Suppose you bought a brand-new car. It’s shiny, beautiful, and everything you were looking for.
You drive it off the lot, make a right hand turn - and it inexplicably dies right there in the road.
I’m guessing you would be less than thrilled.
In some ways, audits are like cars - they’re worthless if they don’t do what they should.
You want one that is thorough and effective. You don’t want to leave cost saving opportunities on the table; you want to be able to come away with all the savings available to you.
To make sure you’re working with the best auditor, ask them these three questions:
What does your audit process look like?
How do you bill us?
What on-going services do you provide?
A so-so auditor isn’t going to cut it. Let’s take a look at each of these in-depth.
What does your audit process look like?
The more thorough the initial audit, the less you’ll overspend. It’s just that simple.
You don’t want to partner with someone who is going to find $2000 worth of monthly savings, but miss the $4000 opportunity by not bothering to check your tax exemption status.
To really delve deep into the audit process, ask them a few additional questions:
What’s the turn-around time or time commitment? Audits can take quite some time - anywhere from 90 - 120 days. Be suspicious of someone who tells you they can complete their audit in less than two weeks.
What do you analyze during the audit process? Your auditor needs to be exhaustive. They should look at your meter usage, your contracts, and the past year of utility and telecom invoices for each location.
How do you share your findings? Will you get a copy of the audit results? What will the next steps of implementation look like? How much will your input be encouraged and accepted? You don’t want to partner with someone who isn’t forthcoming about these topics.
Curious if your company could benefit from an audit? Why not schedule a risk-free, informal call?
How do you bill us?
We really believe in performance-based pricing. You should only pay for services that benefit you.
If we don’t find you any savings, you don’t owe us anything.
We share in the profit with you only after you have implemented our recommendations. We share in the savings fifty-fifty.
What on-going services do you provide?
A thorough audit is the ideal way to find where you’re overspending - and to stop!
But to protect your savings, your best bet is to have an auditor conduct a monthly check-up on all locations associated with your account in order to verify that the savings remains in place.
This ensures that your bills are checked for discrepancies, and that you get any credits you’re due.
A audit program is exactly what you need!
Your utility and telecom audit program should benefit you by providing detailed audit services, transparent billing practices, and on-going services.
You can have peace of mind knowing that you aren’t wasting resources or capital on ineffective services.
The three questions above are ones we answer for clients on a pretty consistent basis, and we’d love to discuss them with you too!
Get in touch with us today, and let us know what you’d like to get out of a utilities audit. We’re happy to answer any questions you may have.
Audits can yield unexpected savings - how much are you sitting on?
Utility audits help prevent overspending
The more you know about audits, the more likely you are to not overspend on your utilities.
Find out what an audit entails, and why you need one!