This article originally appeared on LinkedIn.

Billing cycles are a monthly ordeal for finance teams, typically following a pattern where teams spend sometimes more than five business days at the end of each month scrambling to reconcile all necessary financial data to close the books. These periods are stressful and demanding, as teams must piece together revenue through analyses from fragmented data sources and systems.

Imagine a world where finance teams leverage real-time billing to stay ahead of the monthly billing cycle—where they no longer wait anxiously for month-end to accurately assess financial performance. Real-time billing is starting to make this a reality.

What is Real-Time Billing?

Real-time billing involves continuously collecting revenue data and instantly making it available. Think of it as your google cloud billing portal where every single day you get the newest insights on your cloud spend.  This approach not only eliminates the traditional delays in the month-end billing cycle  but also enhances the accuracy of billing for usage-based and hybrid pricing models since checks and balances can be performed inside the month.

The end of rigid month-end closing schedules

With real-time billing, the traditional wait associated with billing cycles is eliminated. Finance teams can front-load their work, saving hours traditionally spent gathering and reconciling transactions and invoices. This shift frees up more time for critical tasks, strategic initiatives, and analyses that drive business growth and innovation.

A new way of operating

Real-time billing has the potential to revolutionize how finance teams function. By providing a real-time view of billing, teams can identify issues and opportunities early, taking timely, proactive measures. This transforms finance teams from reactive processors to proactive strategists—mitigating risks, seizing opportunities, and taking preemptive actions.

Real-time billing is more than a technological upgrade; it's a paradigm shift that enhances the operational efficiency and agility of finance teams.

Want to learn about how your business can implement real-time billing? Get in touch with our experts.