DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN ELECTRONIC BILLING SYSTEM

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background of Study

E-billing, also known as Electronic billing is simply system that allows the process of paying and receiving bills online. Bills or invoices are generated digitally by computers and software applications. E-billing is not only the generation of e-bills, but also the system that allows these bills to be paid electronically. E-billing is a fundamental component of modern finance and is leveraged by both accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) departments to help automate workflows and reduce reliance on paper-intensive processes. Electronic billing is a bill payment method in which a customer can pay bills electronically over the Internet to an entity or organization. It is widely accepted by many government entities and other organizations. Due to multiple benefits provided by electronic billing, it is one of the most preferred methods of bill payment. Electronic billing or electronic bill payment and presentment, is when a seller such as company, organization, or group sends its bills or invoices over the internet, and customers pay the bills electronically. This replaces the traditional method where invoices were sent in paper form and payments were done by manual means such as sending cheques.

This was invented alongside emails, internet banking, and accounting software in the wake of the Information Age; Electronic billing has been in the public sphere for the past few decades.

Apart from being a new technology, a lot has happened in the world of legal electronic invoicing (or e-Billing) over the last 10-20 years. The early drivers of the e-Billing market remain relevant today. Different companies and jurisdictions are simply at different stages of their E-billing maturity. The early adopters are what are driving the developments in the industry as they seek even more value from their law firm relationships. Those at the start of their journey will find that these early drivers resonate with them currently.

The highly manual process of invoice review was therefore transposed into standards and software that required law firms to deliver billing information to their clients in electronic format using a third-party system. This then gave the in-house lawyer the tools to analyze billing information and take appropriate action usually related to saving external costs.

Financial barriers to E-billing were common, particularly in smaller corporate and firms. An E-billing implementation was time, resource and cost heavy, and this cost continued beyond implementation. Costs of E-billing included set up, licenses, and the resources required to run e-billing from an IT (Information Technology) and administrative perspective. In law firms, they may face billing department reshuffling, overhauling of processes for uploading bills and managing queries and rejections and even investment in additional systems to support E-billing, such as practice management systems that could produce matter and timekeeper lists and time recording.

1.2 Statement of the Problems

Investigation revealed the following problems of the existing e-billing system;

1. Most of the online billings systems are outsourced. As a result of the outsource billing there is a fee involved when making use of this system of billing.
2. With online billing system there is always fear of safety and security to the personal information due to the increased spywares and malwares being rampant on the internet.
3. When the electronic payment system is opted the customer account gets instantly debited for the funds that need to be paid while in a traditional billing system the customer gets sometime between the billing receipt and actual payment.
4. There is likelihood of many disputes that may arise due to the downtime of internet on the website that support electronic billing system. This can lead to many users being dissatisfied with the entire system and reduction in its use.
5. Security Issues: Sending invoices electronically comes with some risks that are not present with hard copy invoices of customers, and products.
6. Spam filters: An electronic invoice as regards E- billing may be paid faster if your client ever sees it. In some cases, email service providers marks invoices as spam, sending them to a folder than most users rarely look at. It can be difficult to know when your invoices are caught in spam filters and frustrating to communicate to clients how to alter their spam filters to allow your invoices through.
7. Book-keeping Issues: Electronic invoices as regards E- billing can make book-keeping tasks harder for your clients and customers. Some may need to download the invoice or print the invoice for their records. Paper invoices can be filed quickly and easily.
8. Offline customers: Especially in certain types of businesses, your clients or customers may not have access to their email from their home or may not even use an email account. Other customers may greatly prefer to receive a paper invoice. This may especially be true of senior customers or customers in rural locations.
9. Fees: If your business uses a service to send electronic invoices, you will most likely need to pay the service a fee in the form of a small percentage of the payments you receive. These fees can add up quickly.
10. Overcharging: In telecommunication, the billing system is a very sensitive part and it is faced with a lot of challenges like the overcharging which makes customers/ users complain. This problem may arise from the rating , that is rate given to each call lines and the time by the inaccuracy of the billing system.
11. Poor customer service: Most of the billing systems have poor customer service thereby not given room for customer complaint and attention to their complaints therefore, a Report Generation system will be developed for the user and management of E-Billing and Invoicing System. This system will have both details and summary type reports for analysis of the data calculated.
12. Lack of Standardization: The greatest logistical problem when it comes to E-billing is a lack of standardized protocols. This problem is not related to any particular vendor. It is based on the plethora of vendors and the fact that so many corporate law departments have expectations about E-billing from their law firms.

1.3 Aim and Objective of the Study

The aim of this study is to design and implement an Electronic Billing System. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were set out as follows:

1. To develop a software that will ensure that data is not duplicated.
2. To design a system that will give security to the sensitive data of the firm.
3. To design a system that will able to access data from any computer system connected to the database server.
4. To design a system that will keep records of sales volume, stock list and summary report and tore data as long as possible.
5. To design a system that will be able to find and print previously saved invoices.
6. To design a system that will provide easy backup of data which can be used at another location and curb every error made in a manual or handwritten billing system.

1.4 Significance of the Study

The significance of this study is to use object oriented development processes and techniques in the automation of a billing system. Formal analysis and design were used to give adequate understanding to the object-oriented technique used. The major quest is to ease the problem and stress encountered in billing of customers and keeping records of stock list, customer lists, sales volume, and summary report.

This project will be of benefit to:

1. Enterprises.
2. Shopping Malls/Supermarkets.
3. Many large companies like; waste companies, Power holding companies, e.t.c.

1.5 Scope of Study

The scope of this study is limited to Billing System Design based on Internet Environment. The concept of electronic billing is not new. Since the advent of the Internet, a small number of consumers have been using this electronic medium to pay bills online after receiving standard paper invoices via regular Postal Service.

1.6 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this institution to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Billing:

This is the process of preparing or sending invoices.

E-billing:

This is the process of paying and receiving bills online.

E-data:

It is data stored and transmitted as binary code.

E-payment:

E-payment can be simply defined as paying for goods or services on the internet. It includes all financial operations using electronic devices, such as computers, smartphones or tablets. It comes with various methods, like credit or debit card payments or bank transfers.

E-cheque:

It is an electronic version or representation of a paper cheque. The account holder writes an e-check (or e-cheque) using a computer or other type of electronic device and transmits the e-cheque to the payee electronically.

Invoice:

An invoice is a document that lists the products and services a business provides to a client and establishes an obligation on the part of the client to pay the business for those products and services.

Customer:

A customer is a person or company that receives, consumes or buys a product or service and can choose between different goods and suppliers.