How the Product Catalog Works with Billing Terms

Last updated: June 4, 2026

A billing term defines how a customer is charged, including pricing, billing frequency, discounts, and billing schedules. Products and billing terms work together to create consistent billing while still allowing customer-specific configurations.

How Products and Billing Terms Work Together

Think of it this way:

  • Product (Catalog) = What you're selling.

  • Billing Term = How a specific customer is billed for that product.

A product contains information such as:

  • Product name

  • Display name

  • Description

  • Integration Item

  • ERP Class

A billing term contains information such as:

  • Pricing

  • Quantity

  • Billing frequency

  • Billing schedule

  • Discounts

When you select a product on a billing term, Tabs copies the product's Display Name, Description, Integration Item, and ERP Class onto the billing term while maintaining a reference to the original product.

Add a Product to a Billing Term

  1. Open the contract you want to update.

  2. Click Edit to open the billing term configuration.

  3. In the Product field, search for and select a product from the Product Catalog.

When a product is selected:

  • Display Name, Description, Integration Item, and ERP Class are automatically populated.

  • Those values can be adjusted on the billing term if needed.

  • The product remains linked to the billing term for reporting purposes.

  1. Complete the billing-specific details:

    • Pricing – Rate, quantity, currency, and pricing configuration.

    • Schedule – Billing frequency, billing schedule, and contract dates.

    • Discounts – Any negotiated discounts.

  2. Click Save.

Only Active products appear in the product search.

Edit a Billing Term Later

You can update a billing term at any time.

Options include:

  • Selecting a different product.

  • Updating pricing or billing schedules.

  • Overriding the Display Name, Description, Integration Item, or ERP Class on that billing term.

Changes made to a billing term do not automatically modify the product catalog.

Change the Assigned Product

If you replace one product with another on an existing billing term:

  • Tabs treats the new selection as a new product assignment.

  • The new product's Display Name, Description, Integration Item, and ERP Class are copied onto the billing term.

  • Pricing, quantity, billing schedules, and discounts remain unchanged unless you update them.

Historical invoices are not rewritten when products are changed.

Handle Exceptions Without Creating New Products

Sometimes a customer needs a small variation from the standard product configuration.

Examples include:

  • Different invoice wording.

  • A different Integration Item.

  • A different ERP Class.

In these situations, you can update those values directly on the billing term while keeping the billing term linked to the original product.

This allows you to support customer-specific exceptions without creating duplicate products in your catalog.

What Happens When You Update a Product in the Catalog?

Updating a product in the Product Catalog does not automatically update existing billing terms.

Existing billing terms keep their current:

  • Display Name

  • Description

  • Integration Item

  • ERP Class

Existing contracts and invoices are unaffected.

New billing terms created after the product update will use the latest product values.

This behavior helps preserve historical billing accuracy and prevents unexpected changes to active customer contracts.

Refresh Existing Billing Terms

If you want an existing billing term to use updated product information:

  1. Open the billing term.

  2. Re-select the product.

  3. Save the billing term.

This copies the latest product values onto the billing term.

There is currently no bulk refresh option for existing billing terms.

Benefits of Using Products with Billing Terms

Consistency
Using the same product across multiple customers helps standardize invoice descriptions, accounting mappings, and reporting.

Accurate Financial Mapping
Integration Item and ERP Class values can be managed centrally and reused across contracts.

Improved Reporting
Because billing terms remain linked to products, reporting can be grouped and analyzed at the product level.

Simpler Catalog Management
Updates to products can be applied to future billing configurations without requiring duplicate product entries.

Tips

  • Set the product's Display Name to the wording most customers should see on invoices.

  • Review Related Contracts before making significant product changes.

  • Create the product in the Product Catalog before creating billing terms that reference it.

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