The questions Kiwi businesses
actually ask us
Not a list of things we wish you would ask. These are the ones that come up on the phone — what an ICP is, whether your power goes off when you switch, what a Letter of Authority commits you to, how the savings number is worked out, and what any of this costs you.
Getting started
What we do, what we need from you, and how long it takes.
We are an SME energy broker. We review what your business currently pays for power, gas, fibre, water and waste, compare commercial rates across the New Zealand market, negotiate on your behalf, and manage the switch from end to end. We are not a retailer and we are not a lead-generation form — you get a person who does the work, not a list of numbers to ring yourself.
For a power comparison, three things: your ICP number, roughly how many kWh your site uses in a month, and roughly what you pay in a month. That is it. We look the rest up. You do not need to dig out a contract or wait for your next bill to find out whether it is worth a conversation.
ICP stands for Installation Control Point. It is the unique 15-character code — letters and numbers — for the physical electricity connection at your site. You will find it printed on your power bill, usually near the top, under a heading like "ICP" or "Installation number". It identifies the connection rather than the retailer, so it stays the same when you switch. That is exactly why we ask for it: it lets us look up the network and price category that genuinely apply to your site instead of guessing from your postcode.
Not to get started — a first estimate takes under two minutes and needs no bill. When you want a full written proposal we do ask for a recent bill, because a proposal has to be built on your real charges rather than on a rounded number you remembered.
Most Kiwi businesses are on a better plan within 7 days of engaging us, and the path from first call to signed contract is typically under two weeks. The part that takes longest is usually waiting on you, not on us.
How a switch actually works
What changes at your site, what you sign, and who you deal with.
No. Nothing physical happens at your site. A retailer switch changes who bills you for the energy delivered to your connection — the connection itself, the meter, and your local lines company all stay exactly as they are. Your ICP does not change either.
A Letter of Authority is your written permission for us to talk to retailers about your account on your behalf — to request your usage history and to ask for commercial rates in your name. You sign it online in a couple of minutes. It is not a commitment to switch: it lets us go and get the numbers, and any actual switch is a separate decision you make once you have seen them.
A real person. Every client gets a dedicated account manager who knows your sites, and you deal with the same person each time rather than re-explaining your business to whoever picks up.
Yes, and it is one of the places we are most useful. Multi-site operators usually have connections that were signed up at different times, on different price categories, in different lines areas, all landing as separate bills. Consolidating those ICPs onto a single arrangement — and getting one view of what the whole group actually spends — is core work for us, not an edge case.
Yes. We review your plans as the market moves rather than switching you once and leaving you on a rate that quietly ages. A rate that was sharp two years ago usually is not sharp today, and the whole point of having a broker is that somebody is watching that for you.
Fees, commissions and independence
What this costs you and how we get paid.
Our fees, and any retailer commissions, are disclosed and agreed in writing before any switch. You will not find a charge you have not already seen written down and agreed to. If a number would surprise you later, it belongs in front of you now.
We compare commercial rates across the New Zealand market rather than selling one supplier. Where a retailer pays commission, that is disclosed in writing alongside our own fee before you sign anything — so you can see exactly who pays us what, and judge our recommendation with that in front of you.
Then we say so. Our savings tool has a specific outcome for exactly this case: when your current rate already beats what we can put in front of you, it tells you that instead of manufacturing a saving out of rounding. A broker who can never find a reason to leave you alone is not giving you advice.
Your savings estimate
How the number is worked out, and what it is not.
It compares two real numbers, not two guesses. The current side is what you actually pay — the monthly figure you give us, annualised. The new side is built from the real rates that apply to your ICP’s network and price category: your monthly kWh at the variable rate, plus the fixed daily charge for 365 days, plus our service fee, then grossed up for GST so it lines up with the total you read off your bill. We deliberately do not assume you are currently on a discount, which makes the estimate conservative rather than flattering.
Yes, the comparison is. Commercial rates are quoted excluding GST, so we gross the new cost up by 15% before comparing it to the GST-inclusive total on your bill. Comparing an ex-GST rate against a GST-inclusive bill is one of the easiest ways to make a saving look 15% bigger than it is, and we do not do it.
Because part of every commercial power rate is a delivery charge set by the lines company for your area, and lines areas price differently from one another. Two identical cafes on identical usage, one in one region and one in another, do not pay the same rate — and a national average hides that entirely. Our rate lookup is keyed to your ICP’s own network and price category, so what you see is the rate that applies to your connection.
No. It is an estimate built on the rates available for your connection and the usage figures you gave us — change either and the number changes. Savings are estimates and may vary; the final figures are confirmed in writing before anything is signed. This is not financial advice.
Who we work with
The businesses, the industries and the parts of the country we cover.
No — commercial only. Our team works on commercial tariffs, ICPs, demand charges and business contracts all day, and that focus is the reason we are useful. Household plans are a different market with different rules, and we would be pretending if we said otherwise.
Hospitality and food service, grocery and retail, fitness and recreation, food production and manufacturing, automotive, offices, healthcare and multi-site franchise groups. Single-site independents and 28-site groups both fit — what matters is that it is a business connection rather than a household one.
No. Our office is in Manukau, Auckland, but the work is nationwide — comparison and switching are done on your ICP and your usage, and neither of those needs somebody standing in your carpark. We work with businesses from the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South.
Existing clients
Invoices, usage and getting hold of your account manager.
In your client portal. The "My Account" link in the header takes you straight there, and it is where your spending, usage and invoices live.
Call 0508 692 455 or email info@managemybills.co.nz. We are open Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 8:00pm. If it is about a specific site, having the ICP handy makes it a much shorter call.
Not ready for numbers yet
Start with three questions instead
Our savings estimate needs your ICP number, which means going and finding a power bill. If you are still working out whether this is worth a conversation at all, this is the lighter way in — three questions, no bill, no contact details, and a straight read on the page.
- No email address, no phone number, nothing collected
- An honest read on where businesses like yours usually have room
- A real estimate is still two minutes away when you want one
Bill Health Check
Three questions, no bill, no contact details. You get a straight read on where businesses shaped like yours usually have room — on this page, right now.
Go deeper
Questions specific to one utility
Each service page carries the questions that only come up for that utility, alongside how the charges are actually built.
Didn’t find your question?
Ring us and ask it. If it is about a specific site, having the ICP handy makes it a much shorter call. We are open Mon–Fri 8am–8pm.
See the numbers
Two minutes, and you’ll know where you stand
Your ICP, roughly what you use and roughly what you pay. We compare that against the rates that genuinely apply to your connection — and if you are already on a sharp rate, we say so.
No obligation · Fees agreed in writing before any switch
