Workbook approach to algorithm design and service accounting in a component orientated environment

As the shift towards the next generation of Internet services runs its course, the emphasis within accounting for such services has moved towards robust and flexible components. Rating is the process of applying an algorithm to a set of usage data to produce a charge for a particular service. An accounting architecture with the ability to scale, based on the foundation of a solid core of rating components, incorporating transaction management, object pooling and queuing is presented. Using the workbook approach to algorithm modelling is a logical option that allows for the decoupling of the algorithm from the architecture of the rating component. Decoupling the algorithm, allows for the design of core functionality that will rate for any service based on the concept of "pluggable" algorithms for each respective service.