Your billing team can do the following in the RunCenter based on their permissions:
Function | Required Permission |
Search for Bill Cycles, Bill Periods, and Bill Processing Requests | Allow Log On |
View Bill Cycle & Bill Period configurations | Allow Log On |
Run Bill Period Steps | Allow Run Steps |
Approve Bill Periods | Approve Bill Periods |
Approve invoices for customer viewing | Approve Invoices for Customer Viewing |
View Bill Processing Requests for each step in a specific Bill Period | Allow Log On |
Accessing the RunCenter
This is done via the RunCenter icon in the Apps tray.
Initial View – RunCenter Dashboard
The RunCenter menu provides Dashboard and Search options. It initially opens to the Dashboard view providing a quick view of upcoming and recent Billing Periods.
The Dashboard can display up to six months of Bill Periods. If there are a large number of Bill Periods, you can scroll left and right using directional arrows.
Bill Period Status is color-coded:
Unbilled – Bill Period has not been billed yet.
Billed – Bill Period has completed the required Bill step.
Pending Approval – Bill Period has completed the Bill step and is awaiting approval.
Closed – Bill Period has completed the required Approve Bill Period step.
You can click a Bill Period card to display additional details for the Bill Period as described in Viewing and Managing Bill Periods.
Maintenance Window Indicators
IDI manages system schedules during planned downtime or maintenance windows. This prevents bill runs from being initiated when the system is unavailable, ensuring data integrity and operational stability. The system will not allow billing steps to be run during a maintenance window . The occurrence of a maintenance window is indicated in the dashboard by an information banner.
In addition, the maintenance window icon lets you view when pending maintenance windows are scheduled.
Search
The Search function lets you look for:
Bill Cycles – Search for Bill Cycles and their associated configurations.
Bill Periods – Search for existing Bill Periods.
ID Lookup – Search by IDs referenced in logs to view associated Requests.
Requests – Search Bill Operation Requests.
Viewing Bill Cycle Configurations
Note: Bill Cycles are created and configured by IDI. Your billing associates with Allow Log On permission or higher can view Bill Cycle configurations. To begin, use the Bill Cycles option in the RunCenter Search to list the available Bill Cycles.
The search result defaults to all Bill Cycles. You can filter the list by searching for a specific Bill Cycle by Name or Description.
Then click the link in the Name column to display the details for a specific Bill Cycle.
Note: If configuration for the selected Bill Cycle has not been completed by IDI, you’ll see a message indicating this; otherwise, the Bill Cycle Configuration will be displayed.
This view shows all the steps that can be part of a bill run, regardless of whether they’re included in the Bill Cycle. The following details are provided:
Status: Indicates whether or not the Bill Step will be part of all bill runs that use this Bill Cycle (per Bill Cycle configuration completed by IDI).
Enabled – Step is included in the Bill Cycle.
Disabled – Step is not part of this Bill Cycle
Job Template: A template is associated to each step per Bill Cycle configuration. Templates are selected by IDI to ensure each step processes all operations as needed to complete the step per your requirements.
Run Allowed: Indicates whether or not your authorized billing associates can run the step in the RunCenter Bill Period view. This is specified by IDI as part of Bill Cycle configuration per your requirements.
Below is a description of all steps that may be part of a bill run by virtue of the associated Bill Cycle. Two steps (Bill and Approve Bill Period) are required and always included. The other steps may or may not be included.
Step | Description |
Prebill | Preliminary billing process where service providers can validate account configurations before executing a full bill run. During a prebill, the system generates invoices in a draft state specifically marked as Prebill. The invoices are not posted or distributed. They serve as a checkpoint to ensure:
|
Process Usage | For customers that load and rate usage, rederive and rerate all usage for the bill period prior to running the bill step to ensure that all the usage for the bill period is correctly processed and rated based on current system information. |
Bill | Process where the system calculates invoice charges and applies taxes for each customer account. It transforms rated usage, recurring charges, and adjustments into a complete invoice. Once calculated, the invoice is available digitally within the customer’s account for review and distribution. Note: This step is required and always enabled. It can be rerun if corrections are needed to accurately bill. |
Generate Invoice Files | Process where the system compiles invoice information into a formal file for each invoice in the bill run. Unlike the digital invoices your customers can view in the portal, this operation produces XML invoice files to be used by a print vendor for physical invoice production and mailing. Note: Providers can use IDI as their print vendor. |
Initiate Printing | Process where service providers formally release invoices to the print vendor for physical printing. This step can be configured for external print vendors or for IDI.
|
Post to General Ledger | Process that posts financial results of a bill run to the IDI General Ledger. |
Approve Bill Period | Final confirmation step that formally closes the Bill Period. Note: This step is required and always enabled. Once approved, no further changes can be made to invoices or charges for that period, ensuring financial accuracy and compliance. The Finalization process will run for the Bill Period. In addition, the next time Account Posting is run (usually nightly) the system will commit all invoice charges to customer accounts and update account balances. |
Approve Invoices for Viewing | Makes newly generated invoices visible to your customers in IDI’s Customer Portal. Once approved, the system enables invoice notifications to be sent, ensuring customers are alerted that their invoice is ready. |
This view also provides these admin options for authorized users (typically an IDI associate):
Edit Billing Steps: Displays the Bill Cycle Configuration page where authorized users can edit the current Bill Cycle configuration.
Sync Bill Periods: Lets authorized users automatically sync open (not started) bill runs with the current configuration or create bill runs in open bill periods for newly configured bill cycles. This will run a System Defined trigger – Create and Sync Open Bill Runs – to sync the configuration.
Note: These options will not be available to unauthorized users.
Viewing and Managing Bill Periods
You can view a specific Bill Period either via the Dashboard or Bill Period Search. From the Dashboard, simply scroll to and select the applicable card. To use the Bill Period Search, select the Bill Periods option to initiate the Bill Period search. By default, this returns all Bill Periods regardless of status. You can narrow the search by selecting a Cycle Name and/or an end date range (From and/or Through).
Click a link in the Bill Period column to view and manage a specific Bill Period.
Managing Bill Period Steps
From this view you can run billing steps. Each step has a button in the right-most column, whose label changes depending on the step status.
Note: The button is disabled and none of these options are available unless the Bill Cycle is configured with Run Allowed enabled for the step. With Run Allowed enabled for the step, the button is labeled:
Run if the step has not yet been run (Status = Not Started).
Rerun if the step has run to completion at least once (Status = Completed).
Approve if the step (Approved Bill Period or Approve Invoices for Viewing) has not yet been approved (Status = Not Approved).
Clicking the button kicks off the applicable operation:
Run
Run Again for All or Selected Accounts.
For All Customers, simply click to confirm.
For Specific Customers, enter the account numbers and then click to confirm.
In either case, you’ll have an opportunity to review the Run Details. Review and click Run Now.
You can view additional details for Approve steps by clicking the associated information ! icon:
Viewing Bill Processing Requests
You can view the associated Bill Processing Requests for a step by clicking the link in the Requests column. This column displays N/A when there are no associated requests.
Note: You can also view Bill Processing Requests using that option on the RunCenter Search page.
Clicking a link in the Requests column displays a list of Bill Processing Requests for the applicable step.
From this list, clicking a RequestID link displays further details for that request.
The Details view shows overall request details as well as details for each operation.
Overall Details:
Field | Description |
Scheduled Run Date | When the request is/was scheduled to run. |
Type | For example: RunCenter Submitted |
Status | For example: Completed |
Start & End Date | When the request was started and finished. |
Description | Request description as configured by IDI. |
Operation Details:
ID
Operation - As configured by an IDI associate
Status
Start & end dates
Bill Period
Duration
Create Date
Last Modified
XML & PDFs Count
This applies after the Initiate printing step is complete.
