Utility bills: rates, meters and house bills

UrusPro can bill tenants for utilities not included in the rent: aircond from a room meter, electricity or water from a house meter, and a shared house bill. Each charge becomes a bill that the tenant pays online, and appears in your Bills list. You set the rates once, then record readings or enter bill amounts.

Set rates and what rent includes

1. Open your organisation settings and find the Utility rates section. Fill in the RM rate per unit for Aircond and Electricity (per kWh) and Water (per m³).
2. Open the listing, go to the Utilities section, and choose for each utility whether it is Included in rent, Own meter or Shared house bill.
3. If a listing charges a different rate, fill in that rate in the same section. Leave it empty to use the organisation rate.

Add meters and record readings

1. Open Bills, the Utilities section, and press Add a meter. Choose the listing for that room's aircond meter, Room for a room meter shared by several tenants or rented as one room, or House for the house's main meter.
2. Record each meter's first reading. The first reading is only a starting point and does not bill anyone.
3. Each month, press the meter and choose Record reading. The bill is calculated as this reading minus the last reading, times the rate. A room meter bills that room's tenant. A shared room meter is split among that room's tenants only, and a house meter among all tenants of that house, both by nights stayed.
4. Readings sent by tenants appear under Readings to confirm. Open one, correct the number if the photo shows otherwise, then press Confirm and bill. Choose Reject with a reason if the reading needs to be taken again.

House bills

1. Press Bill a house from Bills or from Tenants.
2. Choose the house, and under For choose the utility or Other cost for other costs such as a new router.
3. Fill in the bill amount and the period From and To, then press Bill tenants.

The amount is split by the number of nights each tenant stayed during that period, so a tenant who moved in mid-month pays less. Everyone's shares add up exactly, to the sen. Other cost charges are marked Other in Bills, not Utility.

Monthly reminder

In the same Utility rates section, choose a day for the Monthly meter reading reminder, from 1 to 28, or Off. On that day, tenants whose room meter or shared room meter has not been read this month are asked to send a reading, and you receive the number of meters still waiting. Tenants who have already sent a reading are not reminded.

What it does not do

There is no splitting by custom ratio or by selected tenants: house bills always follow nights stayed. A reading lower than the last reading is rejected, and a reading with no rate is rejected, not billed at RM0. Once a bill is issued, its amount is locked, so changing the rate later does not change old bills. The house's main meter is read by you, not requested from tenants.