Mailhouse Bill Run Overview

For Payreq Delivery who customers work with a mailhouse or print service provider to prepare, print, lodge and upload notices as part of their billing process.

While each mailer and mailhouse may have slightly different operational steps, the general process follows the same pattern.

For archive-type services, Payreq recommends using two separate bill loads:

1. STANDARD load for customers with an active digital subscription; and
2. HISTORICAL load for the printed records.

This helps ensure that digital delivery and print delivery are managed as separate populations.

1. Contacts are updated

Before notices are sent, the relevant contact records in Payreq should be updated.

This helps ensure Payreq has the latest customer and delivery information for the bill run.

Contacts are usually updated as part of each billing run. Some mailers may also update contacts between billing runs.

2. Notice data is provided to the Mailhouse

The mailer provides notice data to the mailhouse.

The mailhouse uses this data to compose the notices and prepare them for digital delivery, print and archive where required.

3. Active Subscriptions are retrieved

The mailhouse checks the current list of Active Subscriptions in Payreq.

This list is used to identify which customers are registered for digital delivery and which notices still need to be printed and lodged.

Because customers can subscribe or unsubscribe at any time, the Active Subscriptions list should be retrieved as close as practical to the print decision.

4. The Print and Digital split is determined

The mailhouse compares the notice data against the Active Subscriptions list.

Generally:

This creates two separate populations:

• Digital records — notices to be uploaded to Payreq for digital delivery.
• Print records — notices to be printed and retained in Payreq as historical records.

5. Digital records are uploaded as a Standard Load

The digital records should be uploaded to Payreq as a STANDARD bill load.

A Standard load is used for current documents that are expected to be digitally delivered.

In this process, the Standard load should only contain records for customers identified as having an active digital subscription.

If a record in the Standard load no longer has an active digital subscription when Payreq processes it, the record may fail or require review rather than being silently retained as an archived record.

This is important because it helps identify cases where the customer’s subscription status has changed after the print and digital split was determined.

6. Print records are uploaded using Historical Load

The print records should be uploaded to Payreq as a HISTORICAL bill load.

A Historical load archives all documents in the file. In this process, the Historical load is used to retain a Payreq record of the notices that were printed and lodged outside Payreq.

The Historical load should contain the print population only.

Do not include records in the Historical load if they were intended to be delivered digitally through the Standard load, unless this has been specifically agreed with Payreq.

7. Payreq processes the uploaded Jobs

Once the files have been uploaded, Payreq processes the bill loads.

Depending on the agreed integration method, the mailhouse may also need to trigger job processing using the Payreq API.

The mailhouse should review the processing results for both loads.

For the Standard load, review any records that failed to load or could not be matched to an active digital subscription.

For the Historical load, confirm the printed records have been retained for archive or history purposes.

8. Digital notices are Reviewed and Approved

The mailer reviews the Standard load in Payreq and approves the notices for send.

Once approved, notices in the Standard load are dispatched through the relevant digital delivery channel.

The Historical load does not replace the printed notice. It is retained in Payreq for archive or historical reference.

9. Printed notices are lodged separately

Notices without a digital subscription are printed and lodged by the mailhouse. 

These printed notices may also appear in Payreq as historical or archived records, depending on the agreed process.

Why two Loads are used

Using separate Standard and Historical loads helps avoid issues that can occur when one combined Archive load is used.

With an Archive load, Payreq determines at processing time whether each notice should be digitally delivered or archived. If a customer is treated as digitally subscribed but later unsubscribes, there is a risk that the customer may not receive a printed copy for that bill run.

The recommended two-load process reduces this risk by separating the populations before upload:

• customers with active digital subscriptions are submitted for digital delivery as STANDARD; and
• printed records are submitted separately as HISTORICAL.

This makes the intended delivery treatment clearer for each record.

Important Notes

The exact process may vary depending on the mailer, mailhouse, file format and integration method.

Before each bill run, the parties should confirm:

• who is responsible for updating Contacts;
• when the Active Subscriptions list will be retrieved;
• how the digital and print populations will be separated;
• who is responsible for uploading the Standard load;
• who is responsible for uploading the Historical load;
• who reviews processing results;
• who approves the digital notices in Payreq; and
• how any failed or unmatched Standard records will be handled.

Each bill load should use a unique File ID.

Where possible, use shared Campaign Name or Campaign Internal Reference values so the related Standard and Historical loads can be identified as part of the same bill run.

Summary

For archive-type services, the recommended bill run process is:

1. Update Contacts.
2. Retrieve Active Subscriptions.
3. Split the bill run into digital and print records.
4. Upload digital records as a STANDARD load.
5. Upload printed records as a HISTORICAL load.
6. Review processing results.
7. Approve the digital notices for send.
8. Lodge printed notices.

This helps ensure notices are delivered through the correct channel and that all parties have a clear view of the bill run.