Services / Bill validation
Bill validation
Check every line.Validate for payment.
What is checked
Rates and charges
Unit rates, standing charges and availability charges, read against the signed contract rather than against the previous invoice.
Capacity and reactive power
Agreed capacity charges and any reactive power or excess capacity charges, checked against the recorded level for the supply.
Non-commodity elements
Levies and pass-through charges, confirmed at the rates that apply to the period billed.
Taxes and reliefs
VAT and the climate change levy at the correct rate for the supply, including reliefs where the site qualifies.
Meter and supply details
Meter readings, estimates and supply numbers, so a billing error on one site cannot roll into the next period.
Nothing estimated around
Where data is missing, the gap is recorded as a gap. We do not estimate around it to make an invoice reconcile.
How it works
Invoice and letter of authority
The latest full invoice for each meter and a signed letter of authority, so we can hold the contract terms and speak to the supplier on your account.
Contract rates recorded
The signed rates, standing charges and contract dates are recorded on the account file, so every later invoice is read against the agreement rather than against the last bill.
Each invoice checked line by line
Rates, capacity and reactive charges, levies, taxes, reliefs, readings and supply numbers, with the arithmetic recalculated.
Invoice marked for payment or held
You receive each invoice marked as validated for payment, or held with a stated reason. You approve payment; we do not.
Queries raised and recovery pursued
A line that does not reconcile is raised with the supplier with the clause and the figures behind it, and the credit or repayment is recorded when it lands.
When something is wrong
A line that does not reconcile is raised with the supplier as a formal query, with the contract clause and the figures behind it. The query, the response and the outcome are all recorded on the account file.
Where an overcharge is confirmed, we pursue the credit or repayment and record it when it lands, so the file shows not just that an error was found but that the money came back.
What you receive
Each invoice comes back marked as validated for payment or held with a stated reason. You approve payment. A running exception log shows every query raised, its status and its outcome, dated throughout.
What it costs
The first check across your invoices costs nothing. Before any fee is discussed, you see what reconciles against the contract and what does not.
Where you appoint us to validate invoices on an ongoing basis, the fee for that work is set out in writing and agreed before it begins. Recovery of a confirmed overcharge is handled on the same basis: the fee, and how it is calculated, is agreed with you in advance. There are no charges you have not seen in writing first.
Read the detail
How to check this
Each claim on this page is answered by something you can read for yourself. Nothing below states a figure; it names the document or register the claim is held against.
Point 01
We hold a Level 1 Letter of Authority only
The authority wording sets out what we may do with your data and states that we cannot sign a contract on your behalf. Read it before you sign it.
Point 02
How we are paid is agreed in writing before you sign
Our margin or management fee is stated in the terms that accompany a recommendation, and nothing is added afterwards.
Point 03
Every figure we quote carries a dated source document
Records state the figure, what it is measured against, the document it is taken from and the date on that document. Records still held anonymous are labelled as such.
Point 04
Validation is carried out against the invoice and the contract
Each query names the invoice, the line it sits on and the contract term it is checked against, so a supplier can answer it directly.
Point 05
We separate regulated charges from the part a supplier can hold
Network and policy charges are set outside the supplier and reset each April for every supplier alike. We do not describe them as fixed unless we hold written confirmation for that product.