Looking for ways to automate or streamline repetitive parts of the audit process. Data entry, rate lookups, standard calculations - there has to be a better way than doing everything manually. What tools or methods do you use?
Streamlining repetitive audit tasks
Natalie - I've built Excel templates with macros for common calculations. Input the basic data and it auto-calculates demand charges, energy costs, power factor penalties, etc. Saves hours on routine audits and reduces calculation errors.
Gail - that sounds useful. For rate research I use web scraping tools to automatically download current tariffs from utility websites. Set it to run weekly and I always have the latest rates without manual checking.
Brett - be careful with web scraping, some utilities have terms of service restrictions. I use APIs where available or RSS feeds for rate updates. ComEd actually has a decent API for tariff data if you register as a developer.
For data entry automation, I've had good luck with OCR software for converting PDF bills to spreadsheet data. Not 100% accurate but saves significant time on high-volume audits. Still need to verify the numbers but beats manual entry.
Lloyd - which OCR software are you using? I've tried a few but accuracy was inconsistent, especially with utility bill formatting variations. Would love a reliable recommendation for PDF data extraction.