Business
Utility Bill Audit Pricing: Contingency vs Fixed Fee vs Subscription
Compare contingency, fixed-fee and subscription utility-audit models by incentives, scope, refunds, future savings, monitoring and buyer risk.
Overview
Utility-audit pricing often sounds simple:
no savings, no fee.
But the contract can still differ dramatically.
A buyer should understand what the fee is based on and how long it lasts.
Contingency / performance fee
The provider earns a percentage or share of:
- recovered refunds;
- identified savings;
- implemented savings;
- future savings for a defined period.
Advantages
- low upfront cost;
- incentives can align around recovery;
- useful when the buyer wants a risk-sharing model.
Questions to ask
- What counts as savings?
- How are recurring savings calculated?
- For how many months/years?
- Does the fee apply to tax credits?
- What if the client chooses not to implement?
- Who verifies the savings?
Fixed project fee
The buyer pays a defined fee for:
- a historical review;
- selected sites;
- selected utilities;
- defined deliverables.
Advantages
- predictable cost;
- cleaner separation between finding and recovery;
- can work well with defined scope.
Questions to ask
- Is recovery support included?
- Is data cleanup included?
- How many years/sites are reviewed?
- Are additional utilities extra?
Subscription / recurring monitoring
The buyer pays:
The service may include:
- monthly;
- per site;
- per account;
- another recurring basis.
- ongoing bill checks;
- alerts;
- dashboards;
- dispute support.
Advantages
- continuous verification;
- predictable operations;
- can catch new errors after a one-time audit.
Questions to ask
- Is historical recovery included?
- Are there location limits?
- Are all utilities included?
- Who handles disputes?
- What happens after cancellation?
Free audit or no-cost review
A free initial review is a lead-generation and qualification model.
It may lead to:
Ask what happens after the free analysis finds something.
- contingency recovery;
- implementation fees;
- subscription;
- fixed engagement.
Compare the full economics
Normalize:
- upfront fee;
- refund percentage;
- recurring savings percentage;
- duration;
- subscription term;
- cancellation;
- implementation costs;
- dispute support;
- monitoring.
Compare the fee formula before comparing the percentage
A 20% contingency and a $99 subscription are not meaningful comparisons until the buyer knows what each model includes.
Explore OneStudio features, compare plans, or see the turnkey website option.
Questions businesses ask
Is contingency always cheaper?
No. The total fee can be higher or lower depending on the savings base and duration.
Is a free audit really free?
The initial review may be free, while recovery or implementation work has a fee. Read the commercial terms.
Is subscription better for multi-site companies?
It can be useful when ongoing verification matters, but compare total cost and operational scope.
Does OneStudio calculate these fees?
No. OneStudio should remain the provider's public website, consultation/enquiry and ordinary CRM layer.