Expense Management (TEM)
Disconnected circuits keep showing up on the bill, and nobody is sure the inventory matches what you pay for. A TEM provider runs that inventory, the invoice audit, usage and disputes. We find the one that fits your size and complexity, on the right model and on terms that protect your data and your exit.
Book a conversationWhat TEM Covers, and When You Need a Provider
Telecom expense management, now often called technology expense management, covers the cost of fixed and mobile voice and data, and increasingly IoT connectivity and other IT services. A program keeps an inventory of every line, circuit and device, validates bills against your contracts and that inventory, files disputes with carriers and cuts services nobody uses. It comes as software your team runs, as a managed service, or as full outsourcing that can include paying the bills.
When a provider makes sense
- Your inventory lives in spreadsheets, and nobody is sure it matches what you are billed for.
- Bills arrive from many carriers and billing accounts, some on paper and some from other countries.
- Moves, adds, changes and disconnects happen often, and disconnected services keep appearing on bills.
- Late fees or disconnection notices arrive because bills take too long to process and pay.
When it does not
In our judgment, the carriers' portals and your own process may be enough when you have:
- One or two carriers, few sites and billing accounts, electronic bills, an accurate inventory and staff who reconcile every bill each month.
If you don't need a TEM provider, you won't hear a pitch for one.
Choosing a Provider: What to Check
Most TEM programs succeed or fail on the data, and on what the provider is paid to do. These are the questions to settle before you sign.
How your bills reach the provider
Ask how invoice data arrives, through electronic feeds, portals or paper, and how the provider handles carriers with no electronic bill. Carrier bill formats change, so confirm that keeping invoice processing current is included in the price.
Who keeps the inventory accurate
An inventory built only from invoices misses equipment that isn't billed and the mobile details no invoice carries. Agree who captures it, who validates it during implementation and who keeps it current after that.
Who owns a dispute
Ask how disputes are logged against each circuit and invoice, sent to the carrier, escalated and tracked as they age, and how credits are matched to each one. Carrier contracts often limit how long you have to claim, so slow disputes lose money.
How savings are counted
Agree with your CFO how savings are recognized, and measure them over a rolling 12 months so timing can't flatter them. A mature program should find fewer errors each year, so refunds alone are a poor measure of success.
What each pricing model rewards
Ask what each model rewards. In our view, per-line pricing is predictable but grows with every line, including the ones you should cancel, and a percentage of spend grows with your spend. A share of savings is paid only on what is found, which rewards findings over prevention. Ask for implementation, each service and any look-back audit to be priced separately.
If the provider pays your bills
Some providers only batch approved bills for you to pay. Others pay carriers from an account you fund. If yours pays, payment records should flow into your accounting system, and approval workflows and reconciliation matter more. Ask who keeps any card rebates on those payments.
The TEM Decision, for IT and Finance
For IT and procurement leaders: an inventory someone owns
- A named owner for keeping the inventory current, including equipment and mobile details no invoice shows.
- Disputes logged, escalated and tracked by the provider before carrier claim windows close.
- No more weighing TEM proposals that price the same work four different ways. TREU lines them up and negotiates the one you choose.
For finance: a fee model chosen on purpose
- A pricing model picked for what it rewards.
- Savings defined against an agreed baseline and measured over a rolling 12 months.
- If the provider pays your bills: a segregated account, regular reconciliation and a SOC 1 report.
What to Watch For in a TEM Agreement
-
Your data, and your exit.
The inventory and history the provider builds should belong to you. Require their return in a structured, machine-readable format, an orderly transition without prohibitive cost, and clear time frames.
-
How savings are defined.
In a shared-savings agreement, the definition decides the fee, and disputes over it have reached the courts. Define the baseline, the period and what happens when you act on advice in a different way.
-
Fees, and limits on them.
List every cost and assumption, and cap share-of-savings and percentage-of-spend fees as your spend grows.
-
Service levels with remedies.
Ask for measurable service levels, such as the time from receiving an invoice to having it validated, coded and ready for approval, and what happens when they are missed. Ask whether the provider covers late fees its own delays cause.
-
Money held for bill pay.
If the provider pays your bills, require a segregated or trust account, daily reconciliation and the right to audit it, and ask whether the provider is licensed to move money or relies on an exemption.
-
Controls reports.
A provider that pays bills or produces ledger entries should give you a SOC 1 report on its controls. Ask for a SOC 2 report for security.
-
Audit rights and upgrades.
Keep the right to audit the provider and its subcontractors, and ask whether platform upgrades are mandatory and whether they carry a fee.
This list is a starting point for your review. TREU is not a law firm. Your counsel gives the legal advice.
How TREU Sources a TEM Provider
See how we work-
Supplier identification
We size the program with you: carriers, billing accounts, invoices, lines and devices, and what your team handles today. Then we take it to TEM providers whose model fits.
-
Buying cycle
We compare how each provider gets your bill data, keeps the inventory, owns disputes, counts savings and is paid, then negotiate data ownership, fee caps, service levels and exit terms with your legal team.
-
Implementation oversight and accountability
We hold the provider to its implementation plan, including the inventory it has to establish and validate, and check its first invoice against the contract.
-
Client and supplier lifecycle management
The provider runs the audit, usage and dispute work. We join your reviews with it and renegotiate its contract before the notice date, for the life of the agreement.
Questions Buyers Ask About TEM
What is TEM?
Telecom expense management, now often called technology expense management, is how companies control the cost of fixed and mobile voice and data, and increasingly other IT services. A program keeps the inventory, validates bills, files disputes and removes services nobody uses.
Does TEM cover cloud?
Some TEM providers include cloud and UCaaS licenses. Cloud spend and its commitments have their own discipline, covered on our technology savings and cost optimization page.
Software, a managed service or full outsourcing?
With software, your team runs the program on the provider's platform. With a managed service, the provider runs parts of it. With full outsourcing, the provider runs the process, often including paying the bills. The right choice depends on your staff and how complex your estate is.
How are TEM providers paid?
Per line or device each month, as a percentage of the spend they manage, as a share of the savings they find, or as a fixed fee. Each model rewards something different, so the model matters as much as the rate.
Should the provider pay our carrier bills?
It can save your team effort, but it moves payment responsibility outside your company. If you choose it, require a segregated account, daily reconciliation, audit rights and a SOC 1 report.
How far back can billing errors be recovered?
It depends on the carrier contract, which often limits how long you have to claim. For tariffed services, federal law sets two years for overcharge claims.
Can't we use the carriers' own portals?
With one or two carriers, it may be enough. A portal covers only that carrier's accounts, so it gives no view across carriers, and the carrier is checking its own bill.
Does TREU audit our bills?
No. We find the TEM provider that does, and check its first invoice against its contract. The provider runs inventory, invoice audit, usage and disputes.