Accrual Methods

Last Available Month

The Last Available Month accrual method is a seasonally adjusted
accrual method that fills in data gaps in Accounts. It uses the last
available month, relative to the data gap, to calculate the Accruals.

How does the algorithm work?

For any given missing period, data from its last available month prior
to the gap is used to calculate the Accruals.

For example:
• Accruals for Mar-2016 = Daily Average of February-2016 * #
of missing days in Mar-2017
• Accruals for Sep-2016 = Daily Average of Aug-2016 * # of
missing days in Sep-2016
• Accruals for Feb-2017; Mar-2017; and Apr-2016 = Daily
Average of Jan-2017 * # of missing days in Feb-2017; # of
missing days in Mar-2017; # of missing days in Apr-2017

What if it is a new Account?

No Accruals will be generated for new Account until there is a first data
entry.

Can the algorithm be used for cost estimation also?

Yes this method can be used for both Consumption and Cost Accruals
Same Month Last Year
The Same Month Last Year accrual method is a seasonally adjusted
accrual method that fills in data gaps in Accounts. It uses the same
month of last year in relative to the gap to calculate Accruals.

How does the algorithm work?

For any given missing period, data from the same month last year is
used to calculate the Accruals.

For example:
• Accruals for Dec-2016 = Daily Average of Dec-2015 * # of
missing days in Dec-2016
• Accruals for Sep-2016 = Daily Average of Sep-2015 * # of
missing days in Sep-2016

What if there is no data available in the same month last year?

There may be a reason why there is no data in the year before,
especially for Event type of data such as stationary diesel. No
Accruals will be generated in such cases.

Can the algorithm be used for cost estimation also?

Yes this method can be used for both Consumption and Cost
Accruals.
Weighted Average accrual method
The Weighted Average accrual method is a seasonally adjusted
accrual method that fills in data gaps in Accounts. It uses up to 4
months of relevant seasonal historical data to derive an estimate for
the missing period.

How does the algorithm work?

For any given missing period, data from its immediate month before
and immediate month after are given a weight of 3, and data from the
same month last year and the same month before in last year are
given a weight of 1.

The accruals are calculated as the weighted average of these 4

months. For example, if Mar-2017 data is missing, then the accruals
will be calculated as:

Accruals for Mar-2017 = (Daily Average of Feb-2017 * 3 + Daily

Average of Apr-2017 * 3 + Daily Average of Mar-2016 * 1 + Daily
Average of Feb-2016 * 1 ) / (3 + 3 + 1 + 1) * # of missing days in Mar-
2017

What if last year's data is an anomaly?

The algorithm implements a tolerance threshold check to ensure last
year's data is genuine to be used for estimation. If last year's data is
not within the +/- 30% of the combined current year months'
average, then last year's data will not be used in the accrual
calculation. However, if there is no data in current year to be used as
the reference point, data from last year (if any) will be used
regardless for the accrual calculation. For additional information
about data anomaly handling, please read the Weighted Average
Accruals - technical reference documentation.
What is the fall-back option if no relevant historical data is
available?
If none of the 4 months are available (which usually happens for
Account that is missing data for more than 12 months of period), then
the algorithm will use the last available month (latest month that has
actual data) in the Account to generate the Accruals.

Can the algorithm be used for cost estimation also?

Yes this method can be used for both Consumption and Cost
Accruals.

Where can I find a technical reference document of the method

for my auditing purpose?
Please check the Weighted Average Accruals - technical reference
page.

Accruals based on linked meter

For an Account with a linked interval meter, Envizi offers the option to
use meter data to derive accruals for the gap in Account. This option
provides a more accurate estimation for Accruals since it is based on
the actual consumption recorded in the linked meter.

How does it work?

Historical gaps will be filled in with Accruals generated from meter
recordings of each corresponding month. The accruals generated will
be taken from the linked meter from the same month.

This is a system-wide feature and applicable to all meter

linked Accounts in Envizi (cannot be limited to specific
Locations or Groups)

Only available for Electricity / Natural Gas / Water Accounts

with a linked interval Meter; default accrual methodology
using historical data will apply for other types of Accounts
Scenarios
Things may become a little bit complicated when Account has partial
missing data, or the corresponding Meter has partial actual data. The
following scenarios are covered:
1. Account is missing data for the whole month AND linked meter
has data for the full month : actual consumption from the
meter is used to fill in the Account accruals
2. Account is missing data partially for a month AND linked meter
has data for the full month : actual consumption from the
meter is used to calculate a pro-rata meter data consumption
for the missing days and fill in Account accruals
3. Account is missing data for the whole month or partially for a
month AND linked meter has partial data for the month :
calculate a pro-rata meter data consumption in the month for
the missing days and fill in Account accruals
4. Account is missing data for the whole month or partially for a
month AND linked meter does NOT have any data for the
month : no Account accruals will be generated for the month
in this case.
5. Account is NOT linked to any meter : the conventional Account
accruals methodology which uses historical consumption data
will apply. This will be applied to any account that does not
have linked meter.

Example