--- title: "Costs and Calculations" canonical: "https://hub.freewheel.tv/space/OS/114524194/Costs%20and%20Calculations" format: markdown --- Overview OneStrata has a large number of fields and terms related to costs and cost calculations, in order to effectively handle complex pricing scenarios that may involve multiple types of currencies. About Cost Methods The cost method of a Schedule grid line defines what type of cost-related fields are available or editable, and how they are calculated. Each top-level line on the Schedule grid (a Cost Package, a standalone Media Package, or a standalone Placement) can have a different cost method. There are three cost methods: Standard Margin Allocated The cost methods are described in the following table: Cost Method Description Standard Cost Method In the Standard cost method, vendor costs and client costs are directly connected: Vendor Gross Cost = Client Gross Cost  If one set of vendor or client costs are defined, all other cost types can be calculated based on that single set of defined costs. A set of costs is a combination of: Units and rate Unit and total cost Rate and total cost Margin Cost Method The margin workflow is a gated feature and not enabled by default. If the margin workflow is not enabled, the Margin cost method is not available. In the Margin cost method, vendor costs and client costs are not directly connected: Vendor Net Cost =/= Client Net Cost The difference between the Vendor Net Cost and the Client Net Cost creates a "margin", which is income to the agency. This difference is captured in the Other Income value. If one set of vendor costs are defined, the other vendor cost types can be calculated from that set, but the client cost types cannot be directly calculated. If one set of client costs are defined, the other client cost types can be calculated from that set, but the vendor cost types cannot be directly calculated. Vendor costs and client costs are connected by a third value, the Margin Percentage value: Vendor Net Cost = Client Net Cost - (Client Net Cost x Margin Percentage) Allocated Cost Method The allocated workflow is a gated feature and not enabled by default. If the allocated workflow is not enabled, the Allocated cost method is not available. In the Allocated cost method, a fixed amount of money has been "allocated", or set aside, to cover both the cost of the media purchase and any related fees. Costs are calculated in the following order: The Allocated Amount is entered. The Allocated Fee Cost is calculated and subtracted from the Allocated Amount . The difference is the Client Net Cost . Client Net Cost = Allocated Amount - Allocated Fee Cost All other costs and rates are calculated from the Client Net Cost , similar to the Standard cost method option. About Cost Types Cost types are fields related to the costs of a media or non-media purchase. For a full list of cost types, see  Cost Types . About Currencies For a full list of available currencies, see  Currencies . About Currency Types OneStrata provides support for up to three different currencies within a single transaction: Agency Currency, or AC for short Client Currency, or CC for short Vendor Currency, or VC for short Costs and rates are shown in one or more of these currencies, with  AC , CC, or VC appended to indicate which currency type the value is in. Currency Type Description Origin Agency Currency AC Base Currency Local Currency The currency in which the Agency transacts. All Cost Lines in a campaign must be in the same Agency Currency. Agency Currency is defined on the Agency record, on the Administration > Entity Management > Agencies > (Specific Agency) > Details tab . Each Agency has only one Agency Currency. Client Currency CC Billing Currency The currency in which the Agency bills the Client. All Cost Lines in a campaign must be in the same Client Currency. Client Currency is defined on the Client record, on the Administration > Entity Management > Clients > ( Specific Client ) > Details tab. Each Client has only one Client Currency. Vendor Currency VC Payable Currency The currency in which the Agency pays the Vendor. Each Cost Line in a campaign can be in a different Vendor Currency. Vendor Currency is defined on the Contract record, on the Administration > Entity Management > Contracts > (Specific Contract) tab. A Contract may have one or more Vendor Currencies. About Unit Types and Rate Types For a full list of rate types, see  Rate Types . Rate types define how media and fee costs are calculated. Term Description Examples Unit Type An ad metric or KPI tracked by an agency. Impressions Views Clicks Rate Type For a media purchase, the primary unit type and cost per unit negotiated between the buyer and vendor  For a media Cost Line, its  Rate Type value indicates what type of unit is represented in the Units value, and is required before entering rate, units, or cost information. For a Fee record, its Rate Type value indicates how the fee is calculated (whether the fee is a flat fee, a percentage-of-media-cost fee, or a volume-based fee). Notes Rate type is required; a Schedule grid line or Fee record must have a rate type, otherwise it cannot be committed or saved, respectively. A Schedule grid line or Fee record can only have one rate type. Each rate type also has a rate divider value. Rate divider : A number by which the cost-per-unit rate is divided, when calculating costs. If the rate divider is 1000, this means that the unit type is purchased at a cost per mille/thousand (CPM/CPT) rate. For example, the CPM (Impressions) rate type has a rate divider of 1000. Given a media Cost Line that has a Units value of 100,000 and a Vendor Net Rate value of $1.00, this means that: Units: 100,000 impressions are purchased Rate (Vendor Net Rate): $1.00 per 1,000 impressions Cost (Vendor Net Cost): $100.00 (= 100,000 units x ($1.00 / 1,000 units)) CPM (Impressions): The primary unit type is impressions, purchased at a cost per mille (CPM) rate. CPV (Views): The primary unit type is views, purchased at a cost per view (CPV) rate. CPC (Clicks): The primary unit type is clicks, purchased at a cost per click (CPC) rate. Rate Type Categories There are three categories of rate types: Fixed Percentage of Media Volume-based The rate type categories are described in the following table: Rate Type Category Description Examples Fixed The cost is a fixed, user-defined amount that does not take into account the volume (number of units) of the media purchase. A purchase of 5,000 clicks for $1,500. Even if the number of clicks being purchased changes, the cost is still $1,500. A flat ad serving fee of $2,000 Percentage of Media ( POM ) The fee cost is calculated as a percentage of the cost type of the Cost Line that the fee is assigned to. A fee that charges 1% of the Placement line's Vendor Net Cost   Volume-Based All other rate types, such as: CPM (Impressions) CPC (Clicks) CPA (Acquisitions) The cost is triangulated from other values, including the volume (number of units) of the media purchase. A purchase of 5,000 clicks for $0.30 per click A volume-based ad serving fee that charges $0.01 per click, with a 10% buffer     Rate Type Cost Formulas The following table describes which rate type categories are available for which type of Cost Line: Cost Line Type Rate Type Category Media Cost Line Entered Fee Central Fee Assigned Fee Fixed ✓ ✓ ✓ X Percentage of Media (POM) X X X ✓ Volume-based ✓ ✓ X ✓ The following table describes how Cost Line costs are calculated, by rate type category: Rate Type Category Cost Line Type Formula Fixed Media Cost Line Media Cost = Flat Amount Flat Amount : Defined by the value of the Vendor Net Cost or Vendor Gross Cost field on the media Cost Line. Entered Fee Fee Cost = Flat Amount Flat Amount : Defined by the value of the Vendor Net Cost or Vendor Gross Cost field on the Entered Fee line. Central Fee Fee Cost = Flat Amount Flat Amount : Defined by the value of the Rate field on the Central Fee record. POM Assigned Fee Fee Cost = Fee Rate * Media Cost Fee Rate : Defined by the  Rate field on the Assigned Fee record. Media Cost : Defined by the cost of the media Cost Line that the fee is assigned to, for the cost type defined by the  Cost Type field on the Assigned Fee record. Volume-based Media Cost Line Media Cost = (Rate / Rate Divider) * Units Rate : Defined by the value of the Vendor Net Rate or Vendor Gross Rate field on the media Cost Line. Rate Divide r: Defined by the rate type. Units : Defined by the value of the Units field on the media Cost Line. Entered Fee Fee Cost = (Fee Rate / Rate Divider) * Units Fee Rate : Defined by the value of the Vendor Net Rate or Vendor Gross Rate field on the Entered Fee line. Rate Divide r: Determined by the rate type category of the Assigned Fee record, Units : Defined by the value of the Units field on the Entered Fee line. Assigned Fee Fee Cost = (Fee Rate / Rate Divider) x (1 + Fee Buffer Percentage) x Assigned Units Fee Rate : Defined by the value of the Rate field on the Assigned Fee record. Rate Divide r: Determined by the rate type category of the Assigned Fee record, Fee Buffer Percentage : Defined by the value of the Buffer field on the Assigned Fee record Assigned Units : Defined by the value of the Units field on the media Cost Line that the fee is assigned to.