Calculating accruals

Accruals are calculated in monthly blocks for any missing data in a month.

Accruals are calculated and refreshed instantly when a data file is loaded, when new data is captured, or when an existing record is updated or deleted in an account. Accruals are also recalculated and refreshed on the first or second day of each calendar month to fill in any possible gaps in the previous month that passed.

Cost accruals are not a stand-alone feature and can only be used with consumption accruals. Cost accruals are an indicative estimation only and must not be used to replace financial grade reporting.

For an example of the calculation of consumption accruals, see Example - Consumption accruals.

For an example of the calculation of cost accruals, see Example - Cost accruals with accrued data using the "Last Invoice" accrual method.

Data gaps

The system identifies gaps in data by looking at the total consumption or cost or both for the month and the number of days covered. A gap is determined when no consumption or no cost is captured, or both no consumption and no cost are captured, for the entire month, or if the data that is captured does not cover the whole month.

Accrual fields

Each data type or account style that is configured in IBM® Envizi ESG Suite captures multiple, varied fields based on your individual requirements. However, the system generates accruals for the primary consumption measure field and the Total Cost field only. For example, for an electricity account, the Total kWh Consumed field and the Total Cost field can be accrued. Other fields, such as peak kWh or tax charges, cannot be accrued.

Accrual methodologies

Several methodologies are provided for calculating consumption accruals. These methodologies are based on the historical period that is defined for the calculation of the corresponding historical daily average value.

Consumption accrual options include:

Last 12 months
Last 18 months
Last 24 months
Entire data set
Last available month
Same month last year
Weighted average
Linked interval meter data

Several methodologies are provided for calculating cost accruals. These methodologies are based on the historical period that is defined.

Cost accrual options include:

Same as the consumption methodology
Not required
Last invoice

Accrual start times

For accounts, you can configure accruals to start based on either of the following options:

Start accruals on the first observation of data in the relevant account.
Start accruals from the date that the account was opened.
Note: If no opened on date is configured for an account, accruals occur from the first observation of data.

Accrual end times

By default, data is accrued until the end of the previous calendar month, or up to the account closing date, if the account is being marked as closed. You can also choose to configure a different accrual ending calendar month. You can accrue to one of the following end times:

Previous month (default)
Current month
1, 2, 3, 4,5,6, 12, 18, 24 months into the future

The accrual end time is set at the organization level and applies to all data sets in the system. For closed accounts, accruals generate up to the account closing date, regardless of this setting.

Accrual stop times

Account data stops accruing under these conditions:

Accruals are not calculated for any period after the replaced on date of an account.
Note: When you are closing an account, it is important to set the replace on date to avoid accruals.
Accruals are not calculated on empty accounts. These are accounts without data records.
Accruals are not calculated if a user suppresses accruals for the account. Do this by entering 0 as a value for the cost or consumption field.

Accruals per data type

Data types or account styles apply a different accrual methodology, which depends on the type of data they collect. These include:

Contiguous Data: Data that relates to a continual stream of data, where gaps generally indicate a missing bill.; Gaps indicate that data is missing. By definition, the data should be continuous.; Note: If accruals are enabled for contiguous data, when a new data point is recorded after a gap, previously accrued contiguous data is still valid and preserved.
Contiguous No Accruals: Data relates to a continual stream of data, but no accruals are generated for any gaps.
Event Data: Sporadic data points that are recorded as discrete points, where gaps do not generally indicate missing data. Examples include fuel or flight data.; The system does not fill gaps because it does not know with certainty if the gap relates to missing data or a period of no consumption. Data is accrued for complete months after the last month that contains actual data only.
Event Data no Accruals: Sporadic data points that are recorded as discrete points. Accruals are not generated for missing data points.
Extrapolation: KPI data, such as floor space or operating hours, which do not accumulate over time.; The system fills in all historical gaps by using the value of the most recent data point prior to the missing period. The accrual method of using a historical window period to derive a daily average value does not apply to extrapolation data.; Accruals for extrapolation data are always generated regardless of whether accruals are enabled on the platform.

Recalculating accruals

A recalculation of accrual values is triggered under these conditions:

When account records are updated. These updates included adding, modifying, or deleting records, whether adding the data manually or from file loading data connectors.
When the opened on or replaced on dates of an account are applied.
At the beginning of each calendar month.

No activity for an account

You might notice that accrual values change every month even when there is no data activity for an account. This behavior is expected based on how accruals are generated and how the accrual method is applied in Envizi ESG Suite.

Accruals are dynamically generated and are refreshed on the 1st day of each month. This approach ensures that accruals represent the latest data patterns in the account and provide an up-to-date estimation each month.

Whether the values change also depends on the accrual methodology that is used. With the Last 12 months method, at the beginning of each month, data from the last 12 months is used to generate new accruals for the account. The last 12 months includes the month that passed. The accrual values are likely to change every month to reflect the latest 12 months data pattern. However, if you use the Last available month method, the accrual values won't change. Data from the last month is always used. If no new data is entered for the account, the accrual values remain unchanged every month.