Utility Bill Audit - 5 Things to Look for

Posted by Troy Banks on November 26th, 2019

A utility bill audit is an in-depth review of a firms utility invoice details that is mainly done for tracking the billing errors and choosing alternative plans if required, for future savings.

The best way to get your utility bills in control is to do a utility bill audit. Every utility bill, ranging from electricity, water and gas once audited, will help you garner huge savings. If you don’t actually review your bills, this might cost you a lot of money!
It is a fact that most of the firms just pay for their bills without even checking if they are just paying for whatever consumed. It has been notified in research that, this aspect that is often overlooked, accounts for overcharges or clerical errors in ninety percent of the cases!

 You might avoid these bills, but overrunning costs and expenses, is a major turn off for any business! You might be having in house experts to keep a check on and for reviewing a utility bill or utility bill audit companies that would provide you continuous support and service. Now, let us check out a few things to look for while doing a utility bill audit.

1. Keep a close check on the numbers

Check out the current meter readings and see if the energy usage numbers match with the same. There shouldn't be a lot of variation between both. In fact, both the current meter readings and energy usage numbers must be around the same proximity. In short, your meter values must batch the numbers shown in your utility bill. This is a must do because there are high chances of you paying for someone else’s electricity usage.

2. Analyze the rate structures

Your utility firm would assign a rate structure. But you must analyze and check those rate structures and find one of the best rates.

3. Check for any possible anomalies and growth factors

Certain components like for example water supply requirements and charges would be constant. But there are other components like electricity charges that are subject to vary. Like the air conditioning costs would be in the rise in the summers than the winters. If you find any huge variations or anomalies, seek an explanation from the utility firm.

4. Tax exemptions are considered

Utility firms might avoid or overlook the inclusion of tax exemptions in your business. These tax exemptions are to be seriously considered while you make the final bill settlement. Since this exemption varies greatly over states, do good research in the same.

5. For reviewing clerical data

Utility bills are prone to clerical errors. While you take a look at numbers, also check for possible clerical errors which, if not rectified, would amount for huge losses.
You can do these audits in two ways. One, by appointing an in-house team for this purpose, or the second, outsourcing these tasks to contractors.

There are different types of audits - monthly utility audits and one-time utility bill audits. Monthly utility audits are preferred if yours is a huge company and you ought to do this process by utility recovery and invoice auditing services company on an ongoing basis. One time audits are done if you just have to check a particular bill or tax rebates as name suggests, for one time.

At the end of the day, utility recovery and invoice auditing services help you pay the minimum or just for what you actually use! utility bill audit companies would also help you analyze your strategies and you can formulate plans to reduce those bills that have been skyrocketing!