In April 2009, Connecticut’s Office of Policy and Management asked for proposals on a job most finance teams will recognize. Roughly 3,000 electric accounts and 550 natural gas accounts across 29 executive branch agencies needed someone to review three to five years of energy bills, find the errors and recover the overpayments. The compensation clause ran one sentence: the contractor would be paid “an agreed upon contingency fee based on moneys recovered.”
Hire a utility bill audit service today and you’ll likely be offered that deal or its opposite, a recurring fee to audit every bill from here on. The choice decides what the audit can find and what it costs.
Utility invoice auditing services are outsourced reviews of electricity, gas, water, sewer and waste bills in which a provider checks each meter’s charges against its tariff or contract rate, its usage history and the sites you actually operate, then works with the utility to correct what it finds. Hire a one-off recovery audit to reach back into bills you’ve already paid, and an ongoing audit to stop the same errors from billing again. Before you sign either, get three terms in writing: how deep the audit goes, how far back it reaches, and what the fee is charged on and for how long.
RadiusPoint audits utility bills as part of its Utility Expense Management (UEM) service in ExpenseLogic, its platform for telecom, wireless and utility expenses, with meter-level audit, tariff analysis and closed-location billing exception reports. One multi-location RadiusPoint client was paying $1,500 a month, $18,000 a year, for utilities at locations it had already closed.
Key Takeaways
- A utility bill audit service should test each meter, not account totals: meter setup, tariff and rate class, demand charges, consumption against history, and closed sites.
- A one-off recovery audit reaches back into paid bills. Connecticut’s 2009 recovery audit request asked for at least three and no more than five years of history.
- An ongoing audit checks each new bill, so it catches sites that close and meters that spike after a one-off audit ends.
- Contingency fees come out of recoveries, and some contracts add a share of future savings for a set term. Get the savings definition, the baseline and the end date in writing.
- One RadiusPoint client was paying $18,000 a year for utilities at closed locations, the kind of charge a closed-site check is built to find.
Short version: Hire a one-off recovery audit when past bills have never been checked, keep an ongoing meter-level audit running so the same errors don’t bill again, and sign neither until the contract defines the lookback window, the savings baseline and the date the fees end.
What Does a Utility Bill Audit Service Actually Check?
A utility bill audit service checks each meter’s charges against its tariff or contract rate, its usage history and your list of open sites. Those checks catch different errors, and they pay off at different times. The table shows what each audit type compares, what it typically catches, and whether a one-off or an ongoing audit is the better way to run it.
| Audit type | What the provider compares | What it typically catches | One-off or ongoing? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meter-level check | Meter numbers, multipliers and read types on the bill against the meter list for each site | A wrong multiplier, estimated reads that were never trued up, a meter billed to the wrong account or billed twice | Both. A recovery audit claims the back months; an ongoing audit stops the next bill. |
| Tariff and rate class check | Each charge against the utility’s published rate schedule and riders, and the supply charge against your contract price in a deregulated market | Charges that don’t match the schedule, a supply rate that drifted from the contract, a meter on a rate class the site no longer fits | Both for billing errors. A rate class change is a forward fix. |
| Demand charge review | Billed kW, demand multipliers and ratchets against metered peak demand | Demand billed above the metered peak, or a ratchet still charging for a peak the site set months ago | Mostly ongoing, because demand is billed again every cycle. |
| Consumption anomaly check | Each meter’s usage against its own history, its season and thresholds you set | A spike, a zero read on a site that’s open, or usage that doesn’t fit the building | Ongoing. An anomaly costs least the month it first appears. |
| Closed site check | Meters still billing against site close dates and vacancy records | Bills for locations you’ve closed, or for units left vacant with the account in your name | Ongoing. Sites keep closing after a one-off audit ends. |
A provider can list all five checks and still run only some of them on every bill, so ask which run against your meter list each cycle and which happen once during setup. A comparison of this month’s total with last month’s is a variance check: it shows that a bill changed, not whether it was right.
To run the checks in-house instead, the guide on how to audit a utility bill walks through them meter by meter. The rest of this page is about hiring someone to do it.
One-Off Recovery Audit or Ongoing Audit?
A one-off recovery audit reviews past bills to claim refunds, while an ongoing audit checks every new bill as it arrives, cycle after cycle. The first brings money back. The second stops the same errors from billing again. If your utility bills have never been audited, you may need both, in that order, and the table compares them side by side.
| Factor | One-off recovery audit | Ongoing audit |
|---|---|---|
| What it looks at | Bills you’ve already paid, over a set lookback window | Each new bill, every billing cycle |
| Time window | Set in the contract. Connecticut’s 2009 request asked for at least three and no more than five years. | Open-ended, for as long as the contract runs |
| Main output | Claims for refunds and credits, plus a findings report | Exceptions held or disputed, plus a corrected record of meters and rate classes |
| Common fee basis | A contingency fee from money recovered, sometimes with a share of future savings | A recurring fee, such as a flat monthly amount or a rate per invoice or per meter |
| When it ends | When the lookback window has been worked and the claims close | When the contract ends |
| What it misses | Errors that start after it closes, such as a site that shuts next quarter | Money lost before the service started |
| Best fit | Bills that have never been audited, or a portfolio you’ve just acquired | Portfolios where sites open, close and change rate class |
Energy cost recovery services are usually the one-off kind. The provider reviews past electric and gas bills, files claims with the utility and gets paid from what comes back. Connecticut’s 2009 request fits that pattern: it covered only electric and natural gas invoices, and its scope was limited to identifying and recovering billing and payment errors.
How far back a claim can reach isn’t the auditor’s call. The utility’s tariff and state rules set the limits, and they differ from one state and utility to the next, which is why utility expense recovery is its own job once the error has been found.
The two approaches fail in opposite ways. A recovery audit is finished when its lookback window is, so an error that starts the following month lands on bills nobody checks. An ongoing audit catches that error, but it can’t reach money lost before it began. The same split holds for invoice auditing services in other spend categories: recovery work looks backward, and continuous audit looks forward.
Meter, Tariff and Rate Class Checks Find What a Total Hides
Meter, tariff and rate class checks test whether each meter is billed on the right schedule, at the right price, with the right multiplier. An account total can look normal while one meter on it carries an error. Ask every provider for a sample exception, and check that it names the meter, not only the account.
A tariff check compares each charge with the utility’s published rate schedule for that meter’s rate class, riders included. Where you buy supply in a deregulated market, a contract check compares the supply charge with the price you signed. Both answer one question: was this bill calculated correctly?
Rate class asks a different one: is this meter on the right schedule at all? A bill can be calculated perfectly on a rate class the site no longer fits, and no tariff check will flag it. Moving the meter takes a filed request with the utility, which is why utility rate reclassification usually lowers future bills rather than producing a refund. Connecticut’s answers to bidders allowed for the exception: where the utility applied a rate change retroactively, the auditor would be paid on the savings actually recouped.
Meter checks sit underneath both. A wrong multiplier inflates every kWh and kW on the bill, and because it doesn’t change, the bill looks normal month after month. Ask whether the provider checks multipliers, read types (actual or estimated) and which site each meter belongs to.
Demand charges need their own review. Billed kW should match metered peak demand, and a ratchet can keep charging for a peak the site set months earlier. Ask whether the provider recalculates demand, multiplier included, or only reads the demand line off the bill.
Why Do Consumption Anomalies and Closed Sites Need Checking Every Month?
Consumption anomalies and closed-site charges need checking every month because they start without warning and repeat on every bill until someone stops them. A one-off audit sees the ones already sitting on past bills. It can’t see the site that closes next quarter or the meter that spikes next summer.
Consumption checks compare each meter’s usage with its own history and season, and with thresholds you set. They flag a spike, a zero read on a site that’s open, or usage that doesn’t fit the building. Not every anomaly is a billing error. Some are a leak or equipment left running, so the finding should reach facilities as well as accounts payable (AP).
Closed sites make the clearest case for an ongoing check. A location closes, the lease ends, and the utility account can keep billing long after the keys are handed back. One multi-location RadiusPoint client was paying $1,500 a month, $18,000 a year, for utilities at locations it had already closed. ExpenseLogic produces closed-location billing exception reports for that pattern: a site marked closed, a meter still billing.
Property managers see the same problem at the unit level, when a tenant moves out without transferring the account and the bills land back on the owner. RadiusPoint has published a 12% decrease in utility expenses from vacancy cost recovery.
A one-off audit finds the closed sites already on past bills. It can’t find the ones you close after it ends, so ask every provider how it learns that a site has closed: from a feed of your site records, or from someone remembering to send an email.
How Do Utility Audit Fees Work?
Utility audit fees come in three basic forms: a contingency share of what’s recovered, a share of future savings, or a fixed recurring fee. Some contracts combine them. What you actually pay depends less on the label than on three definitions: what counts as savings, the baseline it’s measured from, and when the fee stops.
| Fee model | What the fee is charged on | Public example or typical use | Get this in writing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contingency on recoveries | A share of refunds and credits the utility pays back | Connecticut’s 2009 request paid “an agreed upon contingency fee based on moneys recovered.” | Which recoveries count, and whether credits on future bills count the same as refund checks |
| Share of future savings | A share of lower bills after a change the auditor identified, for a set term | Some contracts add a share of future savings for a set term. | The baseline, the term, and whether the fee applies to changes you make yourself |
| Fixed recurring fee | A flat monthly amount, or a rate per invoice, account or meter | Ongoing audit services, where the same work repeats every billing cycle | What’s in scope, what counts as extra, and how the fee changes as sites open and close |
Connecticut drew a line worth copying. Its answers to bidders said the winning auditor “would not be eligible for any share of future savings” from a rate change it pursued.
RadiusPoint has published its own case against contingency pricing. Its article on the contingency fee pricing model argues that billing errors are “inconsistent and unpredictable,” so a fee tied to them is hard to budget for, and that clients expect a price proportional to the value they receive, which a percentage of one large error may not be. Whichever model you choose, ask the provider to estimate its fees across the full contract term, including the years after the first large recoveries.
Questions to Ask Before You Hire a Utility Audit Provider
Before you hire a utility audit provider, ask how deep the audit goes, how far back it reaches and what the fee is charged on. Get every answer in the contract, not just the proposal. The list below covers scope, authority, savings definitions and what happens when an audit turns up an undercharge.
- Do you audit every meter on every bill, or a sample of accounts?
- Which commodities are in scope: electricity, gas, water, sewer, waste?
- Which checks run every cycle, and which run once during setup?
- How far back will a recovery audit go, and how do you decide what’s claimable?
- Who files claims and talks to the utility, and what written authorization do you need from us?
- What counts as savings, what baseline is it measured from, and when does the fee on it end?
- If we make a change ourselves, do you still charge on the savings?
- What happens if you find an undercharge that the utility could bill us for?
- What do we receive: findings by meter, with invoice copies and the status of every claim?
- Who keeps the meter list, rate data and findings if we end the contract?
Questions 6 and 7 decide the final cost more than any percentage on the proposal. A provider that answers them in a sentence or two, and puts that sentence in the contract, is easier to budget for than one that answers with an estimate of how much it expects to find.
How RadiusPoint Audits Utility Bills in ExpenseLogic
RadiusPoint audits utility bills in ExpenseLogic at the meter level, checking tariffs, rate classes, demand charges, consumption and closed-location billing on an ongoing basis. RadiusPoint’s Utility Expense Management covers electricity, gas, water, sewer and waste, and each check maps to a row in the audit types table near the top of this page.
In ExpenseLogic, the meter-level audit covers contract and tariff rate audit, consumption-based audit and threshold-based audit. RadiusPoint adds tariff analysis and rate reclassification, demand charge review with demand multiplier calculations for kilowatt analysis, closed-location billing exception reports, and consumption reporting in kWh and therms by site.
RadiusPoint’s published utility results include a 12% decrease in utility expenses from vacancy cost recovery, and the multi-location client that was paying $18,000 a year for utilities at closed locations. If you also want the payment run handled, RadiusPoint can pay vendor invoices for clients once the client funds the account.
RadiusPoint was founded in 1992, is a women-owned business and has been ISO 9001 certified since 2002. ExpenseLogic holds a 4.8 rating on Capterra from 31 reviews.
Every billing cycle without a meter-level check is another cycle for a wrong multiplier or a closed site to bill again. Request a free ExpenseLogic demonstration through the Utility Expense Management with ExpenseLogic page, and bring the hiring questions above.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kinds of companies perform utility invoice auditing services?
Four kinds of firms commonly offer them: utility expense management providers, which audit as part of processing every bill; cost recovery firms, which review past bills for a share of what they recover; energy consultants and brokers, which may add audits to supply procurement; and outsourcing firms that process utility invoices for AP. Ask each one whether auditing is its core service or an add-on to something else.
Is utility audit management software enough on its own?
It’s enough if someone on your team has time to work the exceptions. Utility audit management software can flag a wrong rate class, a demand spike or a closed site that’s still billing, but a person still has to confirm the error, contact the utility and track the credit. Check the product, too: some tools sold under that name are internal audit platforms for utility companies, not bill audit tools.
What does UEM audit mean?
A UEM audit is the bill-checking step inside Utility Expense Management: each utility invoice is compared with the meter list, the tariff or contract rate and the meter’s usage history. It’s ongoing by design. A standalone utility bill audit can be a one-off project, while a UEM audit repeats every billing cycle as part of the wider program of receiving, allocating and reporting on utility bills.
Can an audit find money if our bills look the same every month?
Yes, because a steady bill can be steadily wrong. A meter on the wrong rate class, a wrong multiplier or a closed site billing a fixed charge produces the same error every month, so it never shows up as a variance. Only a check against the tariff, the meter record and your list of open sites will find it, which is why month-over-month comparisons aren’t enough.
Is a utility bill audit the same as an energy audit?
No. An energy audit looks at the building: equipment, controls and operating hours, to find ways to use less energy. A utility bill audit looks at the bill: whether you were charged the right rate, on the right meter, for a site you still operate. The two work well together, because audited bill data shows an energy auditor which sites and meters to visit first.
References
- State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management, “Cost Recovery Audit of Energy Utility Bills,” Request for Proposals, April 15, 2009, and Amendment #1 (questions and answers), May 5, 2009. portal.ct.gov
- RadiusPoint, “Contingency Fee Pricing Model: Beware,” November 8, 2022.
- RadiusPoint, “Utility Expense Recovery: How Multi-Site Teams Reclaim Overcharges and Credits,” accessed October 2026.
- RadiusPoint, “How to Audit a Utility Bill for Errors,” accessed October 2026.
- RadiusPoint, “Utility Rate Reclassification and How It Lowers Bills,” August 28, 2026.
- RadiusPoint, “Invoice Auditing Services: What They Cover and How to Choose a Provider,” August 24, 2026.
- RadiusPoint, “Utility Expense Management,” accessed October 2026.
- Capterra, “ExpenseLogic” product reviews, 4.8 from 31 reviews, accessed October 2026. capterra.com
This article is general information for finance, facilities and property teams deciding whether to hire a utility bill audit service. It isn’t legal, accounting or procurement advice, and audit and fee terms should be reviewed by your own counsel. The Connecticut documents are public examples from 2009 that show how fee terms can be written, not current market rates. RadiusPoint results cited here come from specific client engagements described on the pages listed in References and aren’t a guarantee of results for your organization.