The 2026 Audit Checklist: Five Billing Errors Your Carrier is Hoping You Ignore

Most Senior Living executives know they are likely overpaying for telecom and data. However, the sheer volume of invoices for a multi site portfolio makes a deep dive feel impossible. Carriers count on this. They know that if an invoice looks roughly the same as last month, it will likely be approved without question.

The FCC recently accelerated the retirement of copper networks. This means carriers are aggressively hiking rates on legacy analog lines to cover the rising cost of maintaining end-of-life infrastructure. Having spent over a decade working inside the major carriers and another decade as a consultant, I know exactly where the errors are hidden in this transition.

Here are five red flags your team can check in ten minutes to see if your portfolio is losing capital.

1. Stranded Analog Inventory Analog lines for elevators and fire alarms are some of the most expensive items on your balance sheet today. While copper was historically the gold standard for reliability, it has become a liability because carriers no longer prioritize the repair of aging lines. You are essentially paying a maintenance premium for infrastructure that the carrier is no longer actively supporting. Transitioning to POTS replacement services using LTE or 5G offers a modern support path that costs significantly less.

2. The M&A Leftover When you acquire a new community, the transition of technology is often messy. I frequently find portfolios still paying for the previous owner's circuits or redundant internet connections months after the acquisition is finalized. These stranded circuits can cost thousands of dollars per month per location.

3. The Contractual Sunset Carriers often include automatic renewal clauses that kick in 60 to 90 days before a contract ends. If you miss that window, you are locked into legacy pricing for another three years. In 2026, data costs are dropping while speeds are increasing. Being stuck in a 2023 price point is a direct hit to your NOI.

4. Carrier Surcharge Creep Carriers frequently add or increase non regulated surcharges and administrative fees. These are not taxes required by the government. They are discretionary fees the carrier adds to increase their margins. A forensic scrub can often identify which of these are negotiable or completely unnecessary.

5. The Audit Fee Tail Check your previous audit agreements. If you are currently recovering money from a past audit, are you still paying a percentage of those savings back to the auditor? As I have discussed before, a 36 month fee tail is an unnecessary recurring cost. By month four of our process at Insights Telecom, our fees end and you keep 100 percent of the recovery.

The Path Forward Finding these errors is the first step. The second step is ensuring your infrastructure is built to support resident care. This is why I maintain a strategic alliance with UPLIFTING IT. Once we reclaim your capital through a forensic scrub, they are our preferred provider for ensuring those dollars are reinvested into a modernized network that moves you away from unsupported copper and toward reliable cellular or fiber alternatives.

If you find even one of these red flags on your invoices, it is a sign that a deeper look is required. Let’s find the money and make sure it stays in your community.