A corporate-liable (CL) mobile plan is a cellular service arrangement in which the company, not the employee, is the carrier’s customer for the line. The business signs the contract, pays the bill, and usually owns the phone number and decides which plans and features each line has. Corporate-liable lines are often paired with company-owned phones, tablets, hotspots or routers. The opposite model is individual-liable (IL), where employees hold their own accounts and the company may pay a stipend or reimbursement. Many organizations run a mix of both.
At a glance
- The company is the account holder and pays the carrier directly for corporate-liable lines.
- The company usually keeps the phone number when an employee leaves.
- Corporate-liable lines are commonly paired with company-owned devices, but the two are separate choices.
- Volume discounts, pooled data and central management are the main financial levers.
- The company takes on more administrative work: ordering, upgrades, cancellations, audits and device management.
What problem it solves
When employees pay for their own phones and expense the bill, the company has little control. Reimbursement creates paperwork and inconsistent costs. Customers and partners call a number the company doesn’t own, so the relationship can leave with the employee. The company may also have limited ability to secure or wipe a device that holds work data.
A corporate-liable plan puts the company in charge. It can negotiate volume pricing, pool data across lines, assign standard devices, keep numbers when people leave, and require mobile device management on the devices it provides. Finance gets one bill, or a few, instead of many expense reports.
How it works
Account setup. The company opens one or more business accounts with a carrier or MVNO, often under a master agreement that sets pricing, discounts and terms. Lines are added under that account.
Plans and pooling. Each line gets a voice and data plan, an unlimited plan, or membership in a pooled data plan shared across lines. Data-only lines for tablets, hotspots and routers can sit on the same account.
Devices. The company buys or leases devices, or in some cases puts corporate lines on employee-owned phones. Device ownership affects how much control IT can exercise and what happens at offboarding.
Administration. Someone orders new lines, processes upgrades, moves numbers, suspends lines for departing staff and checks bills. Carrier business portals, wireless expense management services and device management tools handle much of this work.
To review mobile plans and costs across lines, see our wireless expense management solution page.
When it matters for buyers
- Setting mobility policy. Decide which roles get corporate lines, which get stipends, and which use their own devices.
- Cost reviews. Unused lines, oversized plans and expired promotions build up on corporate accounts; an audit often finds savings.
- Contract renewal. Corporate-liable volume is your negotiating position; consolidate lines before negotiating.
- Offboarding. Make sure lines are suspended or reassigned, numbers kept and devices recovered when people leave.
Questions to ask vendors
- What volume discounts and plan options are available for corporate-liable lines on our account?
- Can data be pooled across phones, tablets and routers on the same account?
- Who owns the phone numbers, and what is the process to port them in or out?
- What are the device financing terms, and what happens to balances if we cancel or move lines?
- Are there minimum line counts or revenue commitments in the agreement, and what happens if we fall below them?
- Can we see per-line usage and cost in a portal or export it to our expense tools?
- How are individual-liable employees treated if they want to join a company discount program?
How it differs from bring your own device (BYOD)
Corporate-liable describes who pays the carrier and owns the line. Bring your own device (BYOD) describes who owns the device. BYOD usually pairs with individual-liable lines, where employees keep their own accounts and the company may pay a stipend. Corporate-owned, personally enabled (COPE) and other company-owned models usually pair with corporate-liable lines. Because the two choices are separate, a policy should spell out both: who owns the line and number, and who owns and manages the device.