JadeTrack’s Utility Bill Management software audits every new invoice that is brought into the system to identify potential anomalies. When an issue is identified, you may receive an email alerting you to the findings. This FAQ document provides answers to commonly asked questions about these features.

General Questions

What does JadeTrack software audit on utility bills?

JadeTrack software reviews Cost, Expenses, Time and Usage information on each bill. Standard metrics include:

Cost

Expenses

Time

Use

What is the difference between an audit and an alert?

An audit is an inspection of bill data. Our system has multiple audits. For example, we check for Cost Variation to identify bills where total cost is significantly different from other bills, and Use Year-Over-Year to identify bills where total use is significantly different from the previous year. 

An alert is a notification to you - typically via email - that informs you of audit results.

Why are there multiple errors for the same bill?

We run a variety of checks to detect anomalies in your bill data so errors may show up through multiple fields we check. For example, if your use is unusually high, it is likely that your cost will be high as well, and both of those will show up as alerts.

How are Info, Review, Warning and Serious defined?

Our definitions are somewhat subjective since each audit can have a different threshold. Generally speaking, we think of the severity levels as follows: 

• Info: This is simply an update or change that you may want to be aware of, an FYI.

• Review: We noticed something a little unusual. It might not be anything but it’s worth taking a look just in case.

• Warning: We noticed something unusual and you should investigate. 

• Serious: We noticed something highly unusual and you should definitely investigate.

Managing Audits and Alerts

How do I turn these audit alerts on?

Navigate to the Administration menu and select Bill Audit Alerts under the Configurations menu. Click on the “Add Alert +” button to create a new alert. Default settings will already be in place, but you can adjust the settings for each of the audit types available. For example, the Total Cost Comparison defaults to check bills where the Total Cost is more than 25% different from other bills; you can adjust this to only audit for bills that are 50% different from other bills. Click “Save” at the bottom of the screen when you are done configuring your alerts.

If you do not see the Administration menu, please contact your organization's main JadeTrack administrator to be removed from the audit alerts.

How do I turn these audit alerts off?

Navigate to the Administration menu and select Bill Audit Alerts under the Configurations menu. Click on the name of the alert you wish to remove to view the settings. Click on the “x” next to your email address to remove it and click “Save” at the bottom of the screen. 

If you do not see the Administration menu, please contact your organization's main JadeTrack administrator to be removed from the audit alerts.

How do I adjust thresholds for the audits so I can receive more or fewer alerts?

Navigate to the Administration menu and select Bill Audit Configuration under the Configurations menu. Click on the name of the configuration you wish to adjust; if you have not created custom configurations, this will most likely be listed as “default.” You can adjust the settings for each of the audit types available. For example, the Total Cost Comparison defaults to check bills where the Total Cost is more than 25% different from other bills; you can adjust this to only audit for bills that are 50% different from other bills. 

If you do not see the Administration menu, please contact your organization's main JadeTrack administrator about making this change to the audit threshold.

How do I adjust which alerts I receive?

Navigate to the Administration menu and select Bill Audit Alerts under the Configurations menu. Click on the name of the alert you wish to remove to view the settings. You can limit the alerts by Meter, Severity Level and Audit Rules by selecting the respective fields from the corresponding dropdown menus. 

If you do not see the Administration menu, please contact your organization's main JadeTrack administrator to adjust the audit alert settings.

How do I clear an alert once it’s been received and reviewed?

Navigate to the Capture menu and select Bill Management under the Utility Bills menu. Click on the meter with the alert, then identify the month of the alert (a colored dot should appear next to the month with the alert). Click on the colored dot to review the error and click the Resolve/Edit/Delete button to make adjustments as needed.

If you received the alert via email, you can also click directly on the “Meter Name” link to get to the respective page.

Specific Audit Alerts Received

I received an audit alert that says, “The Total Cost plus the Outstanding Balance is not equal to the Balance Due (difference of $X).” What should I do?

This is the Balance Due audit. Check the Total Cost, Outstanding Balance and Balance Due fields on the invoice. Does everything add up correctly? If not, check with your utility company to ensure that past bill payments have been received and ask for the Balance Due field to be corrected.

I received an audit alert that says, “The Blended Rate, or Total Cost divided by Total Use, ($X / {unit}) is significantly higher/lower than other bills ($X / {unit}) by X%” What should I do?

This is the Blended Rate audit. There are a variety of line items that make up your utility invoice, including the cost per unit as well as various riders, fees, taxes and other charges. These add up to your total cost. It looks like your total cost - the sum of all of those individual fees - is different than it usually is for the amount of the utility consumed on this bill. In other words, you’re paying more (or less) overall than you normally do for the amount of usage reported.

This typically appears in months where usage is lower than usual (natural gas consumption in the summer, for example) so the ratio of usage to set riders and fees appears high. If that’s the case, you can likely disregard this notice. If not, take a look at all of the individual charges. Do you notice anything different about the rate per unit? Were any riders or fees added or changed from previous bills? You may also check if your rate class changed; for example, some utility companies charge different rates in summer and winter seasons. If you’ve identified the change and you weren’t expecting it, check with your utility companies website to see if they’ve made any announcements or follow up with their customer service department.

I received an audit alert that says, “The Total Cost of the bill ($X) increased/decreased by X% compared to the same time period last year ($X).” What should I do?

This is the Cost Year-Over-Year audit. The total cost seems unusually higher or lower than the same month in the previous year. Consider what may account for the difference: Is your usage for that period similarly higher or lower, and if so, are there operational or weather changes to explain the difference? If the different cost does not correspond to different usage, review the bill to see if there are any changes to the rates, riders or fees on the bills. 

I received an audit alert that says, “The Total Cost is not equal to the total of all of the line item cost on the bill (difference of $X).” What should I do?

This is the Cost Consistency audit. There are a variety of line items that make up your utility invoice, including the cost per unit as well as various riders, fees, taxes and other charges. Adding all of these together should equal the total cost on the bill but it appears that the numbers are not totalling.

This is most often caused by a data entry error; review the line items on the Bill Capture page to ensure they match the actual bill and that each detail was captured accurately.

I received an audit alert that says, “The Total Cost of the bill ($X) is significantly higher/lower than other bills ($X).” What should I do?

This is the Cost Variation audit. The total cost seems unusually higher or lower than other bills. Consider what may account for the difference: Is your usage similarly higher or lower than usual, and if so, are there operational or weather changes to explain the difference? If the different cost does not correspond to different usage, review the bill to see if there are any changes to the rates, riders or fees on the bills.

I received an audit alert that says, “Late fees ($X) were incurred.” What should I do?

This is the Late Fees audit. Late fees are incurred when payments are made after the due date or are still outstanding. Check with your Accounts Payable department about scheduling timely payments to avoid additional late fee charges in the future.

I received an audit alert that says, “Recycling costs ($X) were incurred.” What should I do?

This is the Recycling Expenses audit. Certain customers with robust recycling programs try to avoid paying for disposal or processing of any recyclable materials (often with a focus on maximizing revenue instead). The Recycling Expenses alert means that costs were recorded in the recycling data. This audit can be adjusted in the Audits function under the Administration → Configuration menu if it is not relevant for your organization.

I received an audit alert that says, “Sales Taxes ($X) were charged despite Tax Exempt status.” What should I do?

This is the Sales Tax audit. Certain non-profit and public agency customers are exempt from Sales Tax charges. This alert indicates that Sales Tax was charged on a bill. If you are exempt from Sales Tax, review the bill and follow up with your Utility company and make sure they have a copy of your Tax Exempt Status Certificate on file. 

Please note that this is not the same thing as certain utility taxes (such as a Gross Receipts Tax or kWh Tax), which do not fall under Tax Exempt status. If you are unsure, please follow up with your Utility company to confirm.

This audit can be adjusted in the Audits function under the Administration → Configuration menu if it is not relevant for your organization.

I received an audit alert that says, “The Start Date on the bill does not align with the End Date of the previous bill.” What should I do?

This is the Interval Date audit. The Start Date of the most recent bill either overlaps with or leaves a gap between the End Date of the previous bill. 

I received an audit alert that says, “The Period assigned to the bill does not align with other Periods for this meter or account.” What should I do?

This is the Period audit. A Period is a month assigned to an invoice. For example, a bill may start on October 10 and end on November 9, and this bill could be assigned to October or November. The system defaults to whichever month has more days in the billing period - in this case, October. To adjust the period that the bill is assigned to, visit the Bill Capture page via the Capture → Utility Bills → Bill Management menu or speak with your JadeTrack Customer Success representative.

I received an audit alert that says, “A bill has not been received for this account in X days.” What should I do?

This is the Recent Invoices audit. A recent bill has not been received or entered for this meter. The delay could be caused by a few issues:

1. Was the login information from the utility website changed recently? If this happened, please share the updated login information with your JadeTrack Customer Success representative.

2. Is this a bill that is typically only received on a quarterly basis? If so, you can adjust the threshold at which this audit registers (perhaps 95 days instead of 35 days) in the Audits function under the Administration → Configuration menu. If you do not see the Administration menu, please contact your organization's main JadeTrack administrator about making this change to the audit threshold.

I received an audit alert that says, “The Total Use (X {unit}) is significantly higher/lower than other bills (X {unit}).” What should I do?

This is the Use Variation audit. The total use seems unusually higher or lower than other bills. Consider what may account for the difference: Have there been any recent changes to operations, occupancy, hours or building systems and equipment? Have there been dramatic changes in weather that could impact usage? If not, check your building automation system records to for anything out of the ordinary. Consider a night walkthrough of the building to identify equipment that may be running when it should be off. If you can’t find the source of the increased usage, speak with a JadeTrack Customer Success representative about real-time monitoring services.

I received an audit alert that says, “The Total Use of the bill (X {unit})  increased/decreased by X% compared to the same time period last year (X {unit}).” What should I do?

This is the Use Year-Over-Year audit. The total use seems unusually higher or lower than the same month in the previous year. Consider what may account for the difference: Have there been any recent changes to operations, occupancy, hours or building systems and equipment? Is the weather this year very different from the same time last year? If not, check your building automation system records to for anything out of the ordinary. Consider a night walkthrough of the building to identify equipment that may be running when it should be off. If you can’t find the source of the increased usage, speak with a JadeTrack Customer Success representative about real-time monitoring services.

I received an audit alert that says, “This bill is missing Total Use data.” What should I do?

This is the Use Present audit. Total Use data was not captured for this bill. Review the invoice for accuracy. Zero use will not register with this audit, as it may be an accurate reading or recorded as zero for supplier contracts and/or sewer to avoid doubling usage in reports.

I received an audit alert that says, “The sum of the line-items making up a sub-total on the bill are not equal to the sub-total listed.” What should I do?

This is the Detail Sums audit. Review the line-item details and sub-totals on the bill for accurate math. If an error has occurred, it is likely from an importer issue. Update the data manually based on the PDF copy of the invoice.