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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 MethodDescription

Standard Cost Method

In the Standard cost method, vendor costs and clients 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:

  1. The Allocated Amount is entered.
  2. 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
  3. 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 TypeDescriptionOrigin

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.

TermDescriptionExamples

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 CategoryDescriptionExamples

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 Placement 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

 

The following table describes which rate type categories are available for which type of Schedule grid lines:


Media Cost LineEntered FeesCentral FeesAssigned Fees
Fixed

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Cost = Flat Amount

The Flat Amount is defined by the value of the Vendor Net Cost or Vendor Gross Cost field on the media Cost Line.

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Fee Cost = Flat Amount

The Flat Amount is defined by the value of the Vendor Net Cost or Vendor Gross Cost field on the Entered Fee line.

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Fee Cost = Flat Amount

The Flat Amount is defined by the value of the Rate field on the Central Fee record.

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Percentage of Media

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Fee Cost = Percentage x Media Cost

  • Percentage: The Rate field on the Assigned Fee record.

  • Media Cost: 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

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Cost = (Rate / Rate Divider) x Units

  • Rate: The value of the Vendor Net Rate or Vendor Gross Rate field on the media Cost Line.

  • Rate Divider: Defined by the rate type.

  • Units: The value of the Units field on the media Cost Line.

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Fee Cost = (Fee Rate / Rate Divider) x Units

  • Rate: The value of the Vendor Net Rate or Vendor Gross Rate field on the Entered Fee line.

  • Rate Divider: Defined by the rate type.

  • Units: The value of the Units field on the Entered Fee line.

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Fee Cost = (Fee Rate / Rate Divider) x (1 + Fee Buffer Percentage) x Assigned Units

  • Fee Rate: The value of the Rate field on the Assigned Fee record.

  • Rate Divider: Defined by the rate type.

  • Fee Buffer Percentage: The value of the Buffer field on the Assigned Fee record

  • Assigned Units: The value of the Units field on the media Cost Line that the fee is assigned to.



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