How to Verify Billing Accuracy

How to Verify Billing Accuracy

  1. Why Billing Verification is needed
    The impact of energy cost on businesses are constantly increasing, and businesses are realising that it is a critical measurement component that requires active management.
    Verifying that the energy you use is equal to the energy you are being billed for is therefore an obvious first step to managing your energy cost.
    There is also a risk management component as under or over billed energy can be claimed back for up to 36 months, from both the user and supplied point of view, This could put severe financial strain on a business.

    How often should it be done

    1. Capturing a bill verification should take less than 5 minutes, and should therefore be loaded on a monthly basis.
      If all bill verifications loaded to date have been within acceptable range, it is still recommended to continue loading new bills on a monthly basis to ensure any potential billing or measurement issues are caught sooner rather than later.

    1. How to guide - Capturing a Bill Verification:
      The following is a step by step guide on completing a bill verification accurately.

      1. Get the relevant electricity bill in hand.

      1. Ensure the billing details match the site/ERF you are trying to verify.

        1. Identify the reading dates.

      1. Note, each bill will have a reading start and end date, as well as an invoice date/period. It is critical that you only reference the READING start and end date's.

        1. Identify the readings, rates, and cost.

      1. Each tariff will have different billing line items and the structure and information on the bill will be unique.
        Common tariff line items may include:

      1. Consumption - standard

        1. Consumption - peak

        1. Consumption - off peak

        1. Demand

        1. Service charge

        1. When looking at the rates and costs, ensure that you are dealing with values exclusive of VAT.
          Some utilities (e.g. Drakenstein Municipality) will use rates and costs that are inclusive of VAT, which will create variances if added to a bill verification without adjustment.

      1. Open The Augos "Add Bill Verification" Modal

      1. Open https://live.augos.io/app/ 

      1. Alternatively, Open https://live.augos.io/app/bill-verification and skip to step 5

        1. Navigate to the left hand side menu

        1. Open the "Utilities & Services" Sub Menu

        1. Click on "Bill Verification"

        1. Navigate to the third tile on the right hand side and click on "Add Bill Verification"

      1. Add Bill Verification

      1. Add Reading Start and End Dates
        On the top left-hand side of the  "Add Bill Verification" Modal, you will find the date selector.

      1. Change the "from" and "to" dates to match the bills reading dates.

        1. Note, reading periods shorter than 15 days, or longer than 45 days, it is advised to contact a Augos support representative to assist with loading the bill accurately.


        1. Add Bill Readings

      1. On the left-hand side of the modal, you will find the "Bill Details" as column 1. These are the tariff line items that should be available on your bill. This is a non editable column.

        1. Column 2 is the "Actual Units". Here you should enter the actual readings as found on the bill. These readings as an example would be:

      1. kWh Consumption - standard

        1. kWh Consumption - peak

        1. kWh Consumption - off peak

        1. kVA Demand

        1. Daily/Monthly Service charge

        1. Column 3 is the "Actual Rate"

      1. Customers should not change this column. If the listed rates are different from the rates on the bill, further investigation is required. Please contact an Augos support representative.

        1. Column 4 for is the "Total" cost.

      1. As column 2 is being filled in, this column will calculate the cost (reading multiplied by rate).

        1. It is critical that each line item's cost, as well as total cost matches the values on the bill. If it does not, and the readings have been accurately added, then further investigation is required.  Please contact an Augos support representative.

        1. Columns 5, 6, 7 & 8 are place holders for the Augos readings. These should be ignored for the time-being.

        1. If you would like to upload a copy of the bill to the system for record keeping purposes, click on the "Upload Bill" Button at the bottom left-hand side of the screen.

      1. Click on the "Choose File" Button

      1. Select the correct file

        1. Click the "Save" Button

        1. If all Bill details have been captured, click the "Save" Button


      1. Verify Accuracy of Billing

      1. The bill verification that has been added will now appear as a row in the "Report comparison" Table.

      1. Click on the 3 dot menu on the far right hand side of the row.

      1. Click on "View Details

        1. The "View Bill Details" modal

      1. This modal provides a detailed view and comparison between the billed reading, rates, and costs, and the Augos reading, rates, and costs, and provides a per line item variance, as well as total variance between the two data sets.

        1. Check each line items values and variance and ensure the values seem reasonable.

      1. Even if the total variance is within acceptable range, large variances on specific line items could indicate potential problems that need attention.

        1. Variances within below 2.5% (positive or negative (under billed or over billed)) will be marked with a green check mark to indicate that it is within acceptable range.

        1. Variances within above 2.5% (positive or negative (under billed or over billed)) will be marked with a red cross to indicate that it is outside acceptable range and further investigation is required.


        1. Look at the bigger picture

      1. One period's verification that is outside the acceptable range may not necessarily require immediate action.   

        1. It is important to look at a trend of at least 3 months.

      1. The trend, variance changes, location of variance, etc. could assist with identifying the cause of the variance.

        1. One large variance period could simply be a single billing or metering error.

        1. The variance could self correct over months, going from over billing, to under billing, moving back and forth and averaging a correct billed amount when looking at a 36 month period.

        1. If Consistent under or over billing is being recorded, contact a Augos support representative to initiate an investigation process.
          This investigation process could include:

      1. Physical inspection of the metering equipment & Measurement Settings

        1. Logging exercise to verify measurement accuracy

        1. 36 Month Bill Verification to determine total under/over billed amount.


     

     


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