Telecoms billing systems

[Maverick77]

Hello all,

We're currently looking for a telecoms billing system that is capable of billing for broadband and mobile.

We've looked at a few and it seems that they would create a monumental amount of work for us...

They all do a good job at sending out invoices, but don't have any payment receipt functionality: we would have to transfer the billing information from the billing system into our accounting package (Sage business cloud) and then manually post hundreds/thousands of customer payments from the bank feed to the correct customer account!

This is quite clearly unworkable and I do not believe that large companies such as Plusnet or TalkTalk have armies of admin staff sat there doing that.

Any decent telecoms billing engines that you're aware of that won't add massively to our workload?

 

[MyAccountantOnline]

I'm really surprised Sage doesn't have this function.

I work from Sage records but haven't actually used Sage for a long time to know if it's possible. I'm sure someone else here will be able to help.

Certainly both the software packages I use (Accounts Portal and FreeAgent) which are for small businesses can automatically match money in to sales invoices and it works well.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Almost any accounts package will do that.

Or you could use a billing package - there are loads out there and even some for telecoms businesses.

Do you also want the software to manage/drive provisioning?

In the first instance, you should write a brief of exactly what you want the sofware to do.

 

[japancool]

I have some experience with this. I wrote the last version of one of the major reseller billing systems on the market.

It very much depends on your customer profile. And certain other factors - and whether you would be willing to pay for custom development.

 

[Maverick77]

I'm really surprised Sage doesn't have this function.

I work from Sage records but haven't actually used Sage for a long time to know if it's possible. I'm sure someone else here will be able to help.

Certainly both the software packages I use (Accounts Portal and FreeAgent) which are for small businesses can automatically match money in to sales invoices and it works well.

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, the likes of Sage/Xero/QBO are 'generalists', whereas certain industries require specialist billing platforms and cannot be served by these generalist accounting packages.

 

[Maverick77]

Have now found a suitable telecoms billing system. Thanks to everybody for your input on this thread.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

What did you get?

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

I'm really surprised Sage doesn't have this function.

I work from Sage records but haven't actually used Sage for a long time to know if it's possible. I'm sure someone else here will be able to help.

Certainly both the software packages I use (Accounts Portal and FreeAgent) which are for small businesses can automatically match money in to sales invoices and it works well.

I think sage might because they will do a bolt on for transport software I am guessing that bespoke products are not on their website

 

[Maverick77]

I think sage might because they will do a bolt on for transport software I am guessing that bespoke products are not on their website

Sage do bolt-ons specific to the following industries:

Agriculture
Automotive
Construction
Creative
E-commerce
Finance
Handymen
Healthcare
Hospitality
Legal
Manufacturing
Non-profit
Property
Retail
Self-employed
Transport

Unfortunately not for utilities or telecoms.