According to a department of national utilities report, an average of 79% of companies suffer overcharges and billing errors within their utility invoices. One way to know for sure if your company falls within this grouping is to hire a bill auditor from Eximius BPO to perform periodic, in-depth utility audits.
Most leases for retail and office tenants occupying space within malls and multi-use properties allow the landlord to supply electricity to the tenant. The tenant is then obligated to purchase the electricity from the landlord. Experienced lease auditors agree that this arrangement is a large profit source for most landlords.
A retail or office tenant cannot rest when it comes to reviewing landlord utility charges. Rather, they need to be active implementing a consistent schedule of auditing their utility charges.
An analysis of a utility invoice will identify billing errors. Utility providers have many rates available to commercial customers. Those rates are created, added to, changed, and amended on a frequent basis. A rate that was appropriate for a tenant in year 1 of a lease may not be the best rate the tenant is eligible for in year 5 of a given lease.
The purpose of the review is to ensure that a tenant is paying the lowest amount possible for their energy — which means the rate agreed upon with the local utility or landlord. An energy bill audit will focus on the many charges and fees on an energy bill(s), to verify their validity, and then determine what can be done to lower them. For a tenant with multiple locations, even the slightest cost adjustments can result in significant bottom- line savings.
There are some common errors that often result in additional costs in a utility invoice. Eximius BPO regularly performs utility audits, checking for errors in meter readings, Tariff overcharges, an incorrect rate plan being applied, simple typing and computing errors, and faulty equipment read outs.
Learn more how the Eximius BPO team of experienced utility auditors can identify energy billing errors for you.