Emily A. here from Laredo. Just finished my first paid audit and it was terrible. Spent 15 hours going through 24 months of CPS Energy bills for a 30,000 sq ft manufacturing facility and found absolutely nothing wrong. Client seemed disappointed and I felt like a fraud. How do you handle the audits where you find nothing? Should I have offered a refund?
First audit was a disaster - need advice
Emily, first off - finding nothing IS a finding. You just confirmed their billing is accurate and their rate schedule is optimal. That has value. Randy here, and I've been doing this 15 years. About 20% of my audits find no significant errors. The key is setting proper expectations upfront. Did you explain to the client that utility bill auditing is investigative work and sometimes everything is correct?
Janet H. from Richmond. I agree with Randy completely. Had a similar experience last month with a Dominion Energy Rate Schedule 19 manufacturing account. Spent 12 hours, found only $180 in minor billing adjustments over two years. Client initially seemed disappointed but I explained that knowing their bills are accurate has value - saves them from wondering and worrying about overpayments.
Thanks Randy and Janet. I guess I didn't set expectations well enough. How do you price these engagements? I charged $1,200 flat fee but now wondering if I should have done contingency pricing instead.
Bernard P. in Roanoke here. Emily, flat fee is actually better for you in no-finding situations. If you'd done contingency, you'd have made nothing. I do hybrid pricing - small upfront fee plus percentage of savings found. Protects you from complete losses while still incentivizing thorough work. For manufacturing accounts I typically charge $800-1500 upfront depending on complexity.
Faye from Nashville. Don't feel bad Emily! My second audit was a big goose egg too - 18,000 sq ft office building on Nashville Electric Rate 8G. Found nothing but incorrect meter readings that saved them maybe $200 total. But that client referred me to three other properties where I found major issues. Sometimes the no-finding audits lead to the best referrals because you've proven your integrity.