Commercial account opening

How do we open a commercial account with the entity documents collected, the guarantor or deposit decided, and the account created in CIS on the right rate class?

Run the opening as a verified entity with a credit decision and a rate classification. Callvu takes the business's application on a secure screen (the legal entity and its identifiers, the principals, the premise and the service needs, the expected load and use, the authorized contacts, the billing details), prefills the premise and any prior account at it, chases the entity documents (the formation document, the authority of the signer, the tax identification, the lease or deed for the premise) and verifies them against the state's business registry and the identity theft program's checks, runs the credit decision under the tariff (a deposit, a guarantor, a letter of credit, or a waiver on credit history), classifies the rate class from the use and the load, routes the credit and the rate decision to the credit and rates desks in the Decision Desk, captures the service agreement and the deposit or the guaranty, and writes the account with its contacts, rate class and deposit to CIS and the billing system.

In scopeComplex: multi-party handoffsCallvu moves: prefill, chase and verify, decide, write back

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Last updated November 7, 2026.

The problem today

The restaurant opened on a residential rate under the owner's personal name, with no deposit, and closed owing four months.

Today, without Callvu

A business starting service is a credit decision and a classification the front desk makes in a hurry: the name on the account is the owner's, the rate is whatever the premise had, the deposit is skipped because the owner is in a hurry, and the authorized contacts are whoever called. When the business fails, the utility has an uncollectable balance in the wrong name; when it succeeds, it is on the wrong rate and the rebilling is a dispute.

The tariff sets the commercial deposit rules (the amount by estimated billing, the alternatives, the waiver criteria, the refund), the rate classes by use and load, and the service agreement; the identity theft program requires verification of a new account's identity; the business registry shows the entity and its standing; the signer's authority matters because the agreement binds the entity. Each is a document or a check at opening.

An account opened on the entity, with a deposit decided and the right rate, is one the utility can bill and collect.

How it runs

From the requestto the system of record.

A business applies for service online, by phone, through a property manager or a contractor. Callvu opens the application on the premise.

Business (authorized signer): Applies, uploads the entity documents, signs the service agreement and provides the deposit or the guaranty on a secure screen.
Credit and rates desks: Decide the deposit or guarantor and the rate class in the Decision Desk.
Callvu: Prefills, chases and verifies, runs the credit rules, classifies the rate, routes and writes.

Prefill and apply
The premise, its service and meter, the prior account at the premise and any balance history are prefilled; the application captures the legal entity (the name, the type, the state of formation, the tax identification), the principals, the authorized contacts and their roles, the premise use and the expected load, the start date and the billing details.
Chase and verify
The entity documents are requested through a link (the formation document or the registry extract, the evidence of the signer's authority, the tax identification, the lease or the deed for the premise, a prior utility reference where offered) and verified: the entity against the state's business registry for existence and standing, the signer's authority, the identity theft program's red flags on the applicant and the contacts, and the premise's right of occupancy; what is missing is chased with the specifics.
Decide credit and rate
The credit rules run under the tariff (the deposit from the estimated billing, the waiver on a satisfactory prior history or a credit report, the alternatives of a guarantor, a surety bond or a letter of credit) and the rate class is classified from the use and the load (general service, small commercial, demand-metered, a special class); the credit desk decides the deposit or the guarantor and the rates desk the class in the Decision Desk with the application and the checks, each with only the allowed outcomes; the signer sees the deposit and the rate and accepts.
Write back
The service agreement is signed and the deposit or the guaranty is captured on a secure screen, the account with the entity, the contacts and their authorities, the rate class, the deposit and its refund date and the start order are written to CIS and the billing system, and the business receives the confirmation with the account and the rate.

Where it ends: The account was opened on a verified entity with an authorized signer, the deposit or guarantor decided under the tariff, the rate class set from the use, and CIS and the billing system holding the account with its contacts and deposit. The Decision Trace shows the verifications, the credit rules and the decisions; the Audit Trace shows the documents, the signature, the deposit and the write.

Runtime enforcement

What is enforcedwhile the work runs.

The regulations preloaded in Callvu Studio and the bank's own policies, applied as steps that run, not lines in a binder. A step that breaks a rule does not run, so a completed run was compliant.

Regulations

State commission tariff rules: The tariff's rules for non-residential service set the application and the service agreement, the deposit (commonly up to two months of estimated billing) and its alternatives (a guarantor, a surety bond, a letter of credit) and waiver criteria, the interest and the refund after a satisfactory payment period, the rate classes and their availability by use and load, and the customer's responsibility for the final bill at the premise.
FTC Red Flags Rule identity theft program: A utility that opens covered accounts must maintain an identity theft prevention program (16 CFR 681) that identifies red flags at account opening, verifies the identity of the applicant and the authorized contacts, and responds to detected red flags before the account is opened; the verification of the entity, the signer and the contacts implements it.
State business entity law and the beneficial ownership rules: The entity's existence and good standing are verified in the state's registry, the signer's authority follows the entity's documents, and where the utility's policy applies beneficial ownership checks, the principals are identified.

Company policies

The account is opened on the legal entity with a verified signer; never on an individual's name for a business premise.
The deposit or the guarantor is decided under the tariff's rules before service starts.
The rate class is set from the use and the load, decided by the rates desk where unclear.
CIS and the billing system are the system of record for the account, the contacts and the deposit.

Controls

Premise and prior account prefill.
Entity document requests with registry and authority verification.
Identity theft program checks.
Tariff credit rules and rate classification.
Decision Desk for credit and rate decisions.
Agreement signature, deposit capture and CIS and billing write.

Clocks and deadlines

Start date: The business's requested date, after the agreement and the deposit.
Deposit refund: After the tariff's satisfactory payment period, set on the account.
Document chase: Reminders on the policy's schedule with the start date in view.

Documents and checks

The application and the premise data
The entity documents and the verifications
The credit decision and the rate classification
The signed agreement and the deposit or guaranty
The CIS and billing record

In the Decision Trace

Each verification.
The credit rules and the decision with the person.
The rate classification and the decision.

In the Audit Trace

Each document with time.
The signature and the deposit.
The write and the start order.

The handoff

Between the front doorand the back office.

The front door

Online, by phone, a property manager or a contractor; the signer completes on a secure screen.

The back office

The credit and rates desks decide from verified applications; CIS is written by the process.

The Decision Desk

The deposit or guarantor goes to the credit desk and the rate class to the rates desk in the Decision Desk with the application and the checks, each with only the allowed outcomes.

Proof

In scope.Proof at scale, not one process at a time.

The kind of process Callvu runs in production for customers in this industry. Ask for a reference on this exact process. The results below are the industry's published proof; each claim code links to its record on agents.callvu.com.

More than 1,000 processes are live across Callvu customers.

Across Callvu customers

PSEG Long Island runs start, stop and move service on Callvu, live in 4 weeks.

Across Callvu customers

Questions

What buyers ask next,answered plainly.

What documents does a business provide?

The formation document or registry extract, the evidence of the signer's authority, the tax identification and the lease or deed for the premise, through a link, verified against the state's registry.

Is a deposit required?

Under the tariff's rules from the estimated billing, with the alternatives of a guarantor, a bond or a letter of credit and the waiver criteria, decided by the credit desk before service starts.

How is the rate set?

From the premise's use and the expected load against the tariff's classes, decided by the rates desk where it is not clear by rule.

Related processes

Multi-site and summary billing enrollment Business rate classification review Sales tax exemption certificate Deposit and credit decisions inside the request Compared with the alternatives Try it in the sandbox All utilities processes

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