Introducing On-Site Billing

The On-Site Billing solution is designed to support and optimize business process regarding meter reading, billing, invoicing and print the bill on-site, it means, at the customer location.

For that process, all required data is downloaded from SAP S/4HANA Utilities to S/4HANA Utilities extensions for meter-to-cash processes by PROLOGA solution, thereby transmitting the data to the mobile devices. The meter reading result will be captured on-site at the customer location. Based on the connectivity available, the billing and invoicing process will be performed online in conjunction with the SAP S/4HANA Utilities (backend), or offline on the mobile device itself. The deep integration into SAP S/4HANA Utilities enables a reliable and accurate process of reading, billing and invoicing on-site. It uses the same standard validations, billing schemas, invoicing rules as defined in the SAP S/4HANA Utilities and synchronized into the Mobile On-Site Billing solution.

From the SAP S/4HANA Utilities extensions for meter-to-cash processes by PROLOGA 4.0 version, was released significant enhancements to the technical components (ABAP RAP based), introduced a new approach to implementing and extending the product, new SAP Fiori apps improving user experience.

For more details about the SAP S/4HANA Utilities extensions for meter-to-cash processes by PROLOGA solution, access SAP S/4HANA Utilities Extensions for Meter-to-Cash Processes by PROLOGA

The SAP S/4HANA Utilities extensions for meter-to-cash processes by PROLOGA solution introduces a side-by-side approach, allowing for a dedicated Mobile On-Site Billing system operating on SAP S/4HANA 2021 or higher. But it is also possible to run the solution within a single SAP S/4HANA system with Utilities industry activated.

• The interactions with the mobile application do not impact the SAP S/4HANA Utilities operation. Usually, SAP S/4HANA Utilities has many integrations with other applications, and it tends to consume the available resources, plus it will have a lot of meter readers (with mobile applications) communicating every X seconds (the frequency is configurable).
• Maintenance on the environments is isolated.
• A potential problem with the performance is easily identified.
• It is recommended for companies where the reading center is managed by teams that do not have access to SAP S/4HANA Utilities, for example, third parties.

• The environment must be sized appropriately to avoid resource shortages.
• In the case of lack of resources for mobile application communication, the OSB processes will be severely impacted.
• The meter readers and planners will need access to SAP S/4HANA Utilities, even third parties.

The SAP S/4HANA Utilities extensions for meter-to-cash processes by PROLOGA uses SAP standard fields and structures to identify customers eligible for on-site reading and/or billing, download of meter reading orders and simulated B&I documents, reading and B&I validations, and subsequently upload the data realized on-site, B&I execution in the IS-U.

SAP S/4HANA for Utilities provides the following features related to the On-site Billing process:

1. Enhancements to Processing of On-Site Billing (ISU_MR_BADI_OSB):
   • Determination of on-site billing (DETERMINE_OSB)
   • Determination of customer-specific on-site billing data (POPULATE_OSB_DATA)
   • Determination of data to determine open document number (DETERMINE_OSB_EXTDOC)
   • Reversal of MR/billing orders (On-Site Billing) (MR_ORDER_OSB_CANCEL)
2. On-Site Billing Group (OSB_GROUP) field that is stored at contract level to indicate that it will be billed using the onsite billing function: You can use the onsite billing group to group together the same onsite billing rules. This applies, for example, if there are differences between the onsite billing activities for residential and nonresidential customers. This field is also available in the billing order billing document.
3. A control table (DBEOSB) to manage and store the data generated during IS-U On-Site Billing process
4. A pre-determined lock in the DFKKLOCKS table (used for FI-CA (Financial Contract Accounting) that prevents concurrent processing of financial contract accounting data- meanwhile the customer is in the on-site billing process
5. A pre-determined print lock in ERDK table to avoid printing trigger when the customer invoice was delivered on-site