Resolving billing and invoicing issues in a timely fashion is a priority for any business. However, efficiently resolving billing issues continues to be a challenge for many companies. The reasons vary. Multiple systems lead to data errors.

Once customers raise an issue, the clock is ticking to resolve the issue quickly and effectively. In many cases, much of the assignment of problems, research into resolution and adjustments are done manually by entire resolution teams. Now, companies are using BPM in conjunction with their financial systems to more efficiently manage accounts receivable exceptions.

BPM Opportunity

Companies looking to improve accounts receivables operations are applying BPM to diverse processes. As a complement to their existing transactional financial systems, these companies are hoping to realize the following benefits from BPM:

• Prioritize work according to consistent business goals. Managers can set priorities (e.g. closest to next billing cycle) to ensure that the most important work is completed first and distribute work efficiently across teams.
• Engage participants where they work. Workers can participate in process execution through e-mail, portals, spreadsheets or even mobile devices — not just the complex financial systems.
• Leverage existing transactional and imaging systems. Standards-based integration enables reading and posting transactions and documents while introducing more efficient Web-based forms and interfaces.
• Real-time visibility to process performance. Give managers the ability to understand where the process bottlenecks are and control resolution in real-time — no matter how many systems or organizations are involved.
• Enforce policy compliance. Ensure that receivable policies are followed and automatically generate an audit trail of every step in a process.

Lombardi In Action

A leading telecommunications provider decided to implement BPM to reduce the time required to resolve billing disputes. Before BPM, the process was manual — requiring research across multiple billing and provisioning systems and inefficient handoffs between different organizations. Deployed in 90 days, the BPM solution reduced processing time from two weeks to two days and saved $3M in unwarranted credits in the first quarter. Automatic work prioritization, interactive coaching on research and resolution options, and direct integration to back-end systems were the key reasons for this result. Today, the provider continues to optimize this process, now on its 4th major version, to drive more value.