SB510 – Recurring Contract Billing Setup in D365: Parameters, Templates, and Configuration Deep Dive

🌐 Introduction

Welcome to SB510 in our Subscription Billing series! Now that we’ve explored invoicing logic in SB509, it’s time to get under the hood and configure the Recurring Contract Billing setup that powers the module.

In this post, we’ll walk through all the critical setup areas you’ll find under:

📍 Subscription Billing > Recurring Contract Billing > Setup

Each section directly influences how billing schedules behave—from CPI escalations and milestone recognition to termination rules and revenue splits.

We’ll use the CRM SaaS model throughout to show how each configuration fits into a real-world scenario.

🧾 Setup Areas Overview

Here’s a quick breakdown of the setup sections you’ll learn in this post:

Let’s explore them one by one.

Recurring Contract Billing Parameters

📍 Path: Recurring contract billing > Setup > Recurring contract billing parameters

This is where you define global behaviors for billing.

Key Fields:

💡 For CRM SaaS: Enable month alignment, daily proration, and sales order invoicing.

Billing Schedule Group

📍 Path: Setup > Billing schedule group

Think of this as a template for frequently used billing patterns.

Setup Example:

• Name: CRM-Monthly
• Frequency: Monthly
• Pricing method: Flat
• Item type: Standard
• Invoice separately: No
• Auto-renew: Yes
• Lines per renewal: 12
• Escalation: Yes

💡 All new CRM contracts can use this group for consistency.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) Schedule

📍 Path: Setup > Consumer price index schedule

Use this to set up inflation-linked escalation tables. Each CPI schedule includes:

• Effective date
• % increase
• Description (e.g., 2024 CPI UK)

💡 Used with SBX-RNW-ANN1 to escalate CRM renewals annually.

Items

📍 Path: Setup > Items

This shows which items are used in billing schedules and their attributes.

Typical entries:

• SBX-CRM-M01 – CRM Subscription
• SBX-CONS-API01 – API Usage
• SBX-RNW-ANN1 – Annual Renewal
• SBX-MILET-01 – Milestone Setup Fee

💡 Ensure each item is properly linked to deferral templates and revenue profiles.

Unbilled Revenue Setup

📍 Path: Setup > Unbilled revenue setup

Used if you’re using the Revenue and Expense Deferral module later.

It controls:

• GL account for unbilled revenue
• Posting logic for unearned income

💡 Will be covered further in SB513 when we get to deferrals.

Support and Renewal Levels

📍 Path: Setup > Support and renewal levels

Create predefined support tiers or renewal types to apply to billing lines.

Example:

💡 Helps standardise billing rules across contracts.

Milestone Templates

📍 Path: Setup > Milestone templates

Used for milestone-type billing lines, especially in implementation services.

Example:

💡 Applied to SBX-MILET-01 in LMS-based projects.

End Users

📍 Path: Setup > End users

Tracks the actual consumer of the service (different from invoice account). Helpful when:

• Selling through resellers
• Assigning support by user
• Tracking usage per named license

💡 Optional but valuable for usage or multi-entity subscriptions.

Hold Reason Codes

📍 Path: Setup > Hold reason codes

Used when placing billing schedules or lines on hold.

Examples:

• Payment delinquency
• Contract review pending

💡 Helps pause billing without deleting or terminating.

🔟 Termination Reason Codes

📍 Path: Setup > Termination reason codes

Standardises reasons when contracts are terminated:

Examples:

• Customer cancelled
• Product discontinued
• Non-renewal

🔢 Milestone Audit Reason Codes

📍 Path: Setup > Milestone audit reason code

Used to document why a milestone was billed—ensuring compliance and audit trail.

💡 Optional but improves transparency in service-based billing.

🔄 Customer Split Reason Code

📍 Path: Setup > Customer split reason code

Used when a billing schedule is split between two customers.

Example:

• Parent company vs branch
• Internal + external stakeholders

🔁 Revenue Split Template

📍 Path: Setup > Revenue split template

Create predefined split rules across items in a bundle.

Example:

• SBX-MEA-BUNDLE (CRM + Support + API)
• Define:
  • CRM: 50%
  • Support: 30%
  • API: 20%

✅ Summary

This article covered the entire Recurring Contract Billing setup framework that controls every behaviour in your subscription lifecycle—from proration to renewal, escalation to bundling.

🔜 Coming Up Next: SB511 – All Enquiries & Reports in Recurring Contract Billing

In SB511, we’ll shift focus to the monitoring side—covering all the reports and enquiry forms in D365 Subscription Billing. We’ll use table format to explain each report’s:

• Description
• Use Case
• Best Practices

Perfect for finance users, billing analysts, and auditors.

Expand Your Knowledge: See More Subscription Billing Blogs