Forecast design · POC scope

Bill Forecast Design

Forecast is a pre-bill view. It estimates a billing account's next total, exposes the drivers, and highlights changes that are still actionable. Bill Explanation remains the post-bill source of truth.

Current POC status: the app has a deterministic historical estimator. ML projection and LLM explanation are design targets only and are not implemented.

Forecast grain and scope

Calculate at billing-account level; preserve service-line attribution; optionally roll up for a customer view.

CUST-FORECAST-001 · Maya Patel

Customer view is a container only. Bills and baselines are never blended across accounts.

BA-FORECAST-MOBILE · forecast account

Three mobile lines; shared usage is attributed to the relevant line or shared-account bucket.

LINE-FORECAST-MOB-1LINE-FORECAST-MOB-2LINE-FORECAST-MOB-3

BA-FORECAST-BROADBAND · separate forecast

One broadband line with its own usage history and baseline.

Implemented baseline

Deterministic calculation

· Carry forward active plans, add-ons, discounts, device payments, known orders, and effective dates.
· Apply tax, proration, allowance, and eligibility rules from authoritative billing data.
· Use for all known monetary facts and every what-if calculation.

Not implemented

ML projection

· Estimate only the unknown remainder: future usage, volatility, and a low/expected/high range.
· Use account and service-line history, cycle position, usage trend, and known changes.
· Fall back to a transparent run-rate or recent-usage average when history is sparse.

Not implemented

LLM explanation

· Turn validated drivers, confidence, and policy results into customer or CSR wording.
· Explain uncertainty and exclusions in plain language.
· Never calculate money, infer eligibility, promise savings, or change an account.

Mock forecast scenarios

Examples for the demo customer. Each result remains traceable to a specific account and service line.

Illustrative, not production rating

Deterministic

Mid-cycle plan change

BA-FORECAST-MOBILE · LINE-FORECAST-MOB-2

Baseline

$164.00

Forecast

$184.73

Family Unlimited line 2 moves to Premium Plus halfway through the cycle.

· $7.50 prorated plan increase
· $15.00 next-cycle recurring increase
· Usage remains at the recent account average

High: the order effective date and new plan price are known.

Deterministic

Promotion expiry

BA-FORECAST-BROADBAND · LINE-FORECAST-BB-1

Baseline

$81.00

Forecast

$92.13

A $10 monthly broadband promotion expires at the next cycle boundary.

· $10.00 promo credit no longer applies
· $0.95 estimated tax change
· Usage stays within the recent range

High: promotion end date and eligibility are known.

Hybrid: deterministic + ML

International roaming spike

BA-FORECAST-MOBILE · LINE-FORECAST-MOB-1

Baseline

$164.00

Forecast

$205.00

Three rated roaming days have posted while 12 days remain in the billing cycle.

· $36.00 posted roaming day-pass charges
· $5.00-$17.00 projected remaining mobile usage
· Potential delayed partner roaming records widen the range

Medium: rated charges are known, but late roaming records remain possible.