I've been mentoring a new auditor for 3 months now and he's still missing basic demand charge billing errors on Eversource accounts. Yesterday he completely overlooked a $4,200 monthly overcharge on Schedule G-1 where the utility was billing 15-minute demand instead of 30-minute. How do you folks structure your training to drill home the fundamentals? I'm starting to wonder if he's cut out for this work.
New hire keeps missing obvious demand charge errors - advice?
Vince, I feel your pain. Georgia Power has similar rate structures and new folks always trip up on demand intervals. What I do is create a checklist - literally laminate it and make them use it for every account the first 6 months. Things like "verify demand interval matches tariff" and "confirm billing demand vs recorded demand." It's tedious but it works.
I've trained about 8 junior auditors over the years with Alabama Power accounts. The key is repetition and real consequences. When they miss something, make them calculate exactly how much money the client lost per month. When it's $4,200 like your example, that really drives the point home. Also, I pair them with our most detail-oriented senior auditor for spot checks.
Duke Energy billing can be tricky too. I actually created a whole training module just on demand charges - covers billing vs metered demand, ratchets, seasonal variations, everything. Takes about 4 hours to go through but cuts down on these kinds of errors by 90%. Happy to share it if anyone wants a copy.
Derek that would be awesome! APS has some weird demand billing quirks that trip up even experienced auditors sometimes. One thing I've found helpful is having new hires shadow me on client calls where we have to explain billing errors. Nothing teaches you to pay attention like having to defend your findings to a skeptical facility manager.
Thanks everyone. Rachel, I love the laminated checklist idea - definitely going to try that. Derek, would really appreciate that training module if you're willing to share. Sarah makes a good point about client calls too. Maybe I've been too protective keeping him in the office. Sometimes the best learning happens when there's real pressure.
Just wanted to add - sometimes it's not ability, it's attention to detail habits. I had a trainee who was brilliant but sloppy. Started making him initial every single calculation on his worksheets and his accuracy improved dramatically. TVA billing has enough complexity that you can't afford to be careless.
Roy that's a great point about accountability. I'll email that training module to everyone who asked - just need to scrub some client-specific examples first. Vince, give your trainee another month with these suggestions. If he's still missing obvious stuff after that, might be time for a different role.