Bill start and end date rules

Most utility companies use the meter read date as both the end date of the current bill and the start date of the next bill. This makes sense because as soon as the meter is read and one bill is closed out, the next bill begins. And, this seldom occurs exactly at midnight.

Avoid double counting days

Historically a meter reader walked a route and recorded readings; today many meter readings are taken electronically. Regardless of the recording method, Utility Management treats the meter read date as both the end date of one billing period and the start of the next.

(If you count both the start date and end date for all bills, a typical monthly account has 12 days too many in each year.)

When the vendor bill ends on one day and begins on the NEXT day?

(For example, October bill ends on October 31 and the November bill begins on November 1.)

Remember based on the rules above, UtilityManagement does not count the last day of the billing period.

These vendor billing dates result in each month being short one day for use per day and cost per day calculations. In this example, October 31 is not included in either billing period calculation.

Correct these bills by changing the end date to the first day of the next billing period, which is the presumed actual meter read date.

For report BL08E set the Allowable Gap Days filter to zero to highlight the one-day gaps. Correct these gaps to have proper use per day and cost per day calculations.

Ramifications of the start date being one day after the prior end date

When each month is short one day, the use per day and cost per day calculations are approximately 3% too high.

Use per day and cost per day are used in several areas and may affect the accuracy of:

• Audits
• Calendarization and normalization
• Budgets
• Reports
• Accruals
• Cost avoidance

Affects on Cost Avoidance reporting

When a baseline bill is affected

If the end/start date rule is not followed in the baseline year, the baseline year is short 12 days. This causes gaps in the baseline as shown by the CAP06 Baseline report.

As a result, the empty baseline day is set to no loss and no gain. This means the BATCC (baseline adjusted to current conditions) use and cost are set to current, no use or cost avoidance exists for that day. Empty baseline days almost always result in slightly understated cost avoidance results for the month.

When a current bill is affected

If the end/start date rule is not followed in current bills, the affect on Cost Avoidance reporting is severe.

A missing day results in a zero baseline use and cost as if the meter was not operational that day. Cost avoidance is understated in all cases.