Bill Audits Overview

Bill audits are powerful tools for data validation and examine utility bill data for accuracy and unusual patterns of use or cost.

Bill Audits

• are focused on the basic elements of the bill, such as correct start and end dates. This helps ensure accurate information is available for reporting and analysis.
• automatically run as you enter or import bills.
• provide immediate feedback as you enter bill details.
• are not performed on chargeback, void, and accrual bills.
• Can be resolved as you save the bill, if your user role and permissions allow. All bill flag actions and updates are logged as part of the bill history.

Flagged Bills Overview

Bill flags mark a bill for manual review and indicate there may be a problem. When no further action is needed for the bill, a user updates the flag status to resolved. Bill Flags were introduced with release 7.5.

Flagged bills

• may require additional attention to verify the integrity of the bill and ensure accurate reporting.
• are visible at the organization, building, meter, cost center, or account level on the Flags tab.

How do Bills get Flagged?

Bills can be flagged 

• automatically with bill audits.
• manually by users.

Bill Audits 

• Are focused on the basic elements of the bill, such as correct start and end dates. This helps ensure accurate information is available for reporting and analysis.
• Automatically run as you enter or import bills.
• Provide immediate feedback as you enter bill details.
• Chargeback, void, and accrual bills are not audited during creation.
• If you edit a chargeback bill and it fails an audit it is flagged.
• The chargeback workflow screen allows you to analyze generated bills.
• If your user role and permissions allow, you can resolve flags as you save the bill. All bill flag actions and updates are logged as part of the bill history.

Chargeback Bills and Audits

For bill splits and summary bills, problems with the source bills will lead to problems with generated bills.

Bill Audits are performed on source bills to help you determine if they are correct. If the source bills are correct it would follow that the generated bills are correct.

The chargeback workflow screen is designed to help you easily identify issues before and after creating chargeback bills.

Example

For most types of chargebacks there can be legitimate reasons for multiple bills in a billing period, and this would cause a large number of bills to be flagged in error.

Chargeback Bills Analysis

The workflow screen allows you to review generated bills.

• Identify meters that don’t have a bill when you expect there to be one (sometimes indicative of missing readings).
• Identify meters that have multiple bills when that’s not what you’re expecting.
• Identify high usage variance compared to either the previous month or the previous year.
• Identify negative, zero, or abnormally high use or cost.
• Identify abnormal unit costs.

Flag and Audit Examples

Any bills entered or imported before version 7.5 are not flagged unless you edit and save the bill or reimport the bills.

For any bills entered or imported before version 7.5, EnergyCAP performs a preliminary audit when you edit the bill to warn you about potential issues. The bill is NOT flagged until you save the bill. See the example below.

Viewing the bill.

Edit the bill and receive audit message.

Flags assigned after the bill is saved.

Flag Type for Bill Audits

Only EnergyCAP can assign the flag type Audit Exception.

Where to View Flagged Bills

Flagged bills can be viewed in a variety of locations:

• bill list.
• flags tab for cost centers and accounts.
• flags tab for organizations, buildings, and meters.
• dashboard content.

Bills Module

Flag Details

View a bill to review bill flags or take actions on the flag.

Bill Flag during Manual Bill Entry

If your user role and permissions allow you see additional options when entering and saving a flagged bill.

Save Bill and Resolve Flag

Allows you to resolve the flag while saving the bill. This action, as all actions, are recorded in flag details.

Save and Flag Bill

Save the bill and flag it for future review.

Resolve a Bill Flag

Update the flag status to resolved when no further action is needed. Update the comments section as needed. As a reminder, the flag details tab stores the history of all flag status updates and comments.

If you resolve a flag but the data issue is not resolved, the audit message is not displayed when viewing a bill. If you edit the bill, the audit message is displayed and the bill is (re)flagged when the bill is saved.

Assign and Update a Bill Flag

If your user role and permissions allow, you can flag any bill that requires additional attention and update any flag settings.

• Flag Types such as billing error or questionable bill, are in the drop-down menu, create additional types to help categorize your bills.
• Assignee is optional, you can assign one or many users. You are only able to assign users that have a user role or permissions to edit the bill. Type part of the first or last name to see a smaller list of users.
• Hold bill from account export allows you to hold the bill and flag at the same time.
• Comments provide a running history of research and actions on the bill.
• If licensed for Account Export an option exists to hold the bill from export.
• Track savings with the Cost Recovery option.

Bill Flag Permissions

Bill Audit Comparison across Versions