Before you dispute a bill, know what's actually on it.
Technology and utility bills accumulate lines nobody has traced: services no longer in use, rates that quietly escalated, taxes and fees applied incorrectly. A bill analysis reads the bills themselves, line by line, against the contracts behind them, and tells you plainly what is wrong and what it is worth. For a single office with a handful of bills, or a multi-site company with hundreds of accounts.
What we typically find.
Ranges from our own bill analyses, and what buyers report at renewal. Every environment is different, and the analysis tells you what yours holds.
Typical ranges, not a promise. Some bills are already right, and when yours are, we say so. Cloud findings vary most: sometimes the answer is repatriation, because running a workload in the public cloud has become more expensive than bringing it back.
What a bill analysis covers.
Anything billed on a recurring basis for technology or a building. The six categories below are where the findings usually are.
Telecom
Voice lines, data circuits, internet, and the copper lines that still carry alarms and elevator phones. Where most of the forgotten charges live.
Mobility
Wireless lines, devices, plans, and pooled data. Lines for people who left, plans sized for a year that has passed, and device payments nobody tracks.
Cloud
Infrastructure bills from the big platforms: instances left running, storage that only grows, and commitments bought for a workload that moved.
SaaS
Subscriptions and seat counts. Licenses for former staff, overlapping tools that do the same job, and auto-renewals at list price.
Utilities
Electricity and gas accounts: rate class, supply contracts, meter charges, and taxes applied to the wrong account type.
Recurring services
Maintenance contracts, managed services, and anything billed monthly because it was set up once and never looked at again.
How it runs.
The same six steps at any size. A small office moves through them in a few weeks; a larger company keeps the last one running.
- InventoryEvery account, circuit, line, subscription, and meter, in one list, with what each one serves and who owns it.
- BaselineTwelve months of spend by vendor, service, and location, so every later change is measured against a real starting point.
- Validate against contractEach charge checked against the rate, term, and discounts actually signed. Billing that drifted from the contract is the most common finding.
- Dispute and recoverDocumented disputes for overcharges and services billed after cancellation, pursued until they are credited or closed.
- OptimizeUnused services disconnected, plans resized, and renewals renegotiated, taken in order of risk rather than size.
- ManageBills reviewed as they arrive, changes tracked, and renewal dates watched, so the savings do not quietly grow back.
The Deady Group Technology Management Framework.
Our method is built on the AOTMP Efficiency First Framework, the professional body's practices for managing telecom, mobility, and cloud and IT spend. Every engagement is measured against its four principles: operational excellence, financial accountability, technical integrity, and business results.
Will Deady is a Certified AOTMP Efficiency First Executive Advisor and an AOTMP council member.
What changes with size.
The work is the same kind of work. What changes is how many accounts there are, and whether it is a project or a program.
| One location | A few sites | Multi-site mid-market | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the bills look like | A handful of carrier, internet, mobile, and utility bills | Separate accounts per site, several carriers, a growing SaaS list | Hundreds of accounts across telecom, mobility, cloud, SaaS, and utilities |
| Where the money usually hides | Old lines still billing, promotional rates that expired, fees on the wrong account type | Duplicate services between sites, circuits for closed locations, contracts that renewed at list price | Billing drift from contract at scale, unused licenses and cloud commitments, no single view of spend |
| How it runs | A one-time analysis and a short list of calls to make | An inventory and baseline, then disputes and renegotiation at each renewal | Telecom expense management as an ongoing program, with inventory, invoice validation, and reporting every month |
| What you get | A plain-language finding and what to ask each provider | A savings and recovery plan with dates and owners | A managed program, run in-house, outsourced, or a mix, measured against the baseline |
How it is paid for.
That structure is why it works for a two-person business as well as a mid-market one: there is no fee standing between you and finding out.
No upfront fees
You do not pay us to look. The first analysis costs nothing, and neither does the work that follows, from a one-location business with three bills to a multi-site program.
Paid when something changes
If you switch as a result, whether that is a single telecom service or bringing in an expense management program, the provider you choose pays us. If nothing changes, nobody pays anyone.
Disclosed before you decide
Some expense management providers charge you on a share of what they recover or save. Whatever the provider charges, and what it pays us, is in writing before you sign.
Request a bill analysis.
Send the bill in question, or the account details, and we will tell you plainly what we find. No charge, no obligation.
Not ready to send a bill? Estimate your savings from rough monthly spend, or decode the charges on a phone bill yourself.
What kinds of bills do you look at?
Telecom, mobility, cloud, SaaS, utilities, and other recurring services, for organizations from a single office to multi-site companies with hundreds of accounts.
Is there a charge for the analysis?
Not for the first one. It is offered at no cost, in the same spirit as the Digital Presence & Technology Review: a plain-language finding, with no obligation afterward.
What is telecom expense management?
The ongoing discipline of keeping an inventory of every technology service, validating each invoice against the contract, disputing errors, and managing changes and renewals. At a few bills it is a task; at a few hundred it is a program.
What if nothing is wrong?
Then we say so. Most bills we look at have at least one line worth questioning, but not all of them do.
Know what's actually on the bill.
The Digital Presence & Technology Review is the fastest way to see how we work, and it costs nothing. If the situation is already clear, start a conversation instead.