Several of my multi-site clients use billing consolidators like Engie Impact or Cass Information Systems to process their utility invoices. The consolidator receives all the bills, enters them into a database, and pays them on behalf of the client. In theory this should make my job easier since all the data is in one place. In practice, the consolidator's data is often missing key details I need for the audit — like demand readings, power factor, or rider breakdowns. Anyone else dealing with this?
Billing consolidators — help or hindrance?
All the time. Consolidators are great for accounts payable but terrible for auditing. They capture total charges and maybe kWh usage but rarely capture the line-item detail you need to identify rate errors. I always request the actual PDF bills in addition to whatever the consolidator provides. Had a retail client using Cass and their data showed total charges only — completely useless for identifying that 14 stores were on the wrong rate schedule on Dominion Energy. I needed the actual bills to see the rate code.
Billing consolidators serve a valuable purpose for large organizations but they are not a substitute for actual bill analysis. The data they capture is designed for payment processing, not for auditing. Always request the source bills — either PDFs or scanned images — in addition to consolidator data. Some of the better consolidators like Engie will give you access to their portal where you can view the original bill images. That's the gold standard. If the consolidator pushes back on sharing data with you, have the client authorize it directly.
Good to know I'm not alone in this. Going to request portal access for the Engie accounts and direct PDF copies for the Cass accounts. The client is supportive so it shouldn't be an issue getting authorization.