Should the billing process be part of ISO 9001:2008?

[shawnann]

Yes, I did mean "a part".

Your definition of quality is too narrow and inconsistent with the ISO 9000:2005 definition. Do you disagree that erroneous billing is one of the most common sources of customer dissatisfaction?

Yes I do disagree with that, at least with the companies I work for. I do the billing for three companies and I've never once gotten a complaint about our bills. I've never gotten a customer feedback stating that our billing practices were bad.

Customers aren't usually dissatisfied with the billing they are dissatisfied with the costs they are asked to pay. Two different things.

 

[somerqc]

I believe that we should be considering that billing is an integral part of a business operation. Why?

1. This is how the company gets paid.
2. When the company gets paid promptly (i.e. no delays caused by company), there is improved cashflow
3. Improved cashflow results in easier investment in better tools/personnel
4. Better tools and personnel typically results in improved operations
5. Improved operations generally result in lower operating costs; thereby; resulting in lower costs
6. Lower costs results in a competitive position in the market.
7. Competitive position (competitive price with quality product) usually results in more customers and usually more satisfied customers.
8. Improvement and Customer Satisfaction are the keys to quality in today's world (no coincidence that they are the keys to almost any international standard).

This also illustrates the power of well developed business system based on solid processes and an understanding that each person contributes to the overall success of the company

 

[Stijloor]

Friends,

Billing is the last opportunity for a supplier to satisfy the customer. No, I am not referring to the amount on the bill, but the whole transaction. From designing a billing format/layout that is easy to understand, clearly spelled out, no errors, correct charges, mailed/sent on time, with sufficient time to allow the customer to remit. A chance to ask questions if needed, and prompt, correct answers from live people that we can understand. Making billing a integral part of your quality management system? (ISO 9001:2008 or not). Absolutely!

Stijloor.

 

[Paul Simpson]

Should the billing process be part of ISO 9001:2008?

Perhaps it already is as part of customer communication (Clause 7.2.3 (b)

 

[Sidney Vianna]

Perhaps it already is as part of customer communication (Clause 7.2.3 (b)

That is a stretch. When I started this thread, my line of thought was: if the Standard requires purchasing documents to be reviewed to ensure the adequacy of specified purchase requirements prior to their communication to the supplier, they could apply the same rationale to the billing process and require that the invoicing documents to be reviewed for accuracy before transmitted on to the customer. That simple.

 

[qualityboi]

I think its already covered by 7.2.2, 7.2.3, and 8.2.1 and doesn't deserve anymore of a highlight if the company is a manufacturing orientedcompany. I think it would be more of a focus in a service company, like a telecom. In most companies this is already audited by financial internal audit. If 9001:2008 intends to incorporate the TS 16949 then maybe. Since this (to me) is a subset of Sales and Customer Service I would only audit it if customer complaints steered me to the billing process.
Big picture I would rather shy away from a standard that tries to incorporate every aspect of a business which seems to be happening as this standard matures, the result is that the audits then get even bulkier. Pretty soon you end up carrying around a huge standard and write non-conformances for processes of less and less impact or value.

 

[ktlasers]

I don't think it should be audited directly, but it should be on the Internal Auditing schedule. There could be a single audit question looking for it on the IA schedule.

 

[Sidney Vianna]

Big picture I would rather shy away from a standard that tries to incorporate every aspect of a business which seems to be happening as this standard matures, the result is that the audits then get even bulkier. Pretty soon you end up carrying around a huge standard and write non-conformances for processes of less and less impact or value.

Once again, when I posted the original question, I made a point that the billing process has (in my view point) a strong correlation with customer satisfaction and is the source for many customer complaints. Since ISO 9001 is about customer satisfaction, I believe that the billing process does have an impact on the customer perception of our quality. I obviously respect people's opinion if the billing process should be, or not, part of a Q standard or even a QMS, but to infer that the billing process does not have the potential to impact customer satisfaction is to negate the obvious.

 

[Paul Simpson]

Sidney, I think I understood where you were coming from in the original post.

Once again, when I posted the original question, I made a point that the billing process has (in my view point) a strong correlation with customer satisfaction and is the source for many customer complaints. Since ISO 9001 is about customer satisfaction, I believe that the billing process does have an impact on the customer perception of our quality. I obviously respect people's opinion if the billing process should be, or not, part of a Q standard or even a QMS, but to infer that the billing process does not have the potential to impact customer satisfaction is to negate the obvious.

So my post was a genuine one.

Not that I have ever assessed against this requirement in relation to invoicing:

The organization shall determine and implement effective arrangements for communicating with customers in relation to ....
.... b) enquiries, contracts or order handling, including amendments,

But if we all agreed that this requirement included invoicing then it can be covered in assessment.

 

[harry]

Once again, when I posted the original question, I made a point that the billing process has (in my view point) a strong correlation with customer satisfaction and is the source for many customer complaints. Since ISO 9001 is about customer satisfaction, I believe that the billing process does have an impact on the customer perception of our quality. I obviously respect people's opinion if the billing process should be, or not, part of a Q standard or even a QMS, but to infer that the billing process does not have the potential to impact customer satisfaction is to negate the obvious.

I had originally voted 'No' because accounting is a different process altogether and in most countries, it is mandatory to carry out yearly audit and we should try not to tresspass into the territory of another fellow professional.

Financial Auditors do look into efficiency, practices, malpractices, weakness and so on but unless management take note of it, it becomes a record. Further more, the objectives of financial audit seems to focus more on the discovery of bad or malpractices and adherence to a set of recommended accounting practices.

Sidney's post - which looks at accounting from the quality aspect is certainly food for thought. I have to agree that financial accounting does not address these issues (it was never designed or intended to do so). There must be some ways to it, so that the financial auditors do not feel that others are encroaching into their territory.

I've attached an interesting paper related to this.