Mistakes happen. And when it comes to your utility bills, it’s common that these errors easily get overlooked.
So, how much could billing mistakes be costing your company?
In the case of two of our state agency customers, it was $62,589. And it could have been more if they weren’t working with JadeTrack to help hold this popular bill pay vendor accountable for billing errors.
Identifying Problems
JadeTrack audits bills as they come into the system to check for inaccurate charges or missing data, a handy tool in your tool belt if you manage a lot of utility bills like these two customers with a combined 1,341 accounts.
During a routine bill audit, an alert was flagged in JadeTrack for missing bill information on 31 of their accounts.
While reviewing the utility data collected by the customers’ bill pay system, the JadeTrack customer success team uncovered two glaring errors. First, the new natural gas supplier was charging sales tax due to incorrect billing setup, as government entities are sales tax exempt. Second, the payment vendor unintentionally made payment against the customers’ credit memos rather than using the credit memos as payment.
Reaching out to the state agencies’ energy and sustainability teams, the combined group began an internal investigation.
Pro tip: Make sure you aren’t paying sales tax on your utility bills if your organization qualifies as a governmental or charity & non-profit entity – including schools, churches & religious organizations, libraries, etc.!
The Result
In the end, the issues were corrected. The two customers’ were refunded a combined $62,589 and avoided continued overpayment thanks to JadeTrack having an extra set of eyes on their data.
Lesson learned: JadeTrack optimizes other systems like bill pay software or services, and even BAS systems.
Both state agencies are happy the problem was uncovered quickly and continue to gain value from adding JadeTrack – not only from tracking and managing their energy consumption regularly – but also from reviewing the detailed costs associated with their energy and sustainability data.
This example validates that an investment in data accuracy on top of other reporting capabilities and time-saving benefits just makes sense (and cents)!
Are you overpaying on utilities? JadeTrack utility bill management helps you gain clarity with accurate and timely utility bill data. Request a demo.
