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Service Packages

A service package is a saved bundle of billing charges. Instead of adding the same five or six charges by hand every time you bill a common kind of photoduplication job — say, "high-resolution scan + handling fee + rush surcharge" — you define that combination once and apply it to a request with a single click.

There are two sides to service packages, and they're done by different people in different places:

  • Building packages is configuration work. An administrator creates and maintains packages in the Customization Manager under Service Packages, choosing which billing charges each package contains.
  • Applying a package is everyday request work. While processing a photoduplication request, staff pick a package from the Apply Package menu on the request's Billing tab, and its charges drop into the request's billing estimate.

This page covers both.

When you'll use this
  • Setting up: you bill the same recurring combination of charges over and over and want a one-click shortcut — build a service package for it.
  • Day to day: you're estimating charges on a photoduplication request and a package already covers what you need — apply it instead of adding each charge by hand.
A package is built from your billing defaults

The charges you put in a package aren't free-form amounts — each one is a billing default (a configured charge with its own fees and tax, tied to a billing category). A package is just a named selection of those defaults. So before a package can contain a charge, that charge has to exist in Billing Defaults for the same billing category. See Billing Defaults Configuration for how those are set up.

How a package's billing category works​

Every service package belongs to one billing category, and that category controls which requests can use it. A package applies only to requests whose own billing category matches the package's — and a request's billing category comes from the user, researcher, or activity attached to it.

There's one special category, Global. A Global package can be applied to a request in any billing category, which lets you keep one shared bundle instead of rebuilding it per category. When you apply a Global package, Aeon resolves each of its charges against the request's own billing category first — if that category defines a charge with the same billing context and type, the more specific charge is used; otherwise the Global charge is used as-is.

A package's category is fixed once it's created

You choose the billing category when you create a package, and you cannot change it afterward — the field is read-only in edit mode. If you need the same package in a different category, use Copy to Category (below) to duplicate it; that's the supported way to move a package's contents across categories.

Building a service package (Customization Manager)​

Permission required

Creating, editing, copying, and deleting service packages all live behind the Billing configuration capability in the Customization Manager. If your role doesn't include that configuration group, you won't be able to open this editor.

Open the Customization Manager and go to Service Packages. The editor is a split view: a Filter by Category sidebar on the left, and the packages for the selected category on the right. The toolbar across the top has New, Copy to Category, Edit, and Delete, and a status badge that reads Viewing, Creating, or Editing so you always know what mode you're in.

Choose a category in the sidebar (or All Categories) to list its packages. Click a package to see its details — name, billing category, and the charges it contains.

Creating a new package​

  1. In Service Packages, click New.
  2. Enter a Name and choose the Billing Category the package belongs to.
  3. Click Create.

The package is created empty — with no charges yet. You add charges by editing it (next).

Name must be unique within a category

You can't have two packages with the same name in the same billing category. If you try, Aeon refuses with "A service package with this name already exists in the specified billing category." The same name in a different category is fine.

Adding or changing the charges in a package​

  1. Select the package and click Edit (or double-click the package in the list).
  2. The detail panel switches to edit mode. The Billing Category is shown but greyed out — it can't be changed here.
  3. Under Charges, you'll see every billing charge available for this package's category, grouped by billing context. Tick the charges you want the package to include. Use Select all / Select none to toggle the whole list, and watch the "N of M selected" counter.
  4. Click Save.

Saving replaces the package's charge list with exactly what's ticked. If you've made no changes, the Save button stays disabled and the panel shows "No changes to save."

Copying a package to another category​

Because a package's category is fixed, Copy to Category is how you reuse a package's contents elsewhere.

  1. Select the package and click Copy to Category.
  2. In the Copy Service Package to New Category dialog, adjust the Name if you want and choose a Target Billing Category (the source category isn't offered).
  3. Click Copy.

Aeon recreates the package in the target category and brings over each charge only if an equivalent charge exists in the target category. Any charge that has no counterpart there is skipped. The confirmation tells you the outcome — for example, "Service package copied. 4 of 6 charges transferred."

Why charges get skipped on copy

A package holds billing defaults, and billing defaults are category-specific. When you copy into category B, Aeon can only attach a charge if B already defines a matching one (same context and type). Charges with no match in B are dropped from the copy — set them up in Billing Defaults for category B if you need them, then re-add them by editing the copied package.

Deleting a package​

  1. Select the package and click Delete.
  2. Confirm in the Delete this service package? dialog.

This removes the package and its charge selections. It does not touch the underlying billing defaults, and it does not alter charges already added to requests where the package was applied in the past — those charges live on the request and stay put.

Applying a service package to a request​

Once packages exist, applying one is part of normal request processing.

  1. Open the photoduplication request — for example, request #12345 — and go to its Billing tab.
  2. In the billing toolbar, click Apply Package. The menu lists the packages available for this request, each showing how many charges it carries (for example, "Standard Scan — 4 charges").
  3. Choose the package.
  4. Aeon adds the package's charges to the request and confirms with "Service package applied — Added N charge(s)." The new charges appear in the request's billing estimate, where you can edit or delete them like any other charge before generating an invoice.
Permission required

The Apply Package menu only appears when you have Edit access (or higher) to Billing for this request. With view-only billing access, the button is hidden. Applying is also recorded in the request's history ("Applied service package '…' (N charges)").

Which packages show in the menu

The menu is filtered to the request's billing category, so you only see packages that apply to this request. If no package matches, the Apply Package button doesn't appear at all. Applying a package adds its charges; it doesn't replace anything, so you can apply more than one, or add a package and then adjust individual charges by hand.

Editor review — remove this callout (and the HTML comment below it) before publishing

A couple of points only an SME can settle on this page:

  • Global packages in the Apply menu: the V7 Apply Package menu fetches packages filtered to the request's exact billing category, so a Global package will not appear in the menu unless the request itself is in the "Global" category. (The Global override-on-apply behavior is confirmed in the backend — this is only about menu visibility, which V6 described as Global packages appearing above a separator.) Confirm the intended behavior: should Global packages always appear in the Apply menu regardless of the request's category?
  • Screenshots needed: (1) the Service Packages editor in the Customization Manager (category sidebar + package detail + toolbar); (2) the Charges checklist in edit mode; (3) the Apply Package dropdown on a request's Billing tab.

The full generation metadata — sources, files read, and verifications — is in the HTML comment directly below this callout. When this page has been reviewed and approved, delete both this callout and that comment; a page with no Editor-review callout is one that's done.