Billing teams have more data than ever before – yet many still spend hours every week exporting reports, combining spreadsheets, and trying to make sense of the numbers. A recent Tebra survey found that 60% of billers say reporting still requires significant manual effort. 

Despite all the data, many billers are still stuck in reactive mode. They don’t recognize problems until A/R grows or collections slow, even when the underlying issues may have been building for weeks.

So how can billers get ahead of problems and spot the signals hiding in their data so they can take action before a problem turns into delayed revenue?

In Tebra’s recent webinar, The Spreadsheet Trap, David Zaretsky and Megan Jernigan explored how billing teams can move beyond retrospective reporting and use their data to identify risk earlier, prioritize action, and drive better revenue outcomes. 

Many teams already have access to plenty of reports. And they often create more to try to focus their attention. But then they export those reports to Excel and spend time stitching together the data, trying to build a cohesive story. Dave referred to this as the “Excel tax,” and billers are all too familiar with it. 

One billing manager shared that they spend four hours every Friday exporting reports and building spreadsheets ahead of a Monday meeting – time assembling the story instead of acting on it. 

The result is that reporting becomes another workflow to manage rather than a tool for making decisions. Teams spend valuable time preparing data rather than acting on it. 

The truth is, revenue problems often appear in operational metrics long before they show up in cash flow. That’s because many billers look at retrospective, lagging metrics rather than leading indicators that can offer warning signs. 

Proactive billing teams look at:

Together, these metrics help reveal emerging patterns before they become revenue problems, giving teams time to intervene before denials become rework and delayed cash flow. 

Instead of using reports to explain last month’s performance, the presenters encouraged billers to use reporting as a planning tool. Each review should help answer three key questions: 

By asking these questions, you can move from retrospective reviews to collaborative working sessions, in which reporting helps prioritize the next steps. This approach supports conversations with leadership and clients alike while helping billing companies demonstrate strategic value.

More billing companies are beginning to use this shift as a tool. In fact, Tebra data shows 31% of billers now use reporting as a strategy to win new business.

During the webinar, Dave recommended two practical ways to review performance. Teams can either start with the biggest outlier (such as a sudden increase in denials or aging A/R), or begin with aging A/R and work backwards to identify the underlying cause. Both approaches shift the conversation from, “Which reports should we pull?” to “What decision are we trying to make?” while providing actionable next steps. 

As reporting becomes increasingly central to billing performance, the competitive advantage will come from recognizing meaningful signals earlier – and turning those insights into action. 

Watch the full on-demand webinar to hear David Zaretsky and Megan Jernigan and see a sneak peek of Tebra’s new A/R Dashboard. Then schedule a personalized demo to learn how Tebra can help your team spend less time building reports and more time improving revenue performance.