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CONTENTS

Performance Assurance: BSC Audit V8.0

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Performance Assurance: BSC Audit

Guidance Note

What this document covers

    • What the BSC Audit Performance Assurance Technique (PAT) is and what it is intended to achieve;

    • Your obligations as a Performance Assurance Party (PAP), including the meetings you are required to attend and what you must do if the Auditor raises any Issues;

What this document does not cover

    • BSC Audit Reports and other documentation including the Audit Scope and Approach, which are available on the Audits page of the BSC Website

    • Details of the framework of Settlement Risks that Elexon and the Performance Assurance Board (PAB) use to inform the scope and deployment of Techniques during each Performance Assurance Operating Period (PAOP), which is included in a separate Guidance Note

    • Detailed information on how Elexon and the Performance Assurance Board (PAB) apply other PATs such Error and Failure Resolution (EFR) to ensure BSC Audit Issues are rectified

    • The Terms of Reference for the BSC Audit and BSC Auditor, which are set out in BSC Section H

Your Operational Support Manager (OSM) is your first point of contact for Performance Assurance queries and is available to support you.

If you have a more general question about Performance Assurance, please raise a ticket through the online Elexon Support portal.

Who should use this Guidance Note?

This Guidance Note can be used by anyone to looking to familiarise themselves with the BSC Audit.

It is of particular interest to the following PAPs:

    • Suppliers

    • Central Volume Allocation (CVA) Meter Operators (MOAs)

    • Half Hourly (HH) and Non-Half Hourly (NHH) Data Collectors (DCs)

    • HH and NHH Data Aggregators (DAs)

    • Meter Administrators (MAs)

    • Advanced, Smart, and Unmetered Data Services

    • Licensed Distribution System Operators (LDSOs)

    • Supplier Meter Registration Agents (SMRAs)

    • Unmetered Supplies Operators (UMSOs)

    • Registrants of CVA Metering Systems

What is the BSC Audit?

The BSC Audit is a Detective Technique within Elexon’s Performance Assurance Framework (PAF). It is one of the largest non-financial Audits in Europe, and checks BSC Parties’ and Party Agents’ compliance with their obligations under the Code through a series of workpapers that review statistical samples of Parties’ and Agents work across a range of Settlement business processes.

The BSC Audit is carried out by the BSC Auditor with the support of Elexon’s Assurance and OSM teams. The current BSC Auditor is KPMG.

The BSC Audit is split between two distinct areas of work:

    • The Supplier Volume Allocation (SVA) Process Assessment that covers Suppliers and SVA Supplier Agents. The scope of this area of Audit is directed by the annual Risk Operating Plan (ROP), a document setting out Elexon and the Performance Assurance Board’s plan to mitigate Settlement Risks in a given PAOP.

    • The Central Volume Allocation (CVA) ISAE 3000 Opinion that covers Central Systems and CVA MOAs and provides assurance that their work is compliant with Settlement and Funding Share calculation provisions in the BSC and associated Code Subsidiary Documents (CSDs).

Both work areas are defined in Section H of the BSC and follow the same timings and structure, with further detail available on the BSC Audit page of the BSC Website.

Prior to the start of each PAOP, Elexon uses data from the BSC Audit to prepare the annual Risk Evaluation Register (RER) and ROP, setting out its strategy for mitigating Settlement Risk.

The findings of the BSC Audit may also prompt Elexon and the PAB to deploy other PATs, including:

    • An Assurance Information Request (AIR) or Technical Assurance of Performance Assurance Parties (TAPAP) check, to gather additional information to understand how and to what extent Parties and Party Agents can meet their Code obligations

    • Education, to support Parties and Party Agents in understanding their Code obligations

    • EFR, where there is evidence a Party or Party Agent is responsible for serious and/or systematic non-Compliance with its Code obligations

    • BSC Change, where there is evidence existing Code obligations do not effectively mitigate Settlement Risk

What is the SOFY Platform?

The BSC Audit SOFY Platform is a secure central repository for BSC Audit documentation, and a communications tool between PAPs, the BSC Auditor and Elexon. Users can upload, view and download information relating to their Audit.

Your OSM can provide you with details on how to register for and access the SOFY Platform.

Market Wide Half Hourly Settlement (MHHS)

All BSC Audit Workpapers are undergoing a MHHS transformation exercise to accommodate new MHHS roles and BSC Procedures covered in the BSCP 700-series:

    • BSCP700 – Unmetered Supplies Data Service

    • BSCP701 – Smart Data Service

    • BSCP702 – Advanced Data Service

    • BSCP703 – BSC Central Services

    • BSCP704 – Unmetered Supplies Operations

    • BSCP705 – Licensed Distribution

    • BSCP706 – Supplier Meter Registration Service

    • BSCP708 – Migration

    • BSCP709 – Supplier Requirements for MHHS

During the transition to MHHS Elexon and BSC Auditor will take a pragmatic approach when deploying MHHS workpapers to avoid duplicating work Parties and Party Agents will be carrying out in Qualifying for the MHHS arrangements, and to ensure the assurance provided is proportionate to the volumes of energy being Settled through the new arrangements.

You can read more about this approach in the 2025/2026 BSC Audit Scope.

What is the BSC Audit Cycle?

The BSC Audit cycle runs from 1 April to 31 March in line with the BSC Year and the PAOP.

BSC Audit Scope

The scope of the Audit is set for each PAOP by the BSC Panel on the advice of Elexon and the PAB. When setting the Scope, Elexon and the PAB consider a range of factors including the findings of the previous year’s Audit, changes to the BSC, and issues identified by other Performance Assurance Techniques (PATs).

The Audit scope determines which workpapers the BSC Auditor will test and the level of scrutiny (Full, Targeted or Limited) it will apply each PAP being Audited, based on an assessment of the overall Risk to Settlement.

Planning Meetings

Planning meetings are held between October and January each year.

During the meetings, the BSC Auditor, the PAP, and their OSM will arrange the dates and times of the coming visit, complete necessary information requests and agree working practices to be audited.

Site Visits

Site visits are held between November and March each year and vary in length according to the number and type of roles present at a site, and whether the Audit is Full, Targeted or Limited. Site visits are the main part of the BSC Audit.

The BSC Auditor issues sends a data request to the PAP in advance of the visit, and it is important that you complete this in good time to help your site visit go smoothly. The BSC Auditor will perform sampling and checking based on the data request and Audit areas.

Please note that the BSC Auditor might request some additional information to validate its findings following the site visit. You must provide the Auditor with this information as soon as reasonably possible.

Once the checks are completed, the BSC Auditor will provide you with a draft of any Issues they have identified.

Clearance Meetings

Clearance meetings are held after the site visits (between December and April each year). During the meeting the PAP, BSC Auditor and Elexon discuss any draft Issues identified and address any concerns that arose during the site visit.

PAPs should make sure that they review all draft Audit Issues in detail before the meeting.

Issue Documents

Any non-compliances with the BSC or BSCPs found through the Audit are recorded as “BSC Audit Issues” and classified by their impact to Settlement as “High”, “Medium” or “Low”.

Weaknesses in controls or failures to follow best practices that do not result in a material impact to Settlement are recorded as “Management Letter Points” or MLPs.

You can read more about the rationale behind impact ratings on the BSC Audit page of the BSC Website.

The BSC Auditor collectively reviews recorded Issues with Elexon once all Site Visits and Clearance Meetings have been completed to ensure they have consistently applied impact ratings across the market.

Elexon send out the final Issues Documents to PAPs in July, following the publication of the BSC Audit Reports (see below).

What must I do if the BSC Auditor identifies any Issues during the Audit?

All Parties and Party Agents with open BSC Audit Issues are required to take action to close them and must provide regular updates to their OSM on the work they are undertaking to do so. Where necessary, Elexon will offer support through the Education Technique. Elexon may also deploy the EFR Technique to provide additional transparency and accountability around a Party or Party Agent’s plans.

For more details, please see the Error and Failure Resolution page of the BSC Website.

BSC Audit Reports and Response

Following the conclusion of each Audit Year the BSC Auditor presents two separate reports, the BSC Audit Process Assessment Report and The BSC Auditor’s Opinion Report, to the PAB and BSC Panel for approval.

These are subsequently published in on the Elexon Website. Elexon also publishes a Response paper, setting out the actions it will take in response to the BSC Audit Reports.

Debrief Meetings

Elexon arranges debrief meetings which are offered to Performance Assurance Parties after the BSC Audit Report has been published each year (usually in June). A debrief meeting provides an overview of the Issues identified during the Audit. These meetings are also an opportunity to discuss the requirements and timescales of the next Audit. The BSC Auditor will use these meetings to assess the progress of issues and note any changes in your procedures or systems before Audit work starts.

Do you need more information?

Your OSM is your first point of contact for Performance Assurance queries and is available to support you. If you’re not sure who they are, check the BSC Signatories and Qualified Persons page of our website.

The Elexon website has more information on the Performance Assurance Framework.

More information about specific BSC Processes and managing the Risks associated with them can be found in Elexon’s Digital BSC, especially the BSC Procedures (BSCPs) and Guidance Notes.

For any other information please raise a ticket through the online Elexon Support portal.

Intellectual Property Rights, Copyright and Disclaimer

The copyright and other intellectual property rights in this document are vested in Elexon or appear with the consent of the copyright owner. These materials are made available for you for the purposes of your participation in the electricity industry. If you have an interest in the electricity industry, you may view, download, copy, distribute, modify, transmit, publish, sell or create derivative works (in whatever format) from this document or in other cases use for personal academic or other non-commercial purposes. All copyright and other proprietary notices contained in the document must be retained on any copy you make.

All other rights of the copyright owner not expressly dealt with above are reserved.

No representation, warranty or guarantee is made that the information in this document is accurate or complete. While care is taken in the collection and provision of this information, Elexon Limited shall not be liable for any errors, omissions, misstatements or mistakes in any information or damages resulting from the use of this information or action taken in reliance on it.