Bill flag audit rules
You configure audits from the Bills module menu.
Audit settings
Configure each bill audit individually to flag bills that meet specific criteria.
- Decide if you want to activate the audit by choosing Flag. (Flag & Hold is available when you are licensed for Accounting Export.)
- Determine if there is a minimum bill total cost for each audit. Any bill less than the amount is not audited.
- If the bill fails the audit you can automatically assign one or more UtilityManagement users to the bill.
Bill entry audit details
These audits are focused on basic elements of the bill and help to ensure accurate information is available for reporting and analysis.
Bill entry |
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| Duplicate bill | Likely duplicate bill on account | Possible data entry error or billing error. |
If the total bill cost equals the prior bill cost AND the start and end dates on the bills match, the bill is flagged. |
| Repeat invoice number | Invoice number is repeated on account | Possible data entry error or billing error. |
If a duplicate invoice number is found within the last four years, the bill is flagged. |
| Gap between bills | Gap of two or more days between this bill and the preceding bill on the same account | Could indicate a missing bill or data entry error. |
If a gap of two or more days is found between this bill and the preceding bill, the bill is flagged. To learn more about how gaps affect your data, see Bill Start and End Date Rules. You can use Report-17 to find 1-day gaps. |
| Overlapping bill | Bill overlaps with another bill on the same account | Possible data entry error or billing error. |
If one or more bills in history have overlapping start or end dates AND values exist for at least one of the meters on the bill, the bill is flagged. |
| Multiple bills in period | Multiple bills for the same account in the same billing period | Could indicate a data entry error or billing error. |
If a matching billing period is found, the bill is flagged. |
| Shorter or longer bill | Bill is significantly shorter or longer than previous bills for the same account | Could indicate a data entry error or billing error. |
If at least three prior bills exist, the average is calculated and compared to the current bill. All bills on the account are used for the average computation. If this average exceeds the parameters set, the bill is flagged. |
| Consecutive estimated bills | Too many consecutive estimated bills on account | Contact the vendor to get an actual reading. |
If the current bill and the previous bill are estimated, the system counts the total consecutive estimated bills (including the current bill). If the count exceeds the threshold set, the bill is flagged |
| Future end date | Bill unexpectedly ends in the future |
This audit checks for future billing. May be a data entry error. Could be valid for a prepaid commodity that isn't based on use, such as trash. |
If the end date is in the future and there are no bills from history, the bill is flagged. OR If less than 4% of historical bills have a bill creation date before the bill end date, the bill is flagged. |
| Unexpected billing period | Billing period is outside the bill's start and end dates | Data entry error. |
The earliest possible billing period and the most recent possible billing period based on the start and end dates is calculated. If the actual billing period does not equal the earliest, the most recent, or is not between the two periods, the bill is flagged. *One day is subtracted from the end date of the bill to calculate the most recent possible billing period. |
| Early due date | Due date is before the end date of the bill | Possible data entry error. |
If the fields are provided and the statement date is before the end date, the bill is flagged. |
| Late due date | Due date is too many days after the end date of the bill | Possible data entry error. |
If the due date is provided and exceeds the specified number of days after the bill end date, the bill is flagged. |
| Early statement date | Statement date is before the end date of the bill | Possible data entry error. |
If the statement date is before the end date and there are no historical bills, the bills is flagged. OR if less than 4% of the historical bills have a statement date before the end date, the bill is flagged. |
| Late statement date | Statement date is too many days after the end date of the bill | Possible data entry error. |
If the statement date is greater than the specified number of days after the end date of the bill, the bill is flagged. |
| High use per day |
Use per day is higher than previous bills on the same meter
You may want to turn this audit off if you are also using outlier audits. |
There must be at least five historic bills to perform this audit. Possible billing error or meter issue. |
The highest 10% of all valid historic bills are ignored. Multiply the highest use per day from the remaining bills by three to determine the MAX allowed use per day. If the current meter's use per day is >= calculated MAX, the bill is flagged. |
| High cost per day |
Cost per day is higher than previous bills on the same meter
You may want to turn this audit off if you are also using outlier audits. |
There must be at least five historic bills to perform this audit.
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The highest 10% of all valid historic bills are ignored. Multiply the highest cost per day from the remaining bills by three to determine the MAX allowed cost/day. If the current meter's cost per day is >= calculated MAX, the bill is flagged. |
| Flagged line item type found | Bill contains one or more of the following line item types | Searching for a particular line item type, for example - tax. |
Includes account line items. Must be an exact match. If a match exists but the line has no value the bill is not flagged. |
| Flagged line item description found | Bill contains one of the following line item descriptions (captions) | Searching for a caption on a bill, this does not need an exact match. |
Includes account line items. Case-insensitive. This is a like comparison, not starts with, and searches the entire line for a matching result. If the line exists but has no value the bill is not flagged. |
| Total cost mismatch | Calculated total bill cost does not match provided total bill cost from the following line item types |
Useful when importing bills. |
The calculated total bill cost does not match the provided total bill cost. The line item you search for must be an exact match. If a match exists but the line has no value the bill is not flagged. |
Imported bills audit details
These audits run specifically for imported bills, this includes Bill CAPture.
Imported bills |
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| Active account alert | Account alert is active on account (non-fail type) | Any bill with an active warn alert is flagged. | If a warn account alert is active on the account on any day of the bill being imported, the bill is flagged. |
| Rate schedule mismatch | Rate schedule in import file does not match rate schedule assigned to meter | Useful when importing bills. |
If the rate schedule provided in the bill import file does not match the rate schedule that is effective on the first day of the imported bill, the bill is flagged. |
| Serial number mismatch | Serial number in import file does not match serial number assigned to meter | Useful when importing bills. | If a serial number is provided and doesn't match the serial number stored in UtilityManagement, the bill is flagged. This could indicate the vendor swapped out the meter. |
Outlier audit details
Outlier audits use the same logic as Report-13 and help you to identify abnormal bills using your bill history and past and current weather data. Quadratic regression models for use, cost, and demand highlight bills for review.
Regression analysis and identifying outliers based on standard deviation helps reduce false-positives that occur when using strict limits or percentage-based auditing. When bills are consistent over time, outliers are identified when smaller changes occur. When bills have a lot of variability or seasonal variability, regression analysis helps separate expected variation from unusual bills.
The bills for any meter attached to an organization are not checked by the outlier audits.
The middle line is the mean (average) of your last 12 bills (up to 24 months of bills). The more you move away from the average the more statistically significant it is that there could be a problem with the bill.
- Severe deviation is greater than 3.0 or less than -4.0
- High deviation is between 2.0 and 3.0 or between -3.0 and -4.0
- Moderate deviation is between 1.5 and 2.0 or between -2.0 and -3.0
Outlier audits12 months of data is needed before these audits can analyze bills. |
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| Abnormal cost | Abnormal cost with the configured outlier analysis sensitivity | ||
| Abnormal use | Abnormal use with the configured outlier sensitivity | ||
| Abnormal demand | Abnormal demand with the configured outlier analysis sensitivity | ||
Customized audit options
If you have specific needs, UtilityManagement can customize audits for you. Contact us to get more information on custom implementation options and training.
Example
You can create custom meter fields used by UtilityManagement webhooks to flag specific bills. This method lets you fine tune the audit variance for each meter.