Common use of Applicable in SBC-12STATE only Clause in Contracts

Applicable in SBC-12STATE only. Subject to the restrictions set forth in Section 20 and except as may be otherwise expressly provided in this Agreement, a Party (the “Auditing Party”) may audit the other Party’s (the “Audited Party”) books, records, data and other documents, as provided herein, once annually, with the audit period commencing not earlier than the date on which services were first supplied under this Agreement ("service start date") for the purpose of evaluating (i) the accuracy of Audited Party’s billing and invoicing of the services provided hereunder and (ii) verification of compliance with any provision of this Agreement that affects the accuracy of Auditing Party's billing and invoicing of the services provided to Audited Party hereunder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Auditing Party may audit the Audited Party’s books, records and documents more than once annually if the previous audit found (i) previously uncorrected net variances or errors in invoices in Audited Party’s favor with an aggregate value of at least five percent (5%) of the amounts payable by Auditing Party for audited services provided during the period covered by the audit or (ii) non-compliance by Audited Party with any provision of this Agreement affecting Auditing Party's billing and invoicing of the services provided to Audited Party with an aggregate value of at least five percent (5%) of the amounts payable by Audited Party for audited services provided during the period covered by the audit.

Applicable in SBC-12STATE only. Subject to the restrictions set forth in Section 20 and except as may be otherwise expressly provided in this Agreement, a Party (the “Auditing Party”) may audit the other Party’s (the “Audited Party”) books, records, data and other documents, as provided herein, once annually, with the audit period commencing not earlier than the date on which services were first supplied under this Agreement ("service start date") for the purpose of evaluating (i) the accuracy of Audited Party’s billing and invoicing of the services provided hereunder and (ii) verification of compliance with any provision of this Agreement that affects the accuracy of Auditing Party's billing and invoicing of the services provided to Audited Party hereunder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Auditing Party may audit the Audited Party’s books, records and documents more than once annually if the previous audit found (i) previously uncorrected net variances or errors in invoices in Audited Party’s favor with an aggregate value of at least five percent (5%) of the amounts payable by Auditing Party for audited services provided during the period covered by the audit or (ii) non-non- compliance by Audited Party with any provision of this Agreement affecting Auditing Party's billing and invoicing of the services provided to Audited Party with an aggregate value of at least five percent (5%) of the amounts payable by Audited Party for audited services provided during the period covered by the audit.

Applicable in SBC-12STATE only. 13.1 Subject to the restrictions set forth in Section 20 22 and except as may be otherwise expressly provided in this Agreement, a Party (the “Auditing Party”) may audit the other Party’s (the “Audited Party”) books, records, data and other documents, as provided herein, once annually, with the audit period commencing not earlier than the date on which services were first supplied under this Agreement ("“service start date"”) for the purpose of evaluating (i) the accuracy of Audited Party’s billing and invoicing of the services provided hereunder and (ii) verification of compliance with any provision of this Agreement that affects the accuracy of Auditing Party's billing and invoicing of the services provided to Audited Party hereunder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, an Auditing Party may audit the Audited Party’s books, records and documents more than once annually if the previous audit found (i) previously uncorrected net variances or errors in invoices in Audited Party’s favor with an aggregate value of at least five percent (5%) of the amounts payable by Auditing Party for audited services provided during the period covered by the audit or (ii) non-compliance by Audited Party with any provision of this Agreement affecting Auditing Party's billing and invoicing of the services provided to Audited Party with an aggregate value of at least five percent (5%) of the amounts payable by Audited Party for audited services provided during the period covered by the audit. 13.1.1 The scope of the audit shall be limited to the period which is the shorter of (i) the period subsequent to the last day of the period covered by the audit which was last performed (or if no audit has been performed, the service start date and (ii) the twelve (12) month period immediately preceding the date the Audited Party received notice of such requested audit, but in any event not prior to the service start date. Such audit shall begin no fewer than thirty (30) calendar days after Audited Party receives a written notice requesting an audit and shall be completed no later than thirty (30) calendar days after the start of such audit. 13.1.2 Such audit shall be conducted either by the Auditing Party's employee(s) or an independent auditor acceptable to both Parties; provided, however, if the Audited Party requests that an independent auditor be engaged and the Auditing Party agrees, the Audited Party shall pay one- quarter (1/4) of the independent auditor's fees and expenses. If an independent auditor is to be engaged, the Parties shall select an auditor by the thirtieth day following Audited Party’s receipt of a written audit notice. Auditing Party shall cause the independent auditor to execute a nondisclosure agreement in a form agreed upon by the Parties. 13.1.3 Each audit shall be conducted on the premises of the Audited Party during normal business hours. Audited Party shall cooperate fully in any such audit and shall provide the auditor reasonable access to any and all appropriate Audited Party employees and any books, records and other documents reasonably necessary to assess (i) the accuracy of Audited Party's bills and (ii) Audited Party's compliance with the provisions of this Agreement that affect the accuracy of Auditing Party's billing and invoicing of the services provided to Audited Party hereunder. Audited Party may redact from the books, records and other documents provided to the auditor any Audited Party information that reveals the identity of End Users of Audited Party. 13.1.4 Each Party shall maintain reports, records and data relevant to the billing of any services that are the subject matter of this Agreement for a period of not less than twenty-four (24) months after creation thereof, unless a longer period is required by Applicable Law. 13.1.5 If any audit confirms any undercharge or overcharge, then Audited Party shall (i) promptly correct any billing error, including making refund of any overpayment by Auditing Party in the form of a credit on the invoice for the first full billing cycle after the Parties have agreed upon the accuracy of the audit results and (ii) for any undercharge caused by the actions of the Audited Party, immediately compensate Auditing Party for such undercharge, and (iii) in each case, calculate and pay interest as provided in Section 10.1 (depending on the SBC-owned ILEC(s) involved), for the number of calendar days from the date on which such undercharge or overcharge originated until the date on which such credit is issued or payment is made and available. 13.1.6 Except as may be otherwise provided in this Agreement, audits shall be performed at Auditing Party’s expense, subject to reimbursement by Audited Party of one-quarter (1/4) of any independent auditor's fees and expenses in the event that an audit finds, and the Parties subsequently verify, a net adjustment in the charges paid or payable by Auditing Party hereunder by an amount that is, on an annualized basis, greater than five percent (5%) of the aggregate charges for the audited services during the period covered by the audit. 13.1.7 Any disputes concerning audit results shall be referred to the Parties’ respective personnel responsible for informal resolution. If these individuals cannot resolve the dispute within thirty (30) calendar days of the referral, either Party may request in writing that an additional audit shall be conducted by an independent auditor acceptable to both Parties, subject to the requirements set out in Section 13.1. Any additional audit shall be at the requesting Party’s expense.