Unified settlement

Create a settlement task

1. In the Expenses and Costs console, navigate to Billing > Overview of Monthly Bill, and click the Unified Settlement button to create a unified settlement task.

   

2. On the Unified Settlement page, click Create Settlement Task. Fill in or select the required information, and then click Next.

   

   Note

   • When creating a Settlement Task, select from all unsettled and settled bills. You can create a unified settlement task for settled bills to perform consolidated invoicing.

   • A single Settlement Task can include bills from a maximum of three months. These can span any Billing Cycle starting from April 2023. To settle bills from more than three months at a time, create multiple Settlement Tasks.

   • The list displays bills grouped by account name, with bills for the same account sorted by Billing Cycle in descending order.

   • If a Billing Cycle is already in another Settlement Task, it is grayed out and cannot be selected. If needed, go to the Unified Settlement list page, close the corresponding Settlement Task, and then select the Billing Cycle again.

   • You cannot create a Settlement Task for the current month's bills. Wait until the system generates the official bill on the 3rd of the following month.

3. After the system generates the Settlement Bill, confirm the following details:

   • Verify that the consumption data, including the accounts and Billing Cycles shown in the list, matches the data in your bills exactly.

   • Check that the bill consumption amount and the amount to be invoiced for the selected accounts and Billing Cycles are correct. Click View Total at the bottom to see the total amount for this Settlement Task.

   • Click Export to download the bill file in CSV format for manual data verification.

   • After confirming the information is correct, click Generate and Run Settlement Bill to start the settlement.

   • Note

     If you have questions about the Amount To Be Repaid, click Save As Draft. Review the draft and, when you've confirm it's correct, click Generate and Run Settlement Bill.

4. Once the Settlement Task is created, the system automatically transfers funds and completes the settlement using the Account Balance of the account that created the task.

   Note

   • If the Account Balance of the task-creating account exceeds the amount to be settled on the Settlement Bill, the system automatically transfers the funds and completes the settlement.

   • If the Account Balance is insufficient, the system automatically completes the settlement after you top up the account.

   • The Settlement Task is complete once the full settlement amount has been paid.

   • If a settlement cannot be completed due to an insufficient balance, the task will remain in a running state. After the account is topped up, the system automatically performs the settlement. The fund transfer and settlement may take 1 to 2 minutes to complete.

View settlement tasks

On the Unified Settlement page, you can view all your Settlement Tasks. By default, the system lists them in descending order by creation time.

The following actions are available:

• Edit: Edit a Settlement Task that has been saved as a Draft.

• Delete: Delete a Settlement Task saved as a Draft. Once deleted, the task is permanently removed from the Unified Settlement list.

• View: Click to see the details of a Settlement Task. You can view the settlement items and perform the following actions:

  • Download the bill in CSV format.

  • Download the monthly bill in PDF format.

• Pause: Stop a Settlement Task when its status is Running or Settling. The task status changes to Not Started. For the associated accounts, automatic settlement is restored.

• Enable: Enable a Settlement Task with a Not Started status. The status changes back to Running.

• Close: Close a Settlement Task with a Not Started status. Once closed, it cannot be reopened. You must create a new Settlement Task.

• Issue Invoice: If a settlement task is in the Completed, Not Started, Running, or Settling state and no invoicing request has been submitted, you can click the Issue Invoice button to issue invoices. This operation is not available if the invoicable amount is 0.

• Make payment: For tasks with a Settling status and an insufficient Account Balance, click this button to go to the top-up page. Add funds using methods like Alipay, corporate online banking, or bank transfer.

• Invoicing Details: For a unified settlement task for which an invoicing request has been submitted, you can go to the invoicing details page to check the invoicing progress.

Issue invoices uniformly

1. After you create a unified settlement task, go to the Unified Settlement page. In the Actions column for the task, click Issue Invoice to start the unified invoicing process.

   

   Two invoicing methods are available:

   • Individual invoicing: The consumption amounts for each account and billing cycle are issued as separate invoices. You can check the invoicing progress in each account.

   • Consolidated invoicing: The consumption amounts for each account and billing cycle are merged into a single invoice based on conditions such as invoice title, invoicing entity, and invoice type.

2. Confirm the invoicing content and submit the invoicing request.

   After you submit the request, the system splits it into different invoices based on the invoicing entities. Confirm the invoicing content. A preview feature is available. You can preview the invoices to ensure that they are correct. After you confirm the content, click Submit Request. The system automatically submits the request for invoicing.

   

   Note

   During consolidated invoicing, if there are multiple invoice titles, invoicing entities, or invoice types, multiple invoices are issued instead of a single invoice.

3. Check the invoicing progress. After the invoice request is submitted, you can check the progress in one of the following ways:

   • On the unified settlement list page, click Invoicing Details to check the invoicing progress.

   • On the Invoice Download and Return page, find the invoicing record by the settlement task number and click Details to check the progress.

   

   Note

   • For Individual invoicing, the account that created the unified settlement task and the accounts included in the task can find and preview the corresponding invoices by choosing Invoice Management > Invoicing History > Individual Invoicing Records.

   • For Consolidated invoicing, the account that created the unified settlement task and the accounts included in the task can find the corresponding invoices by choosing Invoice Management > Invoicing History > Consolidated Invoicing Records. However, they cannot preview the invoices.

Important notes

• If a billing cycle is selected in a settlement task in the old version (orange version) of Unified Settlement, it is grayed out and cannot be selected again. To select it, switch to the old version of the Unified Settlement page in the Expenses and Costs console, close the corresponding settlement task, and then select the billing cycle again.

• Data for settlement tasks in the old version (orange version) with a status of Settled is automatically migrated to the new Unified Settlement query page. Data for tasks with a status of Draft, Not Started, or Closed is not migrated and cannot be viewed in the new version. Data for tasks with a status of Running or Settling can be viewed and exported in the new version after the settlement is complete.

• The account responsible for payments should create one Settlement Bill each month to settle all selected accounts and Billing Cycles in a single operation.

• By default, refunds cannot be used to settle past Billing Cycles. They can only be applied to the current and future months. To use a refund for past bills, go to Billing Account > Account Settings > Settle Past Bills and enable the option.

• After a Settlement Task is created, automatic settlement is disabled for both the account that created the task and all accounts included in the task. This means your Account Balance is not used for automatic payments; payments follow the order defined in the Settlement Bill. Automatic settlement is restored only after the Settlement Bill is closed or completed. To restore automatic settlement manually, you must stop or close the Settlement Bill.