Utility cost allocation and GL coding for multi-site companies
Every utility bill has to land on the right site, cost center and general ledger account. When the coding is wrong or late, plant managers see costs that are not theirs, budgets miss and billing errors hide in the averages. Discovery codes every bill before it is paid.
Where allocation goes wrong
Bills on the wrong site
An account number changes or a bill arrives at the wrong office, and the cost lands on a site that did not use it.
Shared meters split by habit
One meter serves several tenants, lines or buildings, and the split has not been checked since it was set.
New sites in a catch-all account
Acquired and new sites get coded to a general account until someone sets them up, which can take months.
Late bills distort the month
A bill paid late, or for two periods at once, makes one month look expensive and the next look cheap.
How it works
Build the account map
Every utility account is tied to a site, cost center, GL account and legal entity, using your existing chart of accounts.
Review before payment
Each bill is checked for errors and matched to its site before it is paid. Bills that do not match, or that change sharply, are flagged.
Pay on time, coded
Bills are paid on time and coded to your cost centers and GL accounts, ready for your accounting team.
Report by site
TaraBase dashboards show cost, usage, contracts and Scope 1 and 2 data by site, region and business unit.
Splitting shared meters
When one meter serves more than one cost center, the split needs a rule: sub-meter readings where sub-meters are installed, floor area, production volume or operating hours, or fixed percentages agreed with each cost center. Whatever the rule, it should be written down, applied the same way every month and reviewed when a site changes.
What you get each cycle
| Deliverable | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Coded bill detail | Site, cost center, GL account, period, usage and charges for every bill |
| On-time payment | No late fees from bills sent to the wrong place |
| Exceptions | Bills that do not match a site, or that changed sharply, flagged before payment |
| Dashboards | Savings, usage, contracts, bills and Scope 1 and 2 data in TaraBase |
moved onto one account inventory after more than half of them were paying late fees every month. Read the case study.
Frequently asked questions
Which utilities can Discovery code and pay?
Electricity, natural gas, water, sewer and any other utility type.
How long does it take to move our bills over?
Most portfolios transition in 30 to 45 days.
Do we have to change our chart of accounts?
No. Bills are coded to the cost centers and GL accounts you already use.
Does bill pay replace an audit?
No. Reviewing each bill before payment catches new problems month by month. An audit goes back 36 to 48 months and tests every account against its tariff to recover past overcharges.
How does this help with Scope 2 reporting?
The same coded bills give usage by site and period, traceable back to each bill, which is the starting point for location-based Scope 2.
See how your bills would be coded.
Send a list of accounts and your cost center structure. We show how each account would map before you move anything.