ValuBill EM
It’s like a TEMS, only better
ValuBill is the next generation of information management providing expense reduction, technology optimization, management solutions, inventory control and vendor management all in one place.
ValuBill EM receives our client’s vendor invoices and processes them into loadable data incorporated into the system. Invoices can be put through analysis which can compare each invoice against the previous invoice looking for errors and deviations. Next the invoices are compared against a current inventory, again looking for errors and deviations. Errors are spotted, disputes are resolved, and invoices are approved for payment, General ledger feeds are exported to the client accounting system, and payments can be made. The process is performed with each invoice received so that clients no longer must struggle through manual approval processes avoiding the manpower expense and the potential for delays, late fees, and possible service interruptions.
With ValuBill EM, every item in the inventory and every invoice can be associated with contract number, purchase order, project code, GL code and internal cost allocation code. This simplifies the process of knowing what contractual obligations, and purchase orders are up for renewal or replacement, what expenses are associated with various business endeavors, which cost center to associate the expenses and budget allocations, and which AP GL code each expense item is associated with. Management of technology and other expenses are made more manageable, providing critical information leading to current and prior period cost savings as well as more empirically based forward going decision making.
A survey published by Forrest Research found that by moving from manual, paper-based invoice processes to fully automated, electronic invoice processing, businesses can achieve:
- Cost savings of 90% on the accounts payable (AP) side
- Cost savings of 44% in the accounts receivable (AR) departments
- Error reduction of 37% on all types of invoices.
Why do businesses need an expense management system?
According to a report published by Research and Markets, the global market for telecom expense management market (TEM) is positioned to grow 14.2% over the next decade to reach approximately $5.62 billion by 2025. Companies are struggling to manage telecom expenses well, and they need help. With the myriad of other invoice for expenses in addition to IT/Communications, the number of product and services purchased for normal business operations and the number of providers to be maintained, the finance department needs help keeping up to review and approve payment for invoices before late charges and potential service interruptions can occur.
The goal of Telecom Expense Management (TEM) is to ensure that customers are getting the best value for their IT/Communication and that their billing is accurate. A good TEM starts by building an accurate real time IT inventory, gathering all telecom bills, and looking for overcharges through a telecom audit. The audit includes searching for contract violations, optimizing their telecom environment to save money, and negotiating with your telecom vendors to get a better deal.
What Services Can Be Included with ValuBill?
ValuBill Services
- Cost Allocation
- Cursory & Comprehensive Invoice Audit
- Validation of Savings
- Telecom Contract Negotiations & RFP Management Services
- Wireless Management
- Wireline Management
- Inventory Management
- Sourcing Matter Experts
- Expense Management
- Usage Management and Chargeback
- Reporting
- Order Fulfillment
- Cursory and Comprehensive Inventory Audit
- Facilities Management
- Project management
- Procurement Management
- Contract management
- Network Optimization
- Network Utilization
- Purchase Order Management
- Life cycle Management
Benefits of ValuBill
- Regulate Costs
- Reduce expenses
- Streamline IT and Finance Operations
- Reduce Risk
- Better Visibility into ROI
- Meaningful management information
- Improved Organizational Efficiency
Basic ValuBill Includes
- Receive invoices
- Process invoices
- Validate invoices
- Dispute errors
- Negotiate credits
- Approve invoices
- Generate GL offloads
- Invoice payments
- Bank funding
- Critical reporting which makes your business more efficient
Optional Value Added
- CSR requests
- MACD orders
- Inventory management
- Reports
- Open/close accounts
- Accruals
- Forecasts
- Identify and dispute billing errors
- Disputes and credit management
- First bill reconciles to order
- Accurate carrier billing costs to contracted pricing
- Carrier negotiation
- Contract reviews
- Consulting
- Lifecycle management
- Audits and cost reduction
- Cost Allocation
- Cost Center Chargeback and Budgeting
- Project reporting
Additional considerations
Here are six different takes on how to estimate the ROI on an expense management system
- The AOTMP group is a global leader in providing telecom management best practices and industry standards for organizations and the vendors who support them. Their research shows on average, fixed TEM programs generate 7.7% in annual savings and mobile programs achieve 9.4%.
- Blue Hill Research is an independent research and advisory services group specializing in the enterprise technology market. They state that “Successful Telecom Lifecycle Managers can reduce direct communications costs by 15% or more while simultaneously reducing in-house labor to process invoices.”
- The Technology Expense Management Industry Association (TEMIA) reports that initial hard-dollar savings can be as high as 15%, while cost avoidance against future spend can drive that number upwards of 30%.
- Also, according to TEMIA, a properly configured operating TEM system with AP interface can reduce AP expenses for vendor payments by 90%
- The current business environment, owing originally to Covid, is very fluid and dynamic with companies operating in traditional fashion, hybrid, and completely remote work forces. Communications which formerly happened over medium which served a central office space are now traveling over the internet to homes and smaller offices or via mobility devices that come with either EPDs or BYOD mobility plans. Additionally, remote work force support systems such as Zoom, and others, now take the voice paths from telephony circuits to internet access potentially reducing the capacity requirement at the “corporate” office. Combine those dynamics with the closing and consolidation of corporate commercial space, the resulting MACDs, and the uptick in mergers and acquisitions means that the current billing may not reflect the true business infrastructure requirements. For those and other reasons, Gartner Group states that up to 80% of communications invoices could be “wrong”.
- According to Gartner Group, companies with 500 or more employees that fail to adequately manage mobile expenses maybe overpaying by as much as 30%. Also, according to Gartner, communications related spend, represents around 36% of total IT expenses.