UMS invoice validation
Validate utility invoices before you pay them
Energy bill validation checks each utility invoice before it is paid, against the contract, tariff and meter data it should match. In UMS, the Utilified Management System, supported invoices are priced against the tariff each connection should be on, every difference is classified, and your team reviews the exceptions with the source document alongside.
What is checked
Contracts, tariffs and meter data, checked before payment.
UMS works out what each supported invoice should have charged and classifies every difference, so your team reviews the discrepancies instead of whole bills.
- Contract, tariff and meter comparisons
- Charges are compared with the agreement and tariff assigned to the connection and with the meter reads UMS holds for the billing period, so a rate, a fixed charge or a usage figure that doesn't match becomes a finding to review.
- Smart invoice validation
- UMS works out the tariff each connection should be on, prices the bill against it and classifies every difference, so your team reviews the discrepancies instead of checking whole bills. Tolerances are calibrated on real invoices, and matching learns from your corrections.
- GST treatment checks
- Each line's GST treatment is checked against the jurisdiction's rate, GST-inclusive lines are converted, and UMS learns the correction for next time.
- Duplicate detection
- Duplicate bills are caught across formats, and a copy of a bill you've already paid is held for review instead of going into a payment run, which lowers the risk of paying a re-sent invoice twice.
- Missing-bill checks
- UMS reads each account's billing cadence and flags a missing bill once the next one is overdue.
Exception review
Every finding next to its source document.
In the glossary: Invoice validation
- Validation queue and review workbench
- One queue holds every finding, shown against the invoice lines that produced it. Fix a tariff in place, resolve exceptions where they sit and let exceptions that no longer apply clear themselves. Every resolution is recorded.
- Invoice reading (UtiliRead)
- Invoice reading (UtiliRead) pulls line items from supplier PDFs, CSVs and spreadsheets into UMS. It reads bills on Amazon Bedrock in Australia, scores each read for completeness and flags low-completeness reads for review, with the source document alongside.
- Retail account ledger
- Each retail account keeps a running balance, with a reconciliation strip for paid, owed and disputed amounts. Ledger corrections can be made from the invoice itself.
Payment files
From validated invoice to approved payment file.
In the glossary: Payment file
Payment files in UMS- Payment files for your bank and ERP
- Prepare payment files in ABA, SAP journal, AU_STD or CSV format, with company, vendor and cost-centre codes and site-level cost splits, so each charge posts to the cost centre that incurred it. Settlement stays with your bank, and general accounting stays in your accounting system.
- Approvals before money moves
- Payment groups can require dual approval, with a separate-approver rule so the person who prepared a file can't approve it. Approvers can reject single lines for reissue, or bulk-approve with the totals in view.
- Payment prep workbench
- A pre-flight workbench checks GST and retail account numbers before a file is released. Unreleased files can be regenerated, and in-credit invoices are netted so credits are used rather than left stranded.
Coverage and limits
Which utilities, and where people still review.
Utility coverage
UMS covers electricity, gas, LPG and water, on a data model that extends to other commodities. Automated feed coverage and validation depth vary by supplier, fuel and market; Australian NEM electricity is deepest.
UMS is available worldwide. Outside Australia, contact our team to get started, so we can confirm your markets, invoice formats and currencies first.
Where manual review still fits
Validation is only as deep as the data behind it. A supported supplier format, a loaded agreement and tariff, and meter data for the billing period give UMS something to check against. Where one of those is missing, the invoice needs a person to review it, and your team still decides how each exception is resolved.
Validation or audit
Bill validation vs bill audit. One checks before payment, the other looks back.
Bill validation
Bill validation is ongoing. Each new invoice is checked before payment, so an error can be disputed before the money leaves, and a systematic error is caught the first time it appears.
Bill audit
A bill audit looks back. It is a periodic review of bills already paid, usually a one-off project to recover past overcharges, and it remains useful for refunds on that history.
In the glossary: Invoice validation, Bill audit
Guides: What is invoice validation?, Automated vs manual invoice validation
FAQ
Questions about invoice validation
What's the difference between bill validation and a bill audit?
Bill validation checks each new utility invoice before it's paid, against the contract, tariff and meter data it should match, so an error can be disputed before the money leaves. A bill audit is a periodic, retrospective review of bills already paid, usually a one-off project to recover past overcharges. UMS runs validation as an ongoing workflow, and an audit can still recover refunds on older history.
Can UMS prepare payment files for our accounts payable system?
Yes. Validated invoices are batched into payment groups on your schedule and exported in ABA, SAP journal, AU_STD or CSV format, with company, vendor and cost-centre codes and site-level cost splits. Groups can require dual approval by a separate approver, and single lines can be rejected for reissue. UMS prepares the file, settlement stays with your bank and general accounting stays in your accounting system.
Which utilities can UMS validate?
UMS covers electricity, gas, LPG and water, on a data model that extends to other commodities. Automated feed coverage and validation depth vary by supplier, fuel and market; Australian NEM electricity is deepest. Tell us the suppliers and invoice formats you receive, and we'll confirm which are supported before you start.
Does automated validation replace manual review?
No. It changes what your team reviews. UMS checks supported invoices and puts the differences in one review queue, with the source document alongside, instead of leaving whole bills to check. An invoice in an unsupported format, on a connection without a loaded tariff or agreement, or for a period without meter data needs a person to check it, and your team decides how each exception is resolved.
UMS
Check one bill. See what we find.
Check a bill free, or book a demo and we'll take a set of your invoices from validation to an approved payment file.