🔥 More than 150 internet lines were billing above their contracted rate. Two services had been quietly duplicated for almost three years. And a peak-season surge of 100+ temporary sites was weeks away.

That was the starting point when a national brand with 500+ locations moved its telecom management to SpikeFli. Twelve months later, the invoices tell a different story.

The challenge: an landscape nobody could fully see

The client had worked with the same expense-management provider for many years. The relationship ended, and the handover exposed a familiar problem: the inventory couldn't be trusted.

For the IT and telecom team, that meant:

• Inventory out of step with reality. Site records, services and accounts didn't line up. The client's own location list had to become the source of truth.
• Contracts expiring without anyone noticing. When terms lapsed, a national cable carrier moved lines to higher out-of-contract rates. The bills kept being paid.
• Relocations that left old services running. A move or modem upgrade could leave the previous service billing in the background for years.
• More than a dozen carriers and vendors. Each had its own invoices, portals, payment terms and support process. Some invoices still arrived on paper.
• A peak season that stretches every process. Every year, 100+ temporary sites need internet installed on a deadline, then disconnected and closed out cleanly.

None of this is unusual. Most multi-site organizations accept some leakage as the cost of doing business, because finding it means reading every invoice against every contract, every month.

The approach: business intelligence, people who act on it

SpikeFli paired its vendor governance platform with a dedicated account team. The platform shows where the money goes. The team makes sure every issue ends in a corrected bill.

• Rebuild the single source of truth. Sites, services, accounts and contracts were reconciled into one inventory, anchored on the client's own location list.

• Review every invoice, every month. Wireline and wireless bills were checked against contracts, with spend reported by location and every change in cost explained.

• Hold carriers to the contract. Out-of-contract charges, duplicates and billing errors were tracked month by month and escalated until credits showed on the invoice.

• Track every change to the final bill. Each move, add, closure and dispute stayed open until the carrier's bill proved it was done.

• Take over payment hygiene. Invoices were routed to one inbox and payment methods moved to electronic transfer. Aging is now reviewed monthly, so late fees get caught early.
• Run the peak season as a program. Surveys, installs, speed checks, disconnects and final-bill credits were managed across every carrier on one timeline.

The results: year one in numbers

• More than $25K in credits recovered. Every dollar was counted once, when it appeared on an invoice. That is already above the previous provider's best full year.
• 150+ lines back on contract rates. The out-of-contract increases were stopped, the overbilled months were credited, and the lines were locked into a new multi-year term.
• 160+ sites secured on contracts running to 2029. Several carriers were renewed, and many sites got faster speeds as part of the renewals.
• 100+ temporary sites delivered, 9 in 10 on wired internet. Sites that couldn't be wired ran on wireless backup. Every site was disconnected on schedule, and charges billed after cancellation were credited back.
• Late fees cut to under $10 across 50+ accounts. Before, one account alone was generating late charges every month.

Behind those numbers are the hidden costs the audit surfaced. Services duplicated for almost three years were removed and credited. An unrecognized bill was traced to the right sites and corrected. Locations the company no longer operated were found still billing to head office, and were moved off. An international roaming spike on a single phone line was escalated and credited.

The team also handled 340+ service requests in the year and closed 65 tracked changes, each one through to a correct final bill. Resources that would normally have fallen to our clients internal IT support team. 

Why it matters for IT and telecom leaders

• Expired contracts are a silent price increase. Carriers rarely flag a lapsed term. Tracking expiry dates 90 days out keeps the renewal conversation on your terms.
• Every move needs a final-bill check. Relocations and upgrades are where duplicates are born. A change isn't finished until the old service stops billing.
• Visibility only pays when someone acts on it. Dashboards find the issue; the credit comes from escalating it with the carrier until it's on the invoice.

Most organizations pay rather than investigate, because the investigation is hard. That is exactly the work vendor governance is built for, across telecom, utilities and other recurring vendor costs.

In the client's words

"We truly appreciate all your support and partnership over the past year and value the contributions you have made to our organization."

 

— The client's team, on the first anniversary of the partnership

Ready to see what your invoices are hiding?

If you manage connectivity across dozens or hundreds of locations, SpikeFli can show you where contracts have lapsed, where services are duplicated and where credits are waiting. Schedule a call to start the conversation.

Results described here reflect one client's experience; outcomes vary by organization.

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