Utility tariffs with slabs, recharged to tenants
Set your tariff once, with a fixed part and slabs or one price per unit. A confirmed reading is priced by it and added as a charge to the tenant's lease, billed with the next rent.
PLANSFrom Growth
The problem it solves
- Utility recharges are worked out on a calculator, with a different rate each month.
- Slab rates from the utility company are not applied the same way to every tenant.
- A recharge is raised as a separate invoice and paid late, or forgotten.
How it works
- A Lease Manager adds a tariff in Lease > Configuration > Rent and Billing > Tariffs. Enter name, kind, the unit (kWh to start with) and what it is billed as. Add a fixed amount per bill, and a price per unit or slabs.
- Give each meter its tariff. A meter in the tenant's name has none and is never recharged.
- Readings come in and are confirmed in Lease > Operations > Maintenance > Utilities > Readings, filter To Check.
- Press Bill. The cost is worked out from the use and added as a charge to the lease of whoever rented the unit on the reading day.
- The charge goes out with the next rent bill. A reading with nobody renting the unit stops with a message, and the use stays with the landlord.
Everything it does
Tariffs
- Kinds: Electricity, Water, Gas, Chiller / Cooling, Heating, Other
- Unit label such as kWh or m³; Invoice As (the product on the bill)
- Fixed per Bill, added to every recharge
- Price per Unit, used when there are no slabs
- Slabs: up to so many units at one price, the next at another; 0 means everything above the last slab
Working out the cost
- Fixed part plus the use through the slabs in order
- Rounded to your currency
- The charge line names the meter, the use and the reading date
Rules
- Only confirmed readings are billed
- Readings of meters in the tenant's name, common meters or meters with no tariff are marked Billed with no charge
- The charge goes to the lease of the unit's renter on the reading day, including tenants under notice
Who uses it
Lease ManagerKeeps the tariffs and their slabs.
Lease userConfirms readings and presses Bill.
TenantSees the utility charge on the next rent bill.
Where you use it
- Web: Lease > Configuration > Rent and Billing > Tariffs; Lease > Operations > Maintenance > Utilities > Readings
- Tenants see the charge on their bill on the web and in the app
- Not a split of one main bill by area: recharges follow each unit's own meter
What you control
Settings
- Per tariff: unit, fixed per bill, price per unit or slabs, product billed as
- Per meter: the tariff, or In the Tenant's Name
Notifications
- None of its own: the charge reaches the tenant on the rent bill and its message
Questions
Can the tariff follow the electricity board's slabs?
Yes. Add a slab line per band with its price per unit, and a fixed amount per bill if the board charges one.Who pays when a tenant moved out mid-month?
The renter of the unit on the reading day gets the whole use since the last reading. Take a reading at move-out so each tenant pays their own part.Is the recharge a separate invoice?
No. It is a charge on the lease and goes out with the next rent bill.Which plan has it?
Growth and above.Related features
OPERATIONSMeters, sub-meters and readings with unusual use flaggedKeep every meter and sub-meter of a building, with readings from staff, from tenants and from move-in and move-out checks. Each reading is checked by staff, and a sudden jump in use is flagged to the property manager.LEASES AND RENTRent schedule in advance or arrears, with rent-free monthsA confirmed lease bills itself from a schedule: monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly, in advance or in arrears. Part periods go by the calendar, and stepped rents, rent-free periods and holdover worked in.CHECKS, DEPOSITS AND REPAIRSMove-in, move-out and inspection checks with photos and signaturesWalk the unit at move-in, move-out and in between with a check. Check points are cards answered with one tap. The check takes photos, meter readings, the item list, keys and damage. Your staff sign first and the tenant signs last. The tenant gets the PDF; new damage at move-out becomes proposed deposit deductions.COMMERCIALService charge with budgets and year-end reconciliationShare a building's running costs among its tenants with cost pools, a yearly budget and each unit's share by area. Bill on account each month or quarter. Reconcile the year from your accounts, with a cap and a statement per lease.REPORTS AND AIAI reads the number on a meter photoIn the Staff app, photograph a meter and the AI fills in the number for the reader to confirm. Readings tenants send with a photo are checked by the AI just after they arrive, and a photo that shows another number is flagged.
See your buildings on it.
Tell us how many properties and units you have, whether you let your own or manage for owners, and how rent is paid today. We will set up your portfolio with you on SmartMy Lease.