Media Publishing Billing

How to implement paper + digital news products under a single contract with bundle discounts using Billerang.

Business Model

Offer	Products	Monthly Price
Paper Only	Paper newspaper	$29.00
Digital Only	Digital access	$14.00
Bundle	Paper + Digital	$35.00 (save $8)
Pay-Per-Article	Digital articles	5 free/month + $1.99/article

Key requirements:

• Same products reused across offers with different pricing
• Bundle discount via offer-scoped price plan matrices
• Mid-contract amendment (drop/add products)
• Counter-based free article allowance

Catalog Structure

Step-by-Step Implementation

1. Create Charges

Paper subscription charge:

POST /api/rest/v2/chargeTemplate/RC_PAPER
{
  "chargeType": "RECURRING",
  "description": "Paper newspaper subscription",
  "calendar": "MONTHLY",
  "subscriptionProrata": true,
  "terminationProrata": true,
  "applyInAdvance": true,
  "invoiceSubCategoryCode": "ISC_PAPER_SUB",
  "taxClassCode": "TAX_PRESS",
  "pricing": {
    "mode": "FLAT",
    "baseCurrency": "USD",
    "price": 29.00,
    "autoPublish": true
  }
}

Digital access charge:

POST /api/rest/v2/chargeTemplate/RC_DIGITAL
{
  "chargeType": "RECURRING",
  "description": "Digital news access",
  "calendar": "MONTHLY",
  "subscriptionProrata": true,
  "terminationProrata": true,
  "applyInAdvance": true,
  "invoiceSubCategoryCode": "ISC_DIGITAL_SUB",
  "taxClassCode": "TAX_DIGITAL",
  "pricing": {
    "mode": "FLAT",
    "baseCurrency": "USD",
    "price": 14.00,
    "autoPublish": true
  }
}

Article usage charge (with counter):

# Counter for free articles
POST /api/rest/catalog/counterTemplate/createOrUpdate
{
  "code": "CTR_FREE_ARTICLES",
  "description": "5 free articles per month",
  "counterType": "USAGE",
  "ceiling": 5,
  "calendar": "MONTHLY",
  "counterLevel": "UA"
}

# Usage charge for articles
POST /api/rest/v2/chargeTemplate/UC_ARTICLE_READ
{
  "chargeType": "USAGE",
  "description": "Per-article read charge (after free tier)",
  "invoiceSubCategoryCode": "ISC_PAY_PER_USE",
  "taxClassCode": "TAX_DIGITAL",
  "filterExpression": "#{edr.parameter1 == 'ARTICLE_READ'}",
  "pricing": {
    "mode": "PER_UNIT",
    "baseCurrency": "USD",
    "price": 1.99,
    "autoPublish": true
  }
}

2. Create Products

POST /api/rest/catalog/products
{ "code": "PAPER_NEWS", "description": "Daily paper newspaper delivery" }
POST /api/rest/catalog/products/PAPER_NEWS/addCharges
{ "productCharges": [{ "chargeTemplateCode": "RC_PAPER" }] }

POST /api/rest/catalog/products
{ "code": "DIGITAL_NEWS", "description": "Unlimited digital news access" }
POST /api/rest/catalog/products/DIGITAL_NEWS/addCharges
{ "productCharges": [{ "chargeTemplateCode": "RC_DIGITAL" }] }

POST /api/rest/catalog/products
{ "code": "ARTICLE_ACCESS", "description": "Pay-per-article access" }
POST /api/rest/catalog/products/ARTICLE_ACCESS/addCharges
{ "productCharges": [{ "chargeTemplateCode": "UC_ARTICLE_READ", "counterTemplateCode": "CTR_FREE_ARTICLES" }] }

3. Create Offers with Bundle Pricing

Standalone offers (use default charge pricing):

POST /api/rest/catalog/offerTemplate/createOrUpdate
{
  "code": "MEDIA_PAPER_ONLY",
  "description": "Paper newspaper only",
  "offerProductTemplates": [{ "productTemplate": { "code": "PAPER_NEWS" }, "mandatory": true }]
}

POST /api/rest/catalog/offerTemplate/createOrUpdate
{
  "code": "MEDIA_DIGITAL_ONLY",
  "description": "Digital access only",
  "offerProductTemplates": [{ "productTemplate": { "code": "DIGITAL_NEWS" }, "mandatory": true }]
}

Bundle offer (with offer-scoped PPM overrides):

POST /api/rest/catalog/offerTemplate/createOrUpdate
{
  "code": "MEDIA_BUNDLE",
  "description": "Paper + Digital bundle ($35/mo, save $8)",
  "offerProductTemplates": [
    { "productTemplate": { "code": "PAPER_NEWS" }, "mandatory": true },
    { "productTemplate": { "code": "DIGITAL_NEWS" }, "mandatory": true }
  ]
}

Now create offer-scoped PPMs to override the standalone prices:

# Bundle price for paper: $25 instead of $29
POST /api/rest/catalog/pricePlanMatrix/createOrUpdate
{
  "code": "PP_PAPER_BUNDLE",
  "description": "Paper price in bundle",
  "eventCode": "RC_PAPER",
  "offerTemplateCode": "MEDIA_BUNDLE",
  "priority": 1,
  "pricePlanMatrixVersions": [{
    "status": "PUBLISHED",
    "price": 25.00
  }]
}

# Bundle price for digital: $10 instead of $14
POST /api/rest/catalog/pricePlanMatrix/createOrUpdate
{
  "code": "PP_DIGITAL_BUNDLE",
  "description": "Digital price in bundle",
  "eventCode": "RC_DIGITAL",
  "offerTemplateCode": "MEDIA_BUNDLE",
  "priority": 1,
  "pricePlanMatrixVersions": [{
    "status": "PUBLISHED",
    "price": 10.00
  }]
}

How bundle pricing works:

• Each PricePlanMatrix has an offerTemplateCode field
• During rating, the engine selects the PPM that matches both the charge code AND the offer
• Bundle PPMs have higher priority than the default (standalone) PPMs
• Same product, same charge, different price depending on the offer

Pay-per-article offer:

POST /api/rest/catalog/offerTemplate/createOrUpdate
{
  "code": "MEDIA_PAY_PER_ARTICLE",
  "description": "Pay per article (5 free/month)",
  "offerProductTemplates": [{ "productTemplate": { "code": "ARTICLE_ACCESS" }, "mandatory": true }]
}

Mid-Contract Amendment: Drop Digital

When a bundle subscriber wants to drop digital access mid-cycle:

POST /api/rest/orderManagement/commercialOrders
{
  "code": "ORD_AMEND_001",
  "billingAccountCode": "BA_SUBSCRIBER",
  "orderDate": "2026-03-15T00:00:00Z",
  "orderItems": [{
    "action": "MODIFY",
    "subscriptionCode": "SUB_BUNDLE_001",
    "productsToTerminate": [{ "productCode": "DIGITAL_NEWS" }],
    "terminationDate": "2026-03-15T00:00:00Z"
  }]
}

Invoice result (March):

Paper (full month, bundle price):    $25.00
Digital (Mar 1-15, bundle price):     $5.00  (prorated $10)
Digital Credit (Mar 15-31):          -$5.00  (prorated credit)

Note: From April, Paper falls back to standalone pricing ($29/mo)
since only one product remains in the subscription.

Pay-Per-Article Flow

Key Billerang Features Used

Feature	Purpose
Offer-scoped PPM	Bundle discount without changing the product/charge
Product reuse	Same PAPER_NEWS/DIGITAL_NEWS across standalone and bundle
Proration	Fair billing on mid-cycle amendments
Counter template	5 free articles per month
Usage charge	Per-article billing after free tier
AMEND order	Mid-contract product add/remove
PPM priority	Bundle PPM overrides standalone PPM