Guide / Assess complete offers
Compare the complete agreement and keep the assumptions
A usable comparison connects the financial arithmetic with contract terms, service and the school’s future requirement. Keep cash, cost and unresolved exposure identifiable.
Start with the same requirement
Agree the legal buyer, sites, meters, fuels, consumption periods and forecast before comparing prices. Explain day-school term patterns, boarding, nursery, staff housing, holiday use and any planned estate change. Use identical demand assumptions for the comparable base case and show legitimate differences explicitly.
A one-year quote and a four-year commitment answer different questions. Compare a common period where supported and show the full committed term separately. Do not invent the future renewal price of the shorter offer. Identify what remains unpriced after the common period and test whether the longer term is appropriate for the school’s plans.
Reconcile every financial component
Translate pence per kWh into pounds using the relevant quantity and period. An uplift already included in the unit rate is part of that price; display it for transparency without adding it again. For direct fees, identify their VAT treatment and whether they are already within another cost line.
Show gross supplier payments and net economic cost after deducting the VAT assumed to be recoverable. Keep irrecoverable VAT visible. A refundable deposit is cash tied up, not an extra energy expense. Its funding, refund conditions and timing can still affect affordability. Do not assign a zero to an unknown charge.
| Component | Comparison treatment |
|---|---|
| Unit charges | Rate, band, period consumption and additional variable charges |
| Fixed and other charges | Standing, capacity, metering, data, reconciliation and separate service charges |
| Adviser remuneration | Embedded commission already in the quote, direct fees and additional work |
| Tax | Confirmed supply VAT, CCL and the evidenced VAT recovery assumption |
| Security and payment | Deposit, guarantee, billing frequency, direct debit and recovery timing |
| Changing charges | Pass-through basis, review mechanism and plausible scenarios |
Keep tax assumptions attached to the calculation
The VAT rate charged on an energy supply, the school’s input-tax recovery and CCL treatment need separate assessments. Charitable status or VAT registration alone cannot answer all three. Use the responsible adviser’s classification, allocation and recovery method for the actual activities and supply. Record who confirmed the assumption and when it must be reviewed.
The educational tools accept entered assumptions; they do not classify a meter, issue a certificate or establish an exemption. Split periods, components or services where their rates or recovery treatment differ. Future periods need their own supported assumptions, including changes to temporary measures.
Assess terms and service beside the numbers
For each offer, review the fixed and changing elements, volume provisions, site additions and removals, changes of entity, termination, credit, security and data access. Ask the provider to explain consequences with a scenario that resembles your estate. The written response and final contractual wording belong in the evidence file.
Specify the continuing service before scoring it. A named bill check, competent site consultation, exception report, action follow-up and review meeting can be assessed. A vague promise of savings cannot support the same confidence. Record delivery evidence, full fees, school responsibilities and any work requiring a separately competent specialist.
Test the decision under change
Use a central requirement and proportionate adverse cases: lower or higher demand, altered charge components, delayed VAT recovery, a deposit, an affected site or a reduced boarding operation. State which inputs change and why. Where a contractual adjustment is unknown, the displayed arithmetic remains incomplete as a decision comparison until that issue is resolved.
The annual illustration is an introduction. The dated-meter laboratory handles separate lines and periods, missing data, tax and fee allocation. The workbook provides independent-school case assumptions and an editable comparison. Keep the original written offers and the dated version of the model; an export is not a supplier quotation.
Write the reasons in school language
Explain the alternatives considered, why the recommended support and agreement meet the school’s needs, and the material trade-offs. A higher modelled cost can require a reasoned explanation of better service, flexibility or lower exposure. Do not turn an estimated service benefit into a guaranteed saving to make a preferred option appear cheaper.
Identify unresolved conditions, quote validity and who can approve a change before acceptance. Record the appropriate school decision separately. If the comparison does not yet support a recommendation, say what additional evidence or revised offer is required.