A restaurant owner in Chattanooga wants me to audit his EPB account before he closes the business at the end of the year. He thinks he's been overcharged for years and wants to recover whatever he can before shutting down. Is there any issue with doing an LOA and audit for an account that's about to be closed? Will EPB still process a refund if the account is terminated?
LOA for a client who is closing their business
Get the LOA signed and the data requested immediately. Once the account closes it becomes much harder to get historical data or process refunds. Most utilities will issue a refund to a closed account as a final credit or a check to the last address on file, but the process is slower and some utilities have cutoff periods after which they won't process claims on closed accounts. Time is your enemy here. Also make sure your engagement agreement specifies how your contingency fee gets paid if the refund comes after the business dissolves.
Ed's point about the engagement agreement is critical. If the business entity dissolves, who pays your contingency fee? Make sure the business owner personally guarantees your fee or that the engagement agreement survives dissolution. From a data standpoint, request everything now and keep copies because once that account closes you lose your access permanently. EPB is generally cooperative but don't count on them processing anything quickly after account closure.