Utility billing teams today are being asked to do more with less, which has only heightened the importance of an integrated billing and payment experience.
Growing service territories, meeting customer experience expectations, and grid modernization are just a few of the tasks utilities are managing. Meanwhile, budgets and headcount are shrinking.
That’s where integrated payments come in. Let’s explore the benefits of billing and payment solutions with deep networks of pre-built integrations and how these integrated experiences help utilities address all their key priorities with the resources at their disposal.
What Can an Integrated Billing and Payment Experience Offer?
At its core, integrated payments mean that your CIS and your billing and payment system work seamlessly together in real time. That means no bolt-on solutions and no manual reconciliation.
This level of interoperability is especially critical for large utilities managing high transaction volumes and complex billing structures. Billing and payment solutions that prioritize integrated experiences can deliver efficiencies like real-time data exchange, accurate account reconciliation, and a unified payment experience that fits naturally into existing workflows.
The Cost of Implementation Delays
One of the biggest barriers to digital transformation in utilities is the fear of long, costly implementations. It’s not an unfounded concern.
Experts say the process of digitizing an end-to-end system for enterprise organizations can take between 12 and 18 months for the implementation, and possibly an additional 18 to 36 months to yield results.
Overrunning this timeline isn’t unheard of; Harvard Business Review found that an average of 27% of projects incur cost overruns, and more than 70% incur schedule overruns. Regarding downtime, a recent Forrester study found 56% of IT leaders in North America reported technology downtime has a significant impact on their organization’s revenue. Overall, complete system overhauls begin to lose value during the implementation process — a McKinsey study found that 55% of a digital transformation project’s value is lost during and after implementation.
How to Accelerate Implementation and Lower Risk
All of this is why choosing a billing and payments solution that puts an intentional emphasis on flexible, pre-built integrations and meaningful partnerships is absolutely critical.
Pre-built integrations can establish a baseline for integration that significantly accelerates the process, but flexibility is key. Solutions that are equipped to support large utilities offer the flexibility agencies need to tailor the integration to their unique needs.
Selecting a solution that has taken the time to develop strong relationship with CIS providers has the added benefit of joint implementation. When both the payment platform and CIS teams can collaborate, this accelerates time to value, minimizes risk, and – importantly – takes time-consuming and complicated work from your IT team.
Achieving Operational Efficiency That Scales
Integrated payments don’t just make life easier for IT teams; they transform the day-to-day operations of billing departments. Once the integration is complete, utilities should continue to see the benefits of an integrated payments experience.
Real-time data exchange should enable accurate account reconciliation, reducing DSO and saving billing teams hours of valuable time. Plus, providing a unified payment experience to customers makes their lives easier and bolsters satisfaction.
For example, agencies using InvoiceCloud’s integrated payment solution have reported a 45% average decrease in late payments, up to 32 hours a month saved in manual payment workloads, and 6x increases in digital payment adoption, all of which allows utilities to focus more effort on those customers that need assistance.
These efficiencies translate into real financial impact. With a streamlined backend and customer-facing features like personalized payment reminders, intuitive self-service options, and guest checkout, utilities can reduce delinquencies, accelerate collections, and lower total cost of payment acceptance.
The Key to Future-Proofing Utility Operations
As utilities face growing demands, integrated payments offer a scalable foundation for digital transformation.
Integrated payments aren’t just a technical upgrade — it’s a strategic advantage. It’s a way to provide value to customers faster and make operations as efficient and cost-effective as possible.
InvoiceCloud’s platform is purpose-built for utilities, with a robust partnership ecosystem with over 160 pre-built integrations with CIS platforms including Oracle, SAP, Harris Advanced, and other ERP and systems. These pre-built connectors and flexible APIs eliminate data silos and reduce the need for custom development, allowing utility agencies to streamline billing, collections, and disbursements with minimal IT lift.
Take it from John Tang, VP of Regulatory Affairs and Customer Service at San Jose Water Company:
“We were anxious about the implementation — similar undertakings with payment platforms can take years to complete and cost thousands of dollars. But thanks to our CIS provider and InvoiceCloud’s joint solution, all deadlines and goals were met with exceptional collaboration.”
Watch the video below to hear San Jose Water’s full implementation story with InvoiceCloud.