EV charging · Renewable energy and clean technology
EV charging networks with a profit and loss for every charger site
A charging network grows by adding sites, and a site earns only when vehicles use it enough to cover electricity cost and the host's share. We build a profit and loss for every site and reconcile what the chargers recorded with what the apps settled, so the network knows which sites to expand and which to move.
In one paragraph
Charge point operators run public, fleet and destination charging, from a few dozen sites to a few thousand chargers, usually led by a founder with a finance head. The capital is spread across many small sites, each with its own electricity connection and host agreement. Revenue arrives through apps, aggregators and prepaid wallets. Utilisation, not capacity, decides whether a site pays for itself.
Founder or chief financial officer
The economics
How the money moves in this trade
Each site needs chargers, a grid connection, civil and electrical work and an agreement with the site host, who is usually paid a rent or a share of revenue. Electricity is bought at a tariff set by the state regulator. Central guidelines call for a single-part tariff at public charging stations, with cheaper power in solar hours. Connections outside that category may still carry fixed or demand charges on sanctioned load. Revenue is per unit of energy or per session. At low utilisation, electricity cost and the host share can exceed the margin on energy sold.
Customers pay through the operator's app, or through third-party aggregator apps that settle later net of commission. Fleet contracts are billed monthly, and prepaid wallet balances are a liability until used. Central and state incentive programmes for charging infrastructure carry conditions on installation and use. A network with hundreds of sites has hundreds of small profit and loss accounts and several settlement streams to reconcile against charger logs.
The problem
Where the numbers usually break down
Sites are judged on sessions, not on margin
Utilisation is reported in sessions and energy delivered, while electricity cost, host share and maintenance sit in head-office cost, so loss-making sites look busy.
Host shares are calculated on the wrong base
Revenue shares are computed on gross collections including tax or before aggregator commission, so hosts are overpaid and nobody notices.
App and aggregator settlements are not matched to charger logs
Sessions recorded by the chargers, sessions billed through apps and cash settled by aggregators come from three systems that are never reconciled.
Wallet balances are treated as revenue
Money loaded into prepaid wallets is recognised when received rather than when energy is delivered, which overstates revenue and hides the liability to customers.
Capex and subsidy conditions are tracked loosely
Charger, grid connection and civil cost are booked to a single capital account, and the installation and usage conditions attached to incentives are not monitored site by site.
What we do
The work, and the result each part produces
Site-level profit and loss
Energy revenue, electricity cost including any fixed or demand charges, host share, maintenance and connectivity booked to each site monthly.
Every site shows whether it covers its own cost.
Host agreement and share calculation
Each host agreement abstracted, with rent or revenue share computed on the contractual base and reconciled to payments.
Hosts are paid exactly what the agreement provides.
Session-to-cash reconciliation
Charger logs matched to app billing, aggregator settlements and fleet invoices, with commissions and failed payments identified.
Every session delivered is billed and every bill is collected.
Wallet liability accounting
Prepaid balances held as a liability and released to revenue as energy is delivered, with dormant balances tracked.
Revenue reflects energy actually sold.
Capital cost and incentive register
Charger, connection and civil cost capitalised by site, with incentive conditions and their status tracked.
Capex per site and incentive eligibility are both known.
Expansion and relocation analysis
Site economics compared across locations, charger types and host terms to inform where the next chargers go.
Capital is placed where utilisation will pay for it.
Where we start
The first steps of an engagement
Charger logs, bills and agreements
We ask for session logs from the charger management system, electricity bills for each connection, host agreements, aggregator and fleet settlement statements, and the wallet balance report.
Session-to-cash match
Sessions logged are matched to sessions billed through each app, aggregator and fleet contract and to cash settled, with commissions and failed payments separated.
Site cost mapping
Electricity bills, host payments, maintenance and connectivity are mapped to sites. Wallet top-ups move to a liability released as energy is delivered.
Site profit and loss
The first report shows margin for every site after electricity cost and host share, utilisation against break-even, and unmatched sessions by settlement stream.
How it is measured
The reports the work is judged on
Each is recorded as a baseline before the work starts, so later reports have an honest comparison.
- Margin per site after electricity cost and host share
- Utilisation against break-even, by site
- Sessions logged against sessions billed and settled
- Prepaid wallet liability
- Capital cost per charger and per site
- Host payments against agreement terms
Who it suits
Written for, and not the right fit for
- You manufacture chargers rather than operate them; our manufacturing pages are a closer fit.
- You need a statutory audit or a certificate for an incentive claim on its own; those are signed by an independently engaged professional.
- Charge point operators running public, destination or fleet charging networks.
- Fleet operators and businesses building dedicated charging for their own or contracted vehicles.
- Operators preparing for an equity round, venture debt or a partnership with an oil marketing company or real estate owner.
Services
Services this work draws on
MIS and financial planning
Reporting built around the questions you actually need answered.
Explore service ↗Finance technology and automation
Systems configured around your process, not the other way round.
Explore service ↗Outsourced accounting
Your books kept current and reconciled, closed to a published calendar.
Explore service ↗Fractional CFO services
Senior financial leadership on the days you need it, not a full-time hire.
Explore service ↗Internal controls and risk
Controls sized to your business, documented and actually tested.
Explore service ↗Every other service, also available in this trade
Common questions
Questions owners in this trade ask
We have hundreds of sites. Is a profit and loss for each one practical?
Yes, once the charger platform, the electricity bills and the host agreements feed the accounts automatically. Most of the data already exists; the work is mapping it to sites consistently.
Can you reconcile our aggregator settlements?
Yes. We match the sessions in your charger management system to what each aggregator billed and paid, net of commission, and flag the differences for follow-up.
Is wallet money really not revenue?
Not until the customer uses it. Until then you owe the customer either energy or a refund, so it's a liability. Treating it as revenue flatters growth and can mislead investors.
5th Quadrant maintains site-level accounts, settlement reconciliations and incentive records. Statutory audit, tax-audit reports and any certificate required for an incentive claim are issued by an independently engaged licensed professional, coordinated through 5th Quadrant. Full detail is on our Professional Scope page.
Explore further