The Financial Information Services Division of the Software and Information Industry Association (FISD) today announces the release of Best Business Practices for billing and invoicing for the financial information industry. The adoption of these recommendations will enhance the efficiency of these processes for data providers, data vendors and data end-user customers.
The reporting of market data consumption and invoicing for data products have grown more complex due to both an increasing number of participants and an increasing number of processes being used. Through extensive review, the FISD Billing and Invoicing Working Group (B&IWG) has identified a number of practices, specifications and processes that can be standardized among all participants. The B&IWG is a diverse group representing many of the key players in the billing process for financial information products, including market data consumers, data vendors and exchanges.
The approved recommendations consist of three components: suggested best practices, a recommended data model describing desired billing elements and a sample invoice that utilizes many of the recommended data elements. The best practices focus on six areas:- Billing Options
- Invoice Information
- Payment
- Customer Service
- Billing Cycles
- Reporting
“These recommendations are an excellent resource for all participants involved. We strongly encourage adoption of these suggestions, in whole or in part, as operations changes allow. Implementation of these standards will reduce workloads, streamline processes and improve the timeliness of payments”, said Tom Davin, Managing Director of the FISD.
These just-released Best Practices are available to the public and may be downloaded from the FISD website at www.fisd.net
