine
• Cost Summary
• Child tenant billing and reporting views

Child tenants see only the modified values produced by billing rules, not the underlying rule logic.