Receiving your first bill from us can sometimes result in a bit of shock as the total may be higher than what you were expecting. This is due to the Pro Rata billing of access fees. All telecommunications providers charge on a Pro Rata basis.
Please take the time to read through this article and feel free to give us a call if you have any further questions.
Pro Rata Explained
Pro Rata is the billing for a portion of an Access Fee (plan fee) for a service (eg. Line rental, internet plan, mobile plan) based on the amount of time that service was active for.
Your first invoice from us will be higher than normal as it includes:
- Partial Access Fee billed in arrears from when your service was activated til the end of the billing cycle
- Full Access Fee for the following month billed in advance
- Call or usage charges that have been made during the month
After your first invoice you will simply receive the standard monthly charge for Access Fees for the month in advance.
First Invoice Pro Rata Example
Example: Internet Plan – $49.95/mth connected on 07/05/2013
- 07/05/2013 – 31/05/2013 – Internet Plan – $38.67 (partial month)
- 01/06/2013 – 30/06/2013 – Internet Plan – $49.95 (full month)
- TOTAL INVOICE – $88.62
The Pro Rata for the partial month is calculated by:
24 [days remaining in month] / 31 [total days in month] x $49.95 [plan fee] = $38.67
Credits from your Previous Provider
When transferring to Cloud Telecom from another provider, it is likely that there will be changes in advance already billed to you by your old provider for a period when your services were actually active with Cloud Telecom. These charges should be credited back to you so be sure to check your final bill from your old provider or give them a call if you are unsure.
Example: Customer transferring internet to Cloud Telecom on 04/04/2013
Old Provider Charges on Invoice:
01/04/2013 – 30/04/2013 – Internet Plan – $99.95
Their next invoice should have a credit from the time the service transferred away (04/04/2013) up until the time it was billed to (30/04/2013).
What the Credit Should be:
04/04/2013 – 30/04/2013 – Internet Service – $86.62CR
This credit is calculated by:
26 [days remaining in month] / 30 [total days in month] * $99.95 [plan fee] = $86.62