Cycle billing definition

What is Cycle Billing?

Cycle billing occurs when an organization issues invoices to its customers on a rotating schedule. This concept varies from the more common practice of issuing all invoices on the date when a delivery or service occurs. It is commonly used by utilities and subscription services that deal with very large billing volumes.

Advantages of Cycle Billing

By engaging in cycle billing, a business can flatten the volume of billing work to be completed on any given day. This allows it to maintain a lower staffing level in the billing department.

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Disadvantages of Cycle Billing

This approach can have a negative impact on cash flows, since some invoices may be delayed several days past when they would normally be issued to customers.

Example of Cycle Billing

For example, customers whose last names begin with A through C are billed on the first day of the month, followed on the next day by those customers whose last names begin with D through F, and so on.