Utility
Audit Program Details
We Audit Utility Bills and find moneys that were over charged,
we can go back up to 3 years in the past to recover over charges
from local utility companies. The utility company will issue
a check or refund 30-45 days after refindings from audit.
Background - Our auditing team has over 30 years of combined
experience performing audits. They have performed audits in
48 states, as well as in Mexico and Canada, and within virtually
every type of industry. All audits are performed by an experienced
auditing team - we do not use software programs to target
the low hanging fruit in order to cut costs and hedge risk.
Our audits are quality driven in order to provide maximum
refunds.
We strive to build strong client relationships; our reputation
and customer satisfaction is our top priority. Our mission
is to obtain refunds for any and all errors and billing discrepancies,
while eliminating any unnecessary charges to ensure our client's
utility invoices will be 100% accurate and efficient.
Client
Services - Whether a client has one location or several nationwide
we have experience working with clients from every type of
industry and geographical location. Utilities Refund works
with clients on a national basis in all industries. Our clientele
includes, but is not limited to, manufacturing plants, restaurant
chains, hotels, cold storage facilities, office complexes,
municipalities, educational facilities, sport stadiums, and
banks. A Power Company will not impede on any service that
the affiliate is currently servicing or intends to service
the client with.
Utility Refund will however, "obtain the money owed to
you, as well as, identify the monthly reoccurring charges
that you do not need to owe." We do so by reviewing the
following areas of the bill:
Gas & Electric - Tariff analysis, equipment charges, removal
and correction of meter errors, demand errors, rate structures,
and unnecessary minimum charges.
Telecommunications - Audit of all local, long distance, wireless,
data, and Internet charges, evaluation of the cost effectiveness
of line charges, usage charges, and feature packages.
Water - Accurate meter reads, sewer charges, rate schedules,
and hazardous surcharge evaluation.
Risk Management - Auditor takes financial risk with each audit.
There is a 20-30% chance that we will not find any refunds
or monthly reductions within the client's utility invoices.
We take full responsibility of paying the auditing team and
incur any other costs or fees associated with the audit.
There are three potential ways to generate cost savings within
a utility bill:
Reduce Your Cost Per Unit - Switch energy Suppliers (Pay less
for what you use)
Reduce Your Demand - Install energy saving/reduction products
such as retrofit lighting, energy capacitors, etc. (Reduce
how much you need to consume).
Recapture & Remove Error Charges - Directly add to your
bottom-line by obtaining a refund on past overcharges, errors,
and billing discrepancies. Remove unnecessary reoccurring
monthly charges and consolidate supplier services (Utility
Refund Auditing).
Utility Refund Auditors 'work flow' to complete an audit:
Obtain bill copies. They can be obtained during the meeting
or another time can be scheduled to pick them up. The bills
can be obtained from the supplier, however many suppliers
have restrictions on how many months they will provide. Typically,
we ask for up to 36 months, however, we can obtain most information
from the supplier.
Letter of authorizations will be sent to the client to be
signed so we can communicate with the supplier.
The audit will take approximately 6-8 weeks to complete.
The client will be updated during the audit of our progress
and findings.
The client will be presented with a summary report at the
end of the audit. We will need written approval from the client
to implement any of our recommendations.
We will send a summary report of the findings to the referring
partner for their record.
We will invoice the client once the supplier sends any refunds.
The client will be invoiced on a monthly basis for any future
credits/savings based on the term of the contract.
We will compensate to the referring partner within 15 days
from when A Power Company receives the client's payment.
We will monitor the client's bills for one year through an
online portal and on a month to month basis thereafter to
ensure all recommendations have been implemented.
FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
Why do we need a Utility and Telecom audit?
Our experience shows that in approximately 80% of our audits
we identify errors and/or overcharges. They are insidious
in nature in that even if the amount is small, it will likely
continue for years to come. Many or most errors and overcharges
are either refundable or are subject to a 36-48 month statute
of limitations. Errors found beyond the statute of limitation
can not be recovered; therefore, every month that passes is
another month of potential refunds lost.
How much can we expect you to find?
Frankly, we have no way of knowing. Typically the results
are anywhere from 0% to 5%, 10% or more. Keep in mind that
about 20% of the time we verify that your billings are correct
and cost efficient. This is the best news we can bring to
you. Our mission is to verify the accuracy of utility and
telecom invoices as we serve the same function as your outside
financial firm who verifies the accuracy of your financial
statements.
How are you paid?
We are paid on a contingency basis, which means that if we
find nothing, we are paid nothing. We know that this will
occur in about 20% of our audits. This is a financial risk
which we assume, as our auditors must be paid for their work,
regardless of whether or not we have earned a fee. We have
designed our compensation and fee structure so that, on the
average, it is fair to our clients and fair to us.
What is our involvement?
You will provide a copy of your invoices and a letter of agency
which authorizes us to correspond with your service providers
and to access your customer service records. We will use these
documents to verify the accuracy of the invoices. Our audit
work is done off site, in our offices and does not involve
your people. We will ask for a point of contact within your
organization which is qualified to answer any questions which
may arise during the audit process.
What is the downside?
Of course as we see it, and as our many clients will attest,
there is no downside. We partner with our clients where our
interests are completely aligned with theirs, we do the work,
and we take the financial risk.
