UBM Planning

## Summary This meeting centered on addressing critical issues with a billing report system following the departure of a key team member. The discussion focused on understanding the current workflow, identifying data accuracy problems, and determining the necessary steps to create a reliable stopgap solution for customers. ### Purpose of the Billing Report The primary function of the report is to identify bills that are imminently due but are not yet present within the UBM system. It projects the next expected invoice and due dates based on the most recent bill information available in UBM for a given billing account, which is a combination of vendor and clean account number. The system is designed to flag accounts where a payment is expected soon, triggering a specific internal process. ### Data Accuracy and Processing Concerns A significant challenge identified is the report's reliance on data within UBM, which does not account for bills stuck in external processing stages or those not yet collected from vendor portals. The accuracy of the report has been compromised because it previously benefited from a human element that manually verified and corrected data, a step that is now missing. This has created a gap in ensuring customers have a clear and accurate view of their invoice status. ### The Lab Team's Workflow and Responsibilities A dedicated team, referred to as the "lab," is responsible for acting on the report's alerts. Their core task involves finding due amounts on customer portals and submitting mock bills for payment to prevent missed deadlines. This is a straightforward process designed to be executed without requiring deep system expertise. Furthermore, this team plays a crucial role in identifying data discrepancies during their review, such as discovering closed accounts or new account numbers, which they flag for administrative follow-up. ### Issues with Account Status Filtering A specific technical problem was highlighted concerning the filtering of open and closed accounts. A miscommunication in the report's filter logic has resulted in closed accounts appearing on the actionable list. The intended filter was for the billing account status, but it was incorrectly applied to the virtual account data. This forces the lab team to manually filter out accounts that are already known to be closed, adding an unnecessary step and potential for error to their workflow. ### Systemic Challenges and Next Steps The conversation concluded that the problems are multifaceted, involving both the report's configuration and potential underlying issues in the broader billing system. The core question is whether to fix the existing report to make it more helpful, resolve a deeper system issue that would consequently fix the report, or completely rethink the report's purpose and design. The immediate plan is to implement a short-term stopgap, but a more comprehensive solution is required to address the root causes of the data synchronization and accuracy challenges.