Here at Procure Smart, it’s in our ethos to help businesses take control of their costs with fast, efficient switching. In order to do this, it’s important to us that we make things as simple as possible for our customers.
In business, we’re all guilty of throwing around acronyms that we use everyday, assuming that everyone else knows what we mean!
For this very reason, we’ve decided to put together a handy jargon buster to help make some tricky subjects that little bit easier.
In the following piece, we’ll cover some of the main terminology used in our five core services.
Business Water
- Wholesaler – The regional wholesaler, responsible for treatment of the regions water and delivery to site. Your water retailer charges your water at a fixed rate, regardless of which retailer you use.
- Retailer – The company you pay your bill to. You can now pick and choose your own retailer (this is where Procure Smart come in). Each retailer has their own price point and benefits of being on supply with them.
- SPID – Supply Point ID – Your unique reference for your commercial water supply (commercial only). Check out our blog for more information.
- RSA – Return to Sewer Allowance – The volume of water that your supplier presumes will be returned to the public sewer. A chargeable aspect of your bill and some suppliers may have this set incorrectly (something we can help amend moving forward).
- TE – Trade Effluent – potentially another aspect of your bill. Accounting for wastewater that needs to be treated before entering the sewer system. Often seen on a manufacturing premises.
Business Energy
- LOA – A Letter of Authority (LOA) is the legal document that provides energy experts with the permission needed to liaise with energy suppliers on your behalf.
- MPAN – Meter Point Admin Number – Unique reference for your electricity meter.
- MPRN – Meter Point Reference Number – Unique reference for your gas meter.
- Fixed Rate Contract – Pre-agreed unit rate (measured in kWh) with your supplier for the duration of your contract. They are the most common business energy tariffs as they enable businesses to maximise the accuracy of their long-term financial forecasts.
- Pass through contract – You agree to some, but not all charges upfront with your supplier, with the remainder being ‘passed through’ to you at an additional cost, depending on factors such as your time of usage.
- kWh – KiloWatt Hour – A measurement of energy usage – the power in kilowatts multiplied by the time in hours.
- EAC – Estimated Annual Consumption – Consumption An estimate of how much gas and electricity you use in a year.
Commercial Waste
- A lift – the term used for a collection of a container – suppliers usually charge a set rate “per lift”.
- Overweights – the term used when a container is loaded in excess of the agreed weight limit. The bin is weighed as it is loaded onto the wagon and overweights are calculated. Be cautious, most suppliers charge a set amount for every kilogram overweight. This can result in significantly increased charges if not managed.
- Ro-Ro – Roll on roll off container. A container larger than your usual commercial bins. Requires a specialist truck for delivery/removal.
Card Payment Solutions
- PDQ – Process Data Quickly – Often referred to as a PDQ machine. The terminal that is used for taking payment.
- EPOS – Electronic Point of Sale – A till system that is linked to a payment terminal. Can often be linked into systems to track stock.
- Rates – A percentage of the transaction paid to the provider for processing the transaction.
- Transaction charge – A fixed charge (usually Pence) per transaction. Charged for each transaction, regardless of value.
- PCI Compliance – Being PCI compliant means adhering to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard – essentially agreeing that all data transferred is done so securely.
Business Telecoms
- PSTN– Public switched telephone Network – Traditional telephone line- Soon to be obsolete, replaced by VoIP in 2025.
- VoIP – Voice over Inter Protocol – Using the internet to make calls. Much more flexible and cost effective than traditional lines.
- FTTC – Fibre to the Cabinet – The provider provides fibre cabling to the local cabinet which is then converted to a copper cable into the premises.
- FTTP – Fibre to the Property – The provider provides fibre cabling all the way to the property, resulting in faster upload/download.
How can Procure Smart help me?
To help businesses like yours, we have created a super-easy process for our experts to gather the necessary information to assess your costs and investigate savings, fast. All you need to do is upload a copy of your latest invoices to our web form and our team will undertake a complete audit of your billing.
Once we have this information, we will establish the most business-appropriate solution for you and approach the market on your behalf to negotiate a tailor-made cost-effective solution that adheres to your every business need.
Submit your details with our team below.
