My analyst has been working independently for about 6 months. She's good but I just caught an error in one of her audits — she recommended a rate change that would have actually increased the client's bill by $400/month. She used the wrong demand value in her rate comparison. Nobody would have known until the client got their first bill on the new rate. What QC process do you use to catch analyst errors before they reach the client?
Quality control — catching analyst mistakes
I review every findings report before it goes to the client. Every one, no exceptions. My analyst does the analysis and drafts the report. I review the numbers, spot-check the tariff citations, and recalculate the largest finding independently. Takes me about 30-45 minutes per audit. That's my QC gate. I also require the analyst to show her work — not just "the client should be on Rate X" but the full calculation showing why Rate X is cheaper. If I can't follow the logic, the finding doesn't go in the report.
Phil's approach is the standard I recommend. The senior auditor reviews every report. Additionally, for rate change recommendations specifically, I require a side-by-side comparison showing the current rate bill and the proposed rate bill for each of the past 12 months. If the proposed rate is cheaper in 10 of 12 months but more expensive in 2 (typically summer months with higher demand), the analyst needs to flag that. A rate change that saves money most of the year but costs more in peak months might still be the right recommendation, but the client needs to see the full picture.
Implementing the 12-month side-by-side requirement immediately. That would have caught the error my analyst made. She only compared one month and extrapolated.