Summary
What should utility billing/CIS software actually do in 2027? Here are seven capabilities utilities should expect, from connected meter data and customer self-service to better reporting and less repetitive work.
What utility billing/CIS software should actually do in 2027
Utility billing software used to have a fairly straightforward job.
Read meters. Calculate charges. Send bills. Record payments. Rinse and repeat next cycle.
That work is still critically important. Sending out incorrect bills remains a remarkably effective way to ensure an influx of angry calls into the office.
But in 2027, simply producing an accurate bill shouldn’t be enough. Most of us would say it can’t be enough.
Utilities are dealing with staffing challenges, more advanced metering technology, higher customer expectations, growing security concerns, and a stockpile of systems that don’t always play nicely together.
Time and again, we talk with utilities that don’t place the blame on any one system. It’s all the little handoffs and duplicate entries that start eating up staff time.
Your billing/CIS sits squarely in the middle of those handoffs and duplications.
Utility billing/CIS software manages customer accounts, rates, meter usage, billing, payments, and related customer-service activity. A modern system should better tie all of this together.
In essence, you should be asking, “How much work does our billing software and CIS remove from the process of actually running the utility?”
Here are seven things to focus on in 2027.
1. Handle complicated utility billing
As much as we may wish things were “set it and forget it,” utilities aren’t subscription businesses.
Rates can vary by customer type, usage, service, season, and location. Add taxes, fees, deposits, adjustments, budget billing, final bills, and payment arrangements, and things get complicated quickly.
Modern billing/CIS software should handle that complexity without forcing your team to create manual workarounds each cycle.
Plus, billing calculations should be traceable. A single staff member should be able to find the answer and explain it clearly whenever a customer asks why a bill changed.
That shouldn’t require multiple employees, a magical spreadsheet only one of them has access to, and half a day spent figuring it all out.
2. Connect meter data to billing
The path from meter to bill should contain as few manual steps as possible. Whether a utility uses AMR, AMI, or another meter-reading system, billing software should do more than simply import readings.
Staff should be able to identify missing reads, unusual consumption, and other exceptions before they become incorrect bills. And they should also be able to review usage information without bouncing between unrelated systems.
We see the value of this firsthand with our own billing/CIS customers. Our Irregular Usage and Consumption Analysis reports combine billing and meter data to help staff spot unusual activity before bills go out. Because our software integrates nicely with a wide range of metering technologies, utilities spend less time hunting for problems and more time deciding what actually needs attention.
Modern meters can collect enormous amounts of useful info. No matter which platform you use, your billing system shouldn’t be where meter data goes to become less useful.
3. Connect customer service and field work
A customer calls about a meter. Someone creates a service order. A field employee investigates it. The work gets completed.
This is simple enough… until customer service, billing, and field operations all live in separate systems, which might be your reality.
Modern billing/CIS software should connect those activities. Office staff should be able to create work from the customer account. Field employees should have the information they need. Completed work should make its way back to customer service without another round of duplicate entry—one of your primary goals for 2027 should be no more duplicate tasks. More on that below.
4. Provide real customer self-service
An online payment page isn’t much of a customer portal anymore… if it ever was.
Customers should be able to view account info, review usage and payment history, make payments, enroll in autopay, choose paperless billing, and handle common account needs online.
That’s good for customers, but you might say it’s equally good for utility staff.
Every routine transaction customers can successfully complete themselves can mean one fewer phone call, walk-in visit, or piece of paper for an already-busy employee to process.
Self-service is, in many ways, one of the real secret sauces of a utility billing/CIS platform. Get that right, and customers get more of what they want—control—while staff get something they rarely have enough of: time.
5. Make payments part of the process
Utilities have more ways to receive payments than ever, with most of those options preferable to someone paying with cash or a check. And yet, someone will probably still walk into the office with a check in 2047, presuming checks will still be a thing in 20 years.
Billing/CIS software should bring those transactions into a consistent account and payment process. Staff should be able to see what was paid, how it was paid, and what happened afterward without waiting for a scheduled file drop or conferring with a separate database.
The closer billing and payments work together, the less manual reconciliation staff should have to perform.
6. Make reporting useful
While utilities don’t have a shortage of data, finding useful information can be another matter, depending on the system of record. Modern billing/CIS software should make common operational information—billing activity, consumption, payments, delinquencies, etc.—easy to access.
Generally, a single staff member should be able to answer practical questions like “Which accounts are past due?” or “How has consumption changed?” without needing to tag in a coworker.
Reporting should be straightforward and actually help people make decisions. And creating reports shouldn’t become their most dreaded activity.
7. Reduce repetitive work
I hinted at this above, but this may be the biggest change in what utilities should expect from billing/CIS software.
Too much utility work still involves people moving information from one place to another, running the same processes, and checking the same things over and over.
Yes, some of that work requires human judgment, but a lot of it doesn’t.
If a task happens the same way every day, week, or month, there’s a fair chance your software should be doing more—perhaps all—of the heavy lifting. Billing steps, customer notifications, payment activity, and other routine processes are exactly where fewer steps, and perhaps even automation, can start giving staff some of their time back.
For many utilities, billing is less one big task and more a series of smaller ones: check for missing reads, review unusual consumption, run reports, verify charges, process adjustments, generate bills, send notices, and ensure it all happened in the right order.
None of those steps may be especially difficult. But someone has to remember to do every one of them, every single cycle, across 12 months, for thousands of accounts, and with a small team. The “small” tasks end up consuming a surprising amount of time.
That’s where software should start taking more responsibility. If a process follows the same rules every billing cycle, staff shouldn’t have to manually push every button just because that’s how it’s always been done.
Systems should remove unnecessary work from the day. And since most utilities are now operating with smaller teams and employees who already have more work than hours in the day, that removal can be significant.
What should utilities expect from billing/CIS software in 2027?
Accurate billing is still the baseline, but it’s not the finish line.
Modern utility billing/CIS software should connect meter data, customer accounts, payments, field activity, and customer service while reducing repetitive work and making information easier to use.
The best measure of your utility software should be how much friction it removes for your team, which means asking:
- How many manual steps disappear?
- How many handoffs become unnecessary?
- How quickly can staff find what they need?
- How much can customers accomplish themselves?
If the answer to those questions is “not enough,” your billing/CIS software may be asking too much of your staff.
Ready to reduce friction across operations?
Coordinate billing, payments, customer service, metering, work orders, and operational workflows through utility-focused technology and support services. Talk with our team to learn how United Systems supports utilities through technology, operational services, metering, customer service, and workflow management.