How to build a Software Entitlement for multi-year Subscription

[karinrenee]

We are fairly new to using SAM. If we have a new subscription sw license that is a 3-year commitment, is it best practice to create just 1 entitlement entry for the whole 3 years and total cost for the 3 years or create 3 separate entitlements with the respective individual years and costs?

[A-Sprague]

(Note of caution: How you set up your financials is up to you and your organization)

This has to do with the internal setup and use case of your organization.

Here are some things to think about. 

One way you could go about this is to go with the length of the purchase if paid for all at one time.

However you could also set it up as follows if it is paid for annually with a contract of three years:

If different cost centers will be paying for this each year you can use expense lines to make sure the proper department is charged. 

Alternatively if there is a new contract each year you could set up three separate entitlements with the proper contract number and cost center on a year by year basis. 

You should make sure to document how you want your rights set up so your licenses & entitlements are similarly formatted. If there is an outlier from this policy make sure it is thoroughly documented.  

[MarRey]

Hi - what would be best practice, if we had a multi year agreement that is paid annually, but each subsequent year the price changes? Would creating one entitlement with multiple expense lines be correct, (however the entitlement would be marked as "entire subscription period" even though we haven't paid for the subsequent years yet), or do we create an entitlement for each year and link it to the corresponding contract. 

Thanks 

[karinrenee]

Our company is creating separate entitlements, and making sure each invoice is paid or set to be paid before the entitlement becomes "in use".