Valentina Akpan: Founder of Rellatech, providing administrative and operations support to executives, founders, business owners and teams. Her background combines technical support, customer success, administration and operations.
The Starting Point
The customer had noticed their bill going up and asked why. Over a year, charges had changed several times, and the answer was spread across invoices and signed agreements.
What I Did
I rebuilt 12 months of the customer's monthly charges, one month at a time, and matched each charge against the signed agreements.
That explained every increase. It also turned up three things the customer and the company both needed to know about: a $24 overcharge, an add-on the customer had approved that was never billed, and one increase with no signed approval behind it.
I gave sales the full picture before the customer call, so they could answer the question and deal with all three points in the same conversation.
What the Review Found
Twelve months rebuilt
Every monthly charge for the past year, laid out month by month.
Every increase explained
Each change in the bill was traced to the agreement or change behind it.
A $24 overcharge
One charge was higher than the agreement allowed.
An add-on never billed
The customer had approved an add-on, but it had never been added to their bill.
An increase with no signed approval
One increase had no signed approval on file.
Sales prepared for the call
Sales went into the customer call knowing the answer and the three issues.
Why It Matters
The customer wanted to know why their bill had gone up. Going through every month against the agreements gave sales a clear answer for each increase.
The review also found three things to fix: money owed back to the customer, an add-on the company had not billed, and a change that needed approval. Sales could deal with all three on the same call.
Tools and Skills Used
Invoice analysis, contract review, account history, reconciling charges to agreements and preparing a clear summary for sales.
Who This Is For
This case study is worth reading if you are:
- ●A business whose customers question their bills and the answer takes days to find.
- ●A sales or account team that needs the billing facts before a difficult customer call.
- ●Looking for someone who checks charges against the agreements, not just the invoices against each other.
Need help with similar work?
Tell me which account or billing question you need answered, and what records you have. I review invoices against agreements within the scope we agree.
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