Telecom businesses rely heavily on compliance with regulatory standards, efficient call tracking, and accurate invoicing. However, the popular accounting software QuickBooks® fails to meet the specific requirements set forth by the FCC and this can cause trouble for telecom providers who use it to generate subscriber invoices. From the absence of FCC Truth-in-Billing compliance to the complex taxation of fees, QuickBooks has issues that interfere with its effectiveness for telecom service providers.
The software’s limitations highlight the absence of merchant account integration and call tracking and mediation functionality. We’ll address the different limitations of QuickBooks within the telecom sector, and highlight the importance utilizing a billing and invoicing solution designed explicitly for telecom service providers.
- QB cannot properly apply many of the taxes and fees that are imposed on telecom services. Many telecom fees such as 911, municipal right-of-way, and Federal Universal Service Fund are taxable. Some charges that provide both interstate and intrastate service have different fees applied to the interstate portion and the intrastate portion of the service.
- QB invoices do not meet FCC Truth-in-Billing standards
- QB does not provide a process to track, mediate or rate toll calls for Inbound, Outbound or Toll Free traffic.
It’s pretty clear that QuickBooks falls short when it comes to meeting the specific requirements of telecom service providers. The software’s limitations in terms of regulatory compliance, accurate invoicing, taxation of fees, , and call tracking/mediation interferes with its effectiveness within the telecom sector. Telecom businesses require a solution that can handle the complexities of their industry, including the proper application of taxes and fees, adherence to FCC Truth-in-Billing standards, merchant service utilization, and efficient call tracking.
Providers who currently utilize QuickBooks can have the “the best of both worlds” because Sandy Beaches offers an API integration with QuickBooks Online. By combining IntegriBill and QuickBooks® providers are able to generate clear, compliant invoices for their customers while still running the rest of their business with QuickBooks. The integration enables IntegriBill clients to see every line item from an end user’s invoice within their QuickBooks system.
One of the main benefits to this is that accounting departments and outsourced accounting services will have access to the customer data without needing to access the IntegriBill program. Accountants are able to accomplish their tasks without the need to learn another program or troubling providers’ billing department for specialized reports – they can use the data that’s been loaded to generate reports from their general ledger program. You can export the invoices into QuickBooks Online, which includes the charges and taxes. This allows you to have a complete view of your business. QuickBooks will meet accounting needs and IntegriBill will handle the invoice compliance and taxes specific to the telecom industry.
For more information or to schedule a demo, contact Sandy Beaches Software today!