Getting your bill as a PDF on a computer

First, what is a PDF?

A PDF is simply the electronic copy of your bill. The exact same bill, page for page, as a computer file instead of paper. When your energy company emails your bill or lets you download it, a PDF is what they give you. It reads perfectly almost every time, because it is the original document rather than a reproduction.

Whether you use a Mac or a Windows computer, the steps are nearly the same. Your bill lives in one of two places: your email, or your energy company's online portal. (Working from your phone instead? Here are the phone steps.)

From your email

1. Open your email the way you normally do, and find the latest email from your energy company.
2. Look for the attachment, a small rectangle usually named something like Your Bill or Tax Invoice.
3. Click it once. Depending on your email, it either opens on screen or downloads straight away.
4. If it opens on screen, look for a download arrow, usually at the top of the page, and click it.
5. The bill saves to your Downloads folder. That is where your computer puts things automatically.
6. On the Fix Your Bill page, click Choose files. A window opens. Click Downloads on the left, find your bill, and click it.

From your energy company's online portal

Every energy retailer in Australia has an online portal, a private page where your bills are kept. Every bill you have ever received from them is usually sitting in there, which also makes it the best place to collect several bills at once.

If you have never used the portal before

1. Find a recent paper bill. Your account number is printed near the top, usually on the first page.
2. Go to your energy company's website. The address is printed on your bill too.
3. Look for Sign in or My Account, usually in the top corner of the page. Click it.
4. Click Register, Create account, or First time here. They all mean the same thing.
5. It will ask for your account number, your name, and your email address. Type them in and follow the steps. You will choose a password. Write it down somewhere safe.

Once you are signed in

1. Find the section called Bills, Billing, or Payments.
2. You should see a list of your bills, newest first.
3. Click the most recent one, then click Download PDF or the downward arrow.
4. It saves to your Downloads folder. On Fix Your Bill, click Choose files, click Downloads, and pick it.
5. Want a more accurate comparison? Download the last four bills the same way and upload them all. A full year of bills gives us your winter and your summer.

A tip that saves squinting

You can also simply drag the bill onto the Fix Your Bill page. Click the file, hold the button down, move it over the upload box, and let go.

Ready when you are: upload your bill. If you would rather see the whole process first, how Fix Your Bill works runs through it in four steps. No PDF anywhere? Ring your energy company and ask them to email your last bill, and it will arrive as one.

Once it is read, how to read your electricity bill explains the numbers on it, and am I overpaying for electricity is the question most people are really asking.