To query a business energy bill, identify the particular reading, rate, charge or billing period that needs explaining and gather the evidence for it. A high total alone does not establish an error. This guide helps finance and operations teams in Great Britain check an invoice, put a clear question to the supplier and confirm whether the eventual response resolves it.
Confirm which bill and supply you are checking
Save the complete invoice, including its detailed pages. Note the invoice number, issue date, billing period, business name, account reference and site address. Match the supply identifier and meter details against your records, especially if the account covers several premises.
Check whether you are looking at new charges, a revised invoice, a credit note or an account statement. Keep the earlier documents: a replacement bill may need to be read alongside a credit rather than treated as an additional charge.
Gather the contract confirmation, preceding bill and relevant correspondence. Give the enquiry a named owner and a specific description, such as “day-rate reading for September”, so the team can recognise it later.
Find the item behind the difference
Separate consumption, rates and other charges before questioning the total. Use this as a working checklist, not an assumption that every bill has the same layout:
| Item | What to compare |
|---|---|
| Billing period | Are the dates and number of charged days the ones you expected? |
| Meter readings | Do the opening and closing readings match the relevant meter, register and dates? |
| Consumption | Is the billed usage consistent with those readings and the operating period? |
| Rates and standing charges | Do the rates and effective dates match the applicable agreement? |
| Other charges and adjustments | What does each item cover, and which previous invoice does a credit or correction concern? |
Ofgem's non-domestic billing guide sets out voluntary best practice for explaining business energy charges. It does not require all suppliers to use one standard bill. Ask for a breakdown where a heading or adjustment is unclear.
Avoid assuming every increase comes from the unit rate. Compare the charged period, usage and adjustments separately, then identify which difference remains unexplained.
Match meter evidence to the invoice
Check whether the readings are labelled actual or estimated, using your supplier's bill guide to interpret its codes. A smart meter does not guarantee that a particular invoice uses an actual reading: EDF's small-business guide explains that estimates can be issued when readings are unavailable, including when communication with a smart meter fails.
If a dated site reading or photograph is available, check its meter serial number and register before attaching it. Do not assign a reading to a day or night register by guesswork. Only take a reading where access is safe and authorised; do not open equipment or interfere with seals.
For gas, do not assume the change on the meter display equals the billed kWh. EDF explains that gas meter measurements are converted to kWh for billing. Ask the supplier to explain the conversion on the invoice if that is the point in dispute.
Send a question the supplier can investigate
Include the invoice reference, affected supply, relevant pages and the evidence supporting your question. State what you want explained or corrected, then ask for a case reference and expected response date.
Hypothetical example: your retained closing electricity reading is 18,400, but the next invoice opens at 18,900. Rather than simply saying the bill is wrong, provide both invoices and ask the supplier to reconcile the difference, confirming the meter, register, dates and any intervening revision. The mismatch needs an explanation; it does not establish the cause or the amount of any correction.
For several sites, keep one row per issue with its reference, owner and next action. BBA Energy's bill validation and supplier-query services can help organise the evidence and follow-up. Agree who receives invoice copies, who owns each enquiry and which support is included, so a supplier acknowledgement does not become the end of the process.
Follow the reply through to the account position
When the supplier replies, compare its explanation with the original question. If documents have been replaced, check which invoice was cancelled or credited and how the replacement affects the balance. Keep the full trail so the same charge is not counted twice in your own records.
Raising a query does not itself confirm a change to payment arrangements. Ask the supplier how it will handle the disputed item and account during the investigation, and retain its response. Close the enquiry when the explanation, any revised documents and the resulting balance are understood, rather than when an investigation is merely acknowledged. For the initial check after a new contract starts, use the after-signing guide; keep any issue needing detailed investigation in this enquiry record.