I've been refining the same Excel audit workbook for over 10 years and it's become the backbone of my practice. It has tabs for bill data entry, rate schedule comparison, demand analysis, tax calculation verification, findings summary, and a client-facing report generator. It's not fancy but it works. Every new auditor asks me what software to use and the answer is always Excel. You don't need expensive energy management software. You need a well-built spreadsheet and the discipline to use it consistently.
My Excel template — 10 years of refinement
Completely agree. I tried two different commercial audit software packages and went back to Excel within 6 months each time. The commercial software couldn't handle the variety of tariff structures I encounter. Excel lets me build custom calculations for every utility. Would you ever consider sharing your template? Even a blank version would be hugely valuable for newer auditors.
Derek's Excel approach is what I recommend to every new CUBA graduate. The reason commercial software often disappoints is that utility tariffs are incredibly diverse — every utility has different rate names, different demand thresholds, different rider structures. No software can anticipate all of them. A well-built Excel workbook that you customize for each utility will always be more flexible and accurate than off-the-shelf software. As for sharing templates, I'd encourage experienced auditors to consider it. Helping newer members build their toolkits strengthens the entire profession.
I'll think about sharing a stripped-down version. Would need to remove client data and proprietary formulas but the basic structure could be useful. Let me work on that.
Would love to see that. Even just the tab structure and column headers would help me organize my own workbook better.