A one-time audit finds errors. A continuous one stops them.
One-time utility audit firms recover refunds from past bills. Trace Global does that and keeps auditing so errors do not return.
One-time utility audit and recovery firms have been around for decades. They review a period of historical bills, find overcharges and file claims for a contingency fee, often 30% to 50% of recoveries. For a business that has never been audited, this can recover real money, and it is a fair way to start. The limitation is time. A project has a start and end. Errors are structural: a wrong rate class keeps billing each month, and a stale exemption keeps adding tax. When the audit ends, the cause often remains, and the new errors build up until the next project. Trace Global recovers past overcharges the same way and then keeps checking each new bill, so refunds are not a one-time event.
| Dimension | Trace Global | One-time audit firms |
|---|---|---|
| Engagement | Ongoing; audit runs on every bill cycle | Project with a defined period and end date |
| Coverage | All accounts and utility types in the bill stream | Scope set per project, often large accounts first |
| Historical recovery | All periods inside each utility's back-billing window | Same, for the project period |
| New errors | Flagged as bills arrive, typically within one cycle | Found only if another project is commissioned |
| Fee on recovery | 35% recovery share; 20% on Continuous Audit | Commonly 30% to 50%, varies by firm |
| Platform access | Dashboard with findings, claims and meter data | Usually reports at project end |
| Rate changes | Prospective schedule changes filed with approval | Varies by firm |
| Data handling | Normalized bill history kept for ongoing use | Typically retained for the project |
| Time to first findings | 21 days from bill access | Typically several weeks to months, varies by scope |
When one-time audit firms are the right call
A one-time firm can make sense when you want a single clean-up of historical bills, have no appetite for an ongoing relationship, or need a specialist for a narrow issue such as a single state tax matter. If your portfolio is small and stable, a single review every few years may be enough.
Using both
Some customers use a one-time firm to clear a back catalog, then move to Trace Global for continuous audit so that new errors do not build up. We can start from the closing report of an earlier audit, skip periods already recovered and focus on bills received since.
Questions we get asked
No. Share the earlier firm's closing report and we skip those periods, so you do not pay twice on the same recovery.
Recovery Audit is 35% of money recovered. Continuous Audit is $4 per meter per month plus 20%. Many one-time firms charge 30% to 50%.
Most billing errors are structural. A wrong rate class repeats every month until someone corrects it, so ongoing checks keep new overcharges from building up.
Find out what your utilities owe you.
Connect bills for up to 50 meters. Get the findings report in about three weeks. Pay nothing unless money comes back.
- from bill access to first findings report
- 21 daysfrom bill access to first findings report
- of filed claims accepted by the utility in full or in part
- 94%of filed claims accepted by the utility in full or in part