From one electricity bill, copy the site, the supply number, the start and end dates, whether each reading is actual or estimated, the kilowatt-hours, the unit rate, the standing charge, any Climate Change Levy line, the VAT rate and amount printed on the bill, any other charge lines, any balance brought forward, and the amount due. Recompute the usage charge and the standing charge from the figures printed on that bill. Copy the VAT rate the bill prints. Do not replace it from memory.

Use this log for one Great Britain business electricity bill, for one site and one period. It does not cover Northern Ireland. It does not rank suppliers, estimate a future saving, or compare tariffs. The sustainable operations guide covers the wider energy routine. The office overview describes the workplace, and its tariff wording is not an instruction to switch supplier.

Fill in the bill log

Download all three files. Save a copy of the blank log and type into that copy. Keep the instructions file open beside it. Use the example only as a labelled pattern.

The three files are plain CSV templates. You type every cell and you do the arithmetic. The spreadsheet does not calculate a line. Compare each recomputed figure with the amount printed on the bill, and do not add a header total on top of the lines that already make it up. The instructions file lists every column.

One bill uses three row types: header, rate_line and extra_charge. A blank cell means the bill did not print that amount. It is not zero. Write zero only when the bill prints zero. Dates are YYYY-MM-DD. Pounds are numbers with two decimal places and no pound sign. vat_rate_printed is a fraction: printed 5% is 0.05.

line_check and amount_due_check are verified, copied_not_checked or cannot_check. Header line_check checks the printed usage total against the rate lines. It does not check the standing charge. There is no standing-check column. A missing standing-charge input is recorded on amount_due_check.

cannot_check takes precedence when a required comparison differs by more than one penny. A later addition that matches the printed amount due does not replace cannot_check with verified. Otherwise a missing or unknown required input is copied_not_checked. verified requires every required input and every stated check to match, or to differ by one penny. Keep the printed figure either way.

Usage and standing charge

Write one rate_line for each printed unit rate. Do not average the rates. If rate_unit is pence_per_kwh, line pounds equal kilowatt-hours times the pence rate, divided by 100. If it is pounds_per_kwh, multiply by the pound rate and do not divide by 100. The header line_pounds is the printed usage total. Add the rate-line pounds once and compare that sum with the header. Do not add the header total on top of the rate lines.

Standing-charge pounds equal the printed pence-per-day rate times the printed period_days, divided by 100, unless the bill prints pounds per day. Round each recomputed line half away from zero to the nearest penny. A one-penny difference keeps the printed figure and can stay verified. A larger difference keeps the printed figure and is cannot_check.

If period_days is blank, or the daily rate is blank, copy the printed standing total, leave the missing input blank, and set amount_due_check to copied_not_checked. Do not write zero days. Header line_check can still show that the usage lines matched. If a required comparison already differs by more than one penny, cannot_check takes precedence over that missing input.

An estimated or mixed reading stays labelled. Estimated kilowatt-hours are not measured consumption.

Tax lines, other charges and the amount due

Copy the VAT rate, the VAT base and the VAT amount printed on the bill. VAT pounds equal the printed base times the printed rate. If the base is blank, copy the VAT amount and set amount_due_check to copied_not_checked. Do not type 0.05, 0.20 or 0 from memory.

A charge is positive. A credit, including an amount in brackets or marked CR, is stored as a negative amount with charge_direction credit. A brought-forward debit is positive and a brought-forward credit is negative. Amount due equals period charges plus that signed balance. Keep the brought-forward balance out of the usage lines and out of the standing charge.

Omit a Climate Change Levy from the sum only when ccl_on_bill is no, and leave those cells blank. A blank levy is not zero. If ccl_on_bill is yes but the printed amount is missing, or not_printed means you cannot tell, preserve the blanks and set amount_due_check to copied_not_checked. Unknown is not an absent charge. When the bill prints the levy amount, add that printed amount once. Do not type a published levy rate unless the bill prints it.

When every extra charge is already inside the VAT base, period charges equal the printed VAT base plus VAT. Where the bill clearly identifies charges outside the VAT base, period charges equal the printed VAT base plus VAT plus those signed outside-base charges once. If inside_vat_base is not_stated, keep the printed totals and set amount_due_check to copied_not_checked. Do not infer the tax treatment.

Ofgem’s non-domestic billing guide, publication date 7 November 2024, says non-domestic bills can vary and that the guide is not a template. Copy the lines this bill prints. Do not expect every bill to use these column names.

Worked example: a fictional bill

The example is a fictional electricity bill for Northgate Studio. The rates are invented and are not a current tariff. No supplier is named. The period is 1 March 2026 to 30 March 2026, with 30 standing-charge days printed on the bill. The supply number 00 0000 0000 000 is fictional. The reading is estimated.

Line Printed figures Check
Rate D1 300 kWh at 20.00 pence = £60.00 verified
Rate N1 100 kWh at 10.00 pence = £10.00 verified
Usage total 400 kWh and £70.00. The rates are not averaged. Header line_check verified
Standing charge 50.00 pence per day for 30 days = £15.00 Included in the amount-due check. There is no standing-check column.
Goodwill credit −£2.00, inside the VAT base Stored once. The header other-charges cell is −2.00. Do not add the credit again.
VAT base £83.00, which is 70.00 + 15.00 − 2.00 The levy is omitted because ccl_on_bill is no. Those cells stay blank. Blank is not zero.
VAT Printed 5 percent, stored as 0.05, which is £4.15 Copied from the fictional bill, not typed from a usual rate.
Period charges £87.15, the VAT base plus VAT The credit is already inside the base.
Amount due £10.00 debit brought forward. Amount due £97.15 amount_due_check verified

The 400 kilowatt-hours are not measured consumption, because the reading is estimated. They are also not more than 33 kilowatt-hours a day or 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month. March 2026 is before the temporary zero-rate window described below. Those two facts are why this fictional bill prints 5 percent and no levy line. A real bill is copied as printed.

Adding the header usage total on top of £60.00 and £10.00 would produce £140.00. Averaging 20.00 and 10.00 pence and applying 15.00 pence to 400 kilowatt-hours would produce £60.00, which is not the printed usage total. Storing the credit as a positive £2.00 would make the VAT base £87.00 instead of £83.00.

If a required comparison differs by more than one penny, keep the printed figure and mark that check cannot_check. Do not replace it with verified because a later total adds up. A difference of one penny can stay verified. The fictional bill lands on exact pennies, so it does not use that one-penny difference.

Limits

A recomputed bill is not a tariff comparison and not evidence of waste. This bill log does not replace the room checks. record the office energy walk-through. Do not promise a lower next bill. Do not tell the reader to switch supplier. Estimated kilowatt-hours must not be entered into a carbon calculation as if they were a metered year.

HMRC VAT Notice 701/19, last updated 8 September 2026, says supplies of not more than an average of 33 kilowatt-hours of electricity a day, or 1,000 kilowatt-hours a month, to one customer at one premises are taxed at the reduced rate, including when the bill is estimated. Where the price includes electricity and standing or other charges, the notice says the whole supply is taxed at the reduced rate. It also says the Climate Change Levy does not apply to domestic or charity non-business use, and that supplies of small de minimis amounts are also excluded. The same notice says qualifying electricity in Great Britain is liable to VAT at 0 percent from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027. The fictional March 2026 bill is before that window. Copy the rate printed on a real bill.

The GOV.UK VAT rates page states the standard rate as 20 percent, the reduced rate as 5 percent and the zero rate as 0 percent. It does not itself decide whether a business electricity supply is reduced-rated. HMRC’s Climate Change Levy rates page, last updated 27 November 2025, lists electricity rates and says they do not apply to domestic consumers and charities for non-business use. Copy the VAT rate and any levy amount printed on the bill. Do not substitute a figure from those pages.

Before you publish these figures as a saving, read the green claims code.

Sources

Accessed 8 October 2026.

  • Best Practice Guide: Non-Domestic Billing Transparency (PDF), Ofgem, publication date 7 November 2024. A voluntary supplier guide. It says non-domestic bills vary and that the guide is not a template. It describes consumption charges, tax such as VAT and Climate Change Levy as lines that can be shown separately, and information on whether readings are estimated or actual. It is Great Britain non-domestic guidance, not a standard bill layout.
  • Fuel and power (VAT Notice 701/19), HMRC, last updated 8 September 2026. Sections 2.8, 5.2 and 5.4, and the temporary zero rate for qualifying electricity in Great Britain from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027.
  • Climate Change Levy rates, HMRC, last updated 27 November 2025. Electricity rates, and the statement that the rates do not apply to domestic consumers and charities for non-business use. Copy a levy amount only when the bill prints it.
  • VAT rates, GOV.UK. Standard rate 20 percent, reduced rate 5 percent, zero rate 0 percent. This page does not decide the rate on a business electricity bill.