Particularly if your project is supposed to help you meet a near-term renewable energy or emissions goal reduction, you should regularly engage with the developer to keep tabs on the project’s status.

By default, the accounting reports and invoices you receive from your developer will likely be lengthy, dense documents that contain a significant amount of information. To mitigate this issue, we suggest taking the following steps before you begin receiving invoices:

Before reaching out to the developer, internally align on both what information you would like to receive monthly and what information you would like to be able to request on an ad hoc basis. You may wish to consult with colleagues from your city’s finance, treasury, accounting and/or legal departments as part of this process.

Based on your internal discussions, you may wish to create a template for the developer and highlight the specific level of detail you would like to see. If possible, you should include the use of this template in the contract terms. Beyond the template, you should work with the project developer to ensure a smooth communication process and create a shared set of expectations on content and frequency.

You should coordinate with your city’s finance and accounting teams to ensure that they will be ready to handle the monthly settlements with the developer.

Occasionally contracts may need amending post-signing due to financier requests, changes in law, or to adapt to unexpected events. If this occurs, you should evaluate any proposed changes and go through the proper channels to ensure that all key stakeholders find the adjustments acceptable.