Water Billing Analyst

Reporting to the Supervisor, Water Revenue, the Water Billing Analyst is responsible for administering the City’s water, wastewater and stormwater billing and receivables processes, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and timeliness across all billing cycles and financial transactions.

This role coordinates meter reading activities, manages billing system inputs and outputs, processes high-volume payment files, and leads investigations into billing discrepancies. The Analyst works collaboratively with internal teams, contractors, and financial institutions to maintain system integrity and service delivery standards.

Purpose & Impact

This role is critical to ensuring the integrity, accuracy, and reliability of the City’s water billing and receivable processes. The Water Billing Analyst directly supports revenue assurance, regulatory compliance, and customer trust by maintaining strong financial controls, administering complex billing functions, and resolving escalated billing and collection issues.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

Billing Administration & Meter Data Management

• Coordinate with third-party contractors to schedule meter reads, export reading routes, and import completed reads
• Create and manage meter reading files for billing system integration
• Upload and validate completed meter reading routes and process into the billing system
• Generate and administer water billing cycles, ensuring accuracy and adherence to timelines
• Generate water bill batches and prepare files for printing, verification, and distribution
• Collaborate with third-party vendors for bill print production, secure file transfer, and delivery
• Process and document billing adjustments accurately and in accordance with applicable policies, supporting information, and approval requirements

Meter Management & Service Order Administration

• Prepare, issue, and track service orders for meter-related work assigned to external vendors in accordance with operational requirements and service timelines
• Receive completed service order information from external vendors, review supporting details, and follow up on outstanding, incomplete, or unclear submissions
• Input completed service order information into the billing system accurately and on a timely basis to support billing, meter records, and account updates
• Review service orders for accuracy, completeness, and consistency before processing, and resolve discrepancies to maintain reliable meter and billing data

Exception Handling & Billing Analysis

• Review and analyze water billing exception reports (e.g., high/low consumption, irregular reads, etc.)
• Investigate discrepancies and apply appropriate billing adjustments, estimates, cancellations, and service orders
• Work collaboratively with billing staff to resolve complex meter reading anomalies
• Monitor and improve data quality across billing inputs and outputs

Payment Processing & Reconciliation

• • Administer high-volume payment processing, including bank file uploads and transaction posting
  • Process pre-authorized debit (PAD) files for water, wastewater, and stormwater billing cycles
  • Coordinate with financial institutions (e.g., Royal Bank) for secure file transfers and payment processing
  • Reconcile daily payment files with sub-ledgers and general ledger accounts to ensure completeness and accuracy
  • Investigate and resolve payment discrepancies in collaboration with payment processors and financial institutions

Duties and Responsibilities Cont'd

Collections & Receivables Management

• Lead water receivable collection processes in accordance with municipal by-laws and timelines
• Initiate and monitor collection activities, including reminder notices, landlord notifications, and transfers to tax accounts
• Apply and reconcile administrative charges and collection-related transactions
• Review collection notices and journals to ensure accuracy, consistency, and quality control
• Act as subject matter expert for escalated collection matters

Controls, Risk & Financial Accountability

• Ensure accurate and complete billing, payment processing, and receivable balances through regular reconciliation activities
• Identify, investigate, and resolve discrepancies across billing, meter data, banking files, and financial systems
• Maintain audit-ready documentation for billing adjustments, manual entries, and overrides
• Support internal and external audits by providing documentation and responding to control-related inquiries
• Monitor data integrity to prevent revenue leakage and ensure compliance with financial controls and municipal policies

Stakeholder & Vendor Coordination

• Coordinate with third-party vendors (meter reading, print/mail, payment processors) to ensure service delivery standards are met
• Collaborate with Finance, IT, Customer Service, and external partners to maintain end-to-end process effectiveness
• Escalate issues impacting billing timelines, data accuracy, or financial processing as required

Customer Service & Dispute Resolution

• Provide subject matter expertise on water billing, meter reads, and account inquiries
• Lead investigations and provide defensible resolutions for escalated billing disputes
• Interpret by-laws and billing policies to ensure consistent and equitable outcomes

Work Environment & Complexity

• Operates within a high-volume, transaction-based environment with strict processing timelines
• Manages multiple billing streams including water, wastewater, stormwater, and integrated property tax processes
• Handles complex billing scenarios, including exceptions, disputes, and delinquent accounts
• Requires coordination across internal departments, external vendors, and financial institutions

Education and Experience

• Degree in Business, Public Administration or related discipline
• 4 years experience in a similar role
• Experience with billing systems, payment processing, and reconciliation activities is considered an asset
• Experience in public sector or regulated environments is considered an asset

Required Skills/Knowledge

• Strong technical understanding of water meter reading and billing processes
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and limited data analysis
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a high attention to detail
• Knowledge of water, wastewater, and stormwater by-laws
• Ability to manage high volumes of data with accuracy and efficiency
• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain complex issues clearly
• Experience with Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) or meter data management systems
• Knowledge of municipal finance and public-sector accounting practices
• Experience supporting system implementations or process improvements
• Demonstrated ability to build high levels of credibility within diverse work groups as well as the ability to develop productive partnerships with a range of stakeholders
• Knowledge of and demonstrated ability in customer service, team work, initiative, accountability and adaptability
• Demonstrates good judgment and makes sound decisions
• Shows commitment to personal growth, development, and leadership opportunities
• Shares new ideas and challenges the status quo
• Proven written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate with honesty, openness, respect, and trust
• Takes initiative to participate in a culture of learning, mentoring, and sharing
• Contributes to building and being a part of a positive culture
• Demonstrate the City’s corporate values of care, collaboration, courage and service

Leadership Competencies