{ "dataset_id": "level-operating-cost-controls-study-2024", "title": "Level 2024 Operating Cost Controls Study", "version": "2026.09.09", "published_at": "2026-09-09", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "evidence_class": "Level historical AP research cohort", "scope": "Aggregate 2024 bill-header patterns across eligible source company IDs plus one aggregate software-detector control observation.", "population": { "year": 2024, "sample_unit": "source company ID", "eligible_source_company_ids": 652, "eligible_bill_headers": 1192695, "eligibility": { "periodStart": "2024-01-01", "periodEndExclusive": "2025-01-01", "snapshotRule": "Latest row per company_id and bill_id by col_updated_at", "deletedRows": "excluded", "vendorName": "required", "totalAmount": { "minimumExclusive": 0, "maximumInclusive": 1000000, "currency": "USD-assumed-unproven" }, "minimumEligibleBillsPerCompanyId": 20 }, "identity_status": "Source company IDs were not independently deduplicated and were not verified as contractors." }, "headline_findings": [ { "id": "small_bill_workload", "value": 69.5, "unit": "percent of eligible bill headers", "comparison_value": 7.9, "comparison_unit": "percent of eligible billed amount", "statement": "At the approximate median source ID, 69.5% of eligible bill headers were below the source-record 500 threshold but represented 7.9% of eligible billed amount.", "decision": "Treat small bills primarily as workflow volume, not the first price-negotiation pool." }, { "id": "top_five_concentration", "value": 72.5, "unit": "percent of eligible billed amount", "statement": "At the approximate median source ID, the five largest normalized vendor names represented 72.5% of eligible billed amount.", "decision": "Put commercial negotiation and service-level review on the concentrated core." }, { "id": "one_time_vendor_tail", "value": 33.3, "unit": "percent of normalized vendor names", "comparison_value": 3.8, "comparison_unit": "percent of eligible billed amount", "statement": "Vendors appearing once represented 33.3% of normalized vendor names but only 3.8% of eligible billed amount at the approximate median source ID.", "decision": "Treat the long tail as an onboarding, coding, and control problem before calling it a savings pool." }, { "id": "monthly_peak", "value": 2.2, "unit": "times median active-month billed amount", "statement": "The approximate median peak month was 2.20 times the median active month.", "decision": "Investigate volatility against each entity's own baseline rather than comparing raw dollars across entities." }, { "id": "ap_workload", "value": 681, "unit": "eligible bill headers per source ID in 2024", "comparison_value": 48, "comparison_unit": "normalized vendor names", "statement": "The approximate median source ID had 681 eligible bill headers and 48 normalized vendor names in 2024.", "decision": "Separate recurring high-volume processing from high-dollar commercial review." }, { "id": "monthly_vendor_span", "value": 18.6, "unit": "distinct vendor names in a median active month", "statement": "The approximate median source ID interacted with 18.6 distinct vendor names in a median active month.", "decision": "A monthly exception review can cover the active portfolio without waiting for a year-end study." } ], "major_vendor_rows": [ { "vendor_family": "Home Depot", "source_company_ids_with_vendor": 370, "share_of_eligible_source_ids_pct": 56.7, "approximate_median_annual_billed_amount_source_currency": 3142, "approximate_median_bill_headers_among_users": 22 }, { "vendor_family": "Grainger", "source_company_ids_with_vendor": 361, "share_of_eligible_source_ids_pct": 55.4, "approximate_median_annual_billed_amount_source_currency": 3819, "approximate_median_bill_headers_among_users": 11 }, { "vendor_family": "Trane", "source_company_ids_with_vendor": 305, "share_of_eligible_source_ids_pct": 46.8, "approximate_median_annual_billed_amount_source_currency": 63511, "approximate_median_bill_headers_among_users": 28 }, { "vendor_family": "Ferguson", "source_company_ids_with_vendor": 295, "share_of_eligible_source_ids_pct": 45.2, "approximate_median_annual_billed_amount_source_currency": 10122, "approximate_median_bill_headers_among_users": 19 }, { "vendor_family": "Johnstone Supply", "source_company_ids_with_vendor": 263, "share_of_eligible_source_ids_pct": 40.3, "approximate_median_annual_billed_amount_source_currency": 8004, "approximate_median_bill_headers_among_users": 20 }, { "vendor_family": "United Refrigeration", "source_company_ids_with_vendor": 261, "share_of_eligible_source_ids_pct": 40, "approximate_median_annual_billed_amount_source_currency": 19811, "approximate_median_bill_headers_among_users": 35 }, { "vendor_family": "Sunbelt Rentals", "source_company_ids_with_vendor": 243, "share_of_eligible_source_ids_pct": 37.3, "approximate_median_annual_billed_amount_source_currency": 6063, "approximate_median_bill_headers_among_users": 6 }, { "vendor_family": "United Rentals", "source_company_ids_with_vendor": 206, "share_of_eligible_source_ids_pct": 31.6, "approximate_median_annual_billed_amount_source_currency": 5678, "approximate_median_bill_headers_among_users": 5 }, { "vendor_family": "Amazon", "source_company_ids_with_vendor": 197, "share_of_eligible_source_ids_pct": 30.2, "approximate_median_annual_billed_amount_source_currency": 1244, "approximate_median_bill_headers_among_users": 5 }, { "vendor_family": "Lowe's", "source_company_ids_with_vendor": 195, "share_of_eligible_source_ids_pct": 29.9, "approximate_median_annual_billed_amount_source_currency": 891, "approximate_median_bill_headers_among_users": 8 } ], "threshold_header_proxies": [ { "vendor_family": "Home Depot", "vendor_users": 370, "public_threshold_usd": 2500, "share_with_at_least_one_header_at_or_above_threshold_pct": 12.2, "boundary": "Header-size review cue only. A bill header does not prove a qualifying basket, program enrollment, discount, or rebate receipt." }, { "vendor_family": "Lowe's", "vendor_users": 195, "public_threshold_usd": 2000, "share_with_at_least_one_header_at_or_above_threshold_pct": 4.1, "boundary": "Header-size review cue only. A bill header does not prove a qualifying basket, program enrollment, discount, or rebate receipt." }, { "vendor_family": "Amazon", "vendor_users": 197, "public_threshold_usd": 10000, "share_with_at_least_one_header_at_or_above_threshold_pct": 0, "boundary": "Header-size review cue only. A bill header does not prove a qualifying basket, program enrollment, discount, or rebate receipt." } ], "agc_home_depot_semiannual_proxy": { "vendor_users": 370, "source_ids_above_threshold_in_at_least_one_half": 74, "share_above_threshold_in_at_least_one_half_pct": 20, "source_ids_above_threshold_in_both_halves": 41, "public_threshold_usd": 12500, "above_threshold_billed_amount_source_currency": 6030000, "illustrative_two_percent_arithmetic_source_currency": 120642, "boundary": "Upper-bound bill-header arithmetic only. Membership, enrollment, tender registration, qualifying pre-tax net purchases, returns, timing, and rebate receipt are unobserved." }, "minimum_activity_sensitivity": [ { "vendorFamily": "Home Depot", "minimumBillHeadersLow": 10, "minimumBillHeadersHigh": 50, "prevalencePctLow": 51.3, "prevalencePctHigh": 61.1 }, { "vendorFamily": "Grainger", "minimumBillHeadersLow": 10, "minimumBillHeadersHigh": 50, "prevalencePctLow": 46.7, "prevalencePctHigh": 63.7 } ], "software_detector_control": { "evidenceClass": "Level field observation", "apparentFindingCount": 206, "controlledSoftwareSubjectFindingCount": 42, "apparentAnnualizedAmount": 10680000, "controlledAnnualizedReviewAmount": 197066, "publicationBoundary": "One read-only detector-control run. These are review candidates, not unnecessary software, avoidable expense, verified savings, or a population benchmark.", "finding_count_rejected_pct": 79.6, "apparent_amount_rejected_pct": 98.2, "apparent_to_controlled_amount_multiple": 54.2 }, "query_receipts": [ { "queryId": "d35d06f3-df04-4695-b50f-a7fac54cc92a", "sha256": "f7e0c6975daa102649a0416f4121bb435426f78c521611e3a0a83dc068f6edc2" }, { "queryId": "453e47ee-9d5f-43b3-8f48-7ab224d77817", "sha256": "140402af5408f9ea2cf4325aa109507b7bacfb165f39ea4046f1a07f404ad406" }, { "queryId": "05a30667-0f6d-48c7-a568-7e713a73f702", "sha256": "5a23c210c1d5c0475095b0ec818d7baff0f2b2100722e16244a30ef33ca10d4f" }, { "queryId": "0070ec92-f10d-4eda-84dd-99702df893d4", "sha256": "f9b6b347acb5d7b3aecdfa58ff075a2aee0e0c9705726e996f18c753c5763ee4" }, { "queryId": "85ebe645-4958-4824-bcbf-3b66fedffeb7", "sha256": "2463ac0748c0d77dcda904cb3c03b357f24b39116c4ffc10bae74a3f5c79f721", "metric": "agc_home_depot_semiannual_threshold_proxy" } ], "methodology": [ "Retain the latest bill revision per source-company-plus-bill key by update time, exclude deleted rows, require a parseable 2024 issue date and named vendor, and keep positive header totals no greater than the source-record 1,000,000 ceiling.", "Require at least 20 eligible bill headers per source company ID, compute each metric within source ID first, then calculate approximate company-level medians so a high-volume source ID does not dominate the result.", "Normalize reviewed major vendor-family aliases for the published vendor table and report minimum-activity sensitivity where the cohort rule materially changes prevalence.", "Publish software-detector control ratios as a separate Level field observation. Do not merge them with the historical AP cohort or call the surviving review amount savings." ], "limitations": [ "A source company ID is not asserted to be an independent company or a contractor.", "A bill header is not cash paid, material consumed, job cost, overpayment, or verified savings.", "Billed-amount fields inherit the source-record currency assumption and are not audited financial-statement expense.", "Approximate medians are descriptive of the eligible source-ID cohort, not market percentiles.", "No customer identifier, uncommon merchant, raw transaction, or small software-vendor cell is published." ], "withheld": [ "customer and source-company identifiers", "raw bill or transaction rows", "uncommon merchant names", "software-vendor cells that fail minimum-size, product-scope, or dominance review", "PO, payment-term, job-linkage, freight, and purchaser-field benchmarks whose semantics remain unverified", "claims of contractor market prevalence, cash paid, realized savings, or avoidable expense" ] }