Energy invoices carry more lines than most people check, and the errors are rarely dramatic. They are small, repeated and easy to miss, which is exactly why they persist.
Verification
- Verified as at:
- Source:
- Omnium method; validation is performed against the signed contract
- Last reviewed by:
- Omnium
Figures in this sheet were current at the verification date above. Regulated charges reset each April. If you are relying on a figure, check the source or ask us.
Designed A4 fact sheet, ready to print or circulate.
What actually goes wrong
| Error | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Estimated reads | A run of estimates that drifts from actual consumption, storing up a large correction later. |
| Wrong rate applied | A rate billed that does not match the signed contract, often after a renewal or a price change date. |
| Wrong meter | Charges applied to a meter that is not yours, or to a site you no longer occupy. |
| Wrong VAT or levy treatment | Standard-rated VAT applied where a reduced rate or a levy exemption was due. |
| Capacity and reactive charges | Billed on a figure that does not match the agreed capacity on file. |
| Period errors | A billing period that does not match the read dates, or that overlaps the previous invoice. |
Validation is against the contract, not against last month
An invoice that looks like the last one is not thereby correct. We validate against the signed contract, taking the rates from the contract documents rather than from the invoice or the portfolio record.
Where the customer information document and the main terms disagree, the customer information document governs. It is the document carrying the rates, and it is the one we read first.
We validate for payment. You approve it
We check the invoice and mark it validated for payment. The approval is the client’s, and we do not describe our work as approving an invoice, because it is not.
Where a line is wrong we raise it in writing with the supplier, with the account, the meter, the period and the specific line. The undisputed amount stays payable by the due date. We do not tell a client to withhold a whole invoice over one line.
What we will not do
We will not validate around an estimated read. Where a read is estimated we say so on the validation and note what it means for the figures, rather than treating the estimate as though it were a reading.
We will not check a day and night split against an assumed window. The window is a per-meter fact set in the contract, and where it is not on file we skip that check and say why. A confident report built on a guessed window is worse than no report.
Related sheets
- Reading your energy bill
What every line on a commercial gas and electricity bill means, so you can check it is right and see which parts you can influence.
- Contract types, and how a fixed rate is built
The four business contract types, how a supplier assembles a fixed price, and why the wholesale market is no longer the larger part of an electricity rate.
- Meter types explained
Half-hourly, non-half-hourly, AMR, smart and unmetered supplies, what each means for billing and data, and why the meter type decides what you can see.
Take this sheet into a meeting
Invoice validation is available as a designed A4 fact sheet, dated and set for printing or circulation.
If this sheet raises a question about your own sites, speak to us.