Selecting the Right Utility Billing System

How a regional water district used data-driven evaluation to select a modern CIS platform.

Background & Challenge

A regional water district serving residential and commercial customers across two municipalities was operating a decade-old, highly customized billing system no longer supported by its vendor. Six disconnected platforms handled billing, accounting, payments, meter reading, GIS, asset management, and backflow tracking — exchanging data through manual processes and flat files. This lack of integration created gaps in accounts receivable visibility, billing accuracy risks, and significant manual workload. Facing an inevitable system replacement, and expanding its AMI program, the District needed a structured, objective approach to evaluate modern CIS platforms aligned with its current constraints and long-term goals.

Our Approach: Dual-Track Engagement

Raybern led a combined operational assessment and system selection process, running in parallel to ensure findings directly informed vendor evaluation.

• Current State Assessment — Structured interviews with District staff, documentation of key business processes, and detailed analysis of billing and meter reading system data.

• System Selection — Vendor demonstrations in two rounds (initial screening followed by use-case-driven deep dives), pricing evaluation, and comparative scoring across billing, customer service, field operations, and finance stakeholders.

• Data Analysis — Examined billing and meter data in parallel to identify inconsistencies affecting billing accuracy, system integrity, and future AMI integration readiness.

Key Findings

Limited Payment Integration Real-time payment data was not integrated, reducing receivables visibility and hindering proactive collections management.	Broad Estimation Logic Billing estimation was applied broadly rather than account-specifically, requiring manual validation each cycle.
Rate Configuration Risks Compound meter handling and other rate configurations created risk of systematic underbilling.	Unsupported Critical Functions Backflow management and payment arrangements were either unsupported or managed entirely outside the billing system.
Data Drift & Inconsistencies Duplicate accounts, mismatched service classifications, misaligned equipment identifiers, and undocumented multiplier configurations had accumulated across systems over time.	Siloed Field Operations No integration between billing and asset management forced field staff to navigate multiple applications, reducing efficiency and data accuracy.

Vendor Evaluation

Three vendors were evaluated, with two advancing to detailed, role-based demonstrations. The legacy system's cloud offering provided familiarity but lacked meaningful usability improvements, had no proven integration with the District's asset management platform, and relied on a smaller development team.

The alternative platform was consistently rated higher by staff across all stakeholder groups:

Ease of Use Intuitive navigation and real-time account access during active billing cycles — rated superior by every stakeholder group.	Native Integrations Proven, out-of-the-box integration with the District's existing asset management system — no custom development required.
Built-In Functionality Native backflow management, robust document management, and standard reporting replacing custom-built reports.	Stronger Development Team A larger dedicated development team supporting ongoing product evolution and long-term platform investment.

Recommendation & Outcomes

✅ Platform Selected Raybern recommended an alternative platform based on stronger functionality, proven integrations, and alignment with AMI goals.	💰 Lower Cost More favorable cost structure — lower annual licensing and fewer required customizations than the legacy system.	🗺️ Data Remediation Roadmap A clear remediation plan enables the District to resolve data issues before migration, reducing implementation risk.
📡 AMI-Ready The selected platform supports interval data access and customer self-service — aligned with the District's expanding AMI program.	🔗 Integrated Operations Replaces six disconnected platforms with unified workflows across billing, field ops, finance, and asset management.	📈 Clean Go-Live Data quality work completed pre-migration maximizes system accuracy and minimizes post-launch corrections.

Facing similar challenges? Raybern Consulting helps water utilities diagnose AMI failures, correct billing data, and build a clear path forward.

www.raybernconsulting.com