Telecom Bill Audit Checklist
The exact process we use to audit client bills. Work through it with your last three invoices and you will know what is genuinely recoverable and what is not, before anyone quotes you a savings number.
Rings Jonathan and the team 24x7.
400+ carriers and platforms, compared.
Send one bill. I'll mark the renewal date and anything worth a second look.
You pay us nothing. Email one recent carrier invoice to Jonathan. A PDF or a phone photo is fine. Carriers pay us, not you.
Goes to jeubanks@buckeyetelecom.com. We work under NDA on request. We do not sell or share your details.
Before you start
Collect the last three months of invoices from every telecom vendor - internet, phone, mobile, data circuits, cloud, and any managed services. List every vendor name, account number, and monthly cost in one spreadsheet, and note who internally manages each relationship.
Then note each contract's expiration date and auto-renewal terms. Auto-renewals often lock you in for one to three years at above-market rates, and they are the single most expensive thing on most bills.
What is in the checklist
Five sections, worked in order.
- Section 1 - gather your bills, list every vendor and account, and record every contract expiration and auto-renewal term.
- Section 2 - validate every line item. Match each line to an active service, flag what you cannot identify, and look for lines assigned to departed employees or closed locations.
- Section 3 - benchmark against market. Compare what you pay per Mbps and per phone seat against current quotes for the same address, not against last year's rate or a list price.
- Section 4 - contract review. List everything expiring in the next 12 months, note early termination fees, and check whether SLA uptime guarantees and credit provisions are actually defined.
- Section 5 - quick wins. Cancel unidentified services, request credits for confirmed billing errors, and set calendar reminders 90 days before every notice date.
- Bonus checks: equipment rental on devices you own, duplicate charges billed under two line items, legacy PRI or POTS lines replaceable with SIP, and MPLS costs against SD-WAN alternatives.
What people find
After you finish
Cancel the obvious
Anything you could not identify or confirm in use comes off the bill first. That work needs no negotiation.
Request credits in writing
Carriers must refund legitimate billing errors. Put the request in writing with the invoice lines cited.
Start bids no later than 90 days before each notice date
That is your negotiation window. Bring a carrier-neutral advisor into it so the carriers are bidding against each other rather than against your patience.
Related
Free tools to use before your next renewal
Practical, fillable tools from a 23-year independent technology advisor. Use them yourself, or have us ru...
Read →HIPAA compliance in OhioHIPAA Compliance for Ohio Healthcare Organizations
Most Ohio healthcare organizations have the administrative policies. The technical safeguards on the phone sys...
Read →SOC 2 readiness in OhioSOC 2 Type II Compliance for Ohio Organizations
Enterprise customers and investors ask for Type II. We coordinate the network infrastructure controls your aud...
Read →Want us to do this for you - for free?
Send your recent invoices and we handle the whole audit, with findings in writing and no obligation.
Book a call