The record that says which meter belongs to which rental customer, and from when. It is the link that lets a meter reading find the customer it should be billed to.
When to use it
When a new tenant takes a unit with its own meter, when a meter is swapped, and when a meter is taken off a customer who has left.
Before you start
- The customer must exist on your rental customer list.
- The meter must exist on the Meter master.
- You need create rights on this screen.
Where to find it
Masters > Rental > Meter Assignment.
The fields on this screen
| Section | Field (on screen) | What to enter | Required |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Customer | The customer billed for this meter. Meter units are matched to bills by customer. | No |
| Assignment | Meter | The meter this customer is on. A customer with two meters is billed for both. | No |
| Assignment | Meter Name | A name for this meter on this assignment. It is stored here and not read back from the meter list. | No |
| Assignment | Meter Number | The meter's own number, kept here so the meter can be identified on site. | No |
| Assignment | Rate Per Unit | Rate per unit noted here is not used. The bill prices metered units at the charge's own rate. | No |
| Period | Assigned Date | Date the meter was handed over to this customer. | No |
| Period | Removed Date | Date the meter was taken off this customer. Leave it blank while the meter is still in use. | No |
How it works
Saving links the meter to the customer. Nothing is billed at this point.
The link is used twice. First, when a reading round is taken, each row of the reading sheet names one of these assignments, which attaches the recorded units to a customer. Second, when the monthly bill is generated, the customer's units for the month are added up across all the meters assigned to them. They are priced by the per-unit rate on that customer's tenancy.
Remember that last point. The rate that bills comes from the service row on the Tenancy, not from this screen. The rate noted here is a reference figure for your own use.
If a customer has more than one metered charge on their tenancy, the month's units are attached to only one of those charges. The others are reported as having no reading instead of being billed again. This stops the same consumption being billed twice, but a customer with two truly separate metered supplies is under-billed. Check what the billing run reports as skipped.
Tips and common mistakes
- Enter the removed date when a meter comes off a customer, and leave it blank while the meter is still in use.
- You type the dates rather than pick them. Use the same format your colleagues use so the records read the same way.
- The meter name and number are saved on the assignment. Changing them on the Meter master does not change what is saved here.
- If electricity is not appearing on a bill, check three things in this order: the reading round for that month exists, the customer is assigned to the meter, and the tenancy has a per-unit service row.