Utility Billing

Overview | Feature List

Company

• No limit on # of companies
• Security and Password Setup by Company

Security

• Password Protected
• User has the ability to change his/her password at any time
• Security privileges are assigned on a group instead of an individual level making maintenance easier
• A user may belong to multiple groups
• Allows for view only rights for those users who do not have the rights to update/change information
• Ability to maintain multiple security levels for multiple companies on one user ID

Services

• Unlimited number of services
• Services are user-defined - Practically any service can be defined
• Flat Fee Services (i.e. - Sanitation, Recycling, Internet, …)
• Usage Services (i.e. - Water, Gas, Electric, …)
• Based on Usage Services (i.e. - Sewer)

Customer Information

• System-generated customer account number or use your old id as lookup reference
• Customer Name and contact information
• National & International address forms
• SSN, DL#, Green Card, etc
• Unlimited customer comments/notes
• User-definable comment/notes types
• User-definable customer types
• Bad Check management - keeps repeat bad check offenders from being able to make a check payment
• Maintain customer Payment Terms with user defined terms codes
• Several Customer statuses including Regular Customer, Final Billed, In Collections, etc
• Complete transaction history, location history, collections history, etc
• Unlimited history. History remains with customer until purged
• Maintain separate addresses for billing, service address and forwarding address
• Allows user to create personalized payment schedules for customers with overdue balances
• Automatically move customer out of one property and into another with one step
• Specify whether or not customer is subject to taxes, late charges, bill prints, etc
• Maintain customer's banking information for automatic withdrawal or credit card payments

Billing Management

• Bill using user-defined billing groups
• Bill late fees using flat rate or percentages as defined on the rate - customer can be billed both flat and percentage on same bill
• Automatically create cut-off list for customers who haven't paid by deadline
• Create statements for zero balance customers if requested
• Pro-rate first and final bills
• In the case of a mid-cycle meter change-out, the system will add the usage together before billing to ensure the customer is billed for excessive use if that is something the utility bills for
• Final bill a single customer at any time during the cycle
• Print a billing register prior to posting/ printing bills
• Unlimited # of comments printed to the statement - specify per customer, customer type, route, etc

Service Location Management

• Route and sequence management
• Document Longitude and Latitude and other info for GIS interface
• User-defined location types
• User-defined location statuses
• Maintain meter directions
• Maintain lien information
• Unlimited # of services on a location
• Document and maintain property owner information if rental property
• Maintain directions to the property

Deposit Management

• Maintain original amount charged
• Track amount paid and remaining balance
• Deposit Refund processing - either manually or apply to final bill

Rate Management

• Unlimited number of user-defined rates
• Flat Rates
• Allows for minimum rates
• Allows for base rates
• Allows for tiered usage rates
• Define late charges (flat or percentage) on a per rate basis
• Maintains log of rate changes
• Rate changes are date sensitive, so the user may set up a rate prior to the effective date
• Variance calculations set on a service or rate basis
• Variance calculations made using a daily average
• Post base rate and usage rates to different GL accounts

Adjustment Options

• Allow for miscellaneous charges/adjustments
• Process Returned Checks with or without user-defined fee as required by utility
• Process Refunds
• Bad Debt Write-off
• Reverse payment, invoices, adjustments, etc
• Security on the adjustment level so that if required, adjustments do not post to the account without manager approval

Notices and Labels

• Late Notices
• Cut-off Notices
• Customer mailing labels
• Returned Check Notices
• Utility-defined miscellaneous notices

Meter Management

• Individual Meter Number
• Meter Number
• Meter Size/Type
• Meter Manufacturer
• Begin Reading Date
• Meter change-out dates
• Various Interfaces; manual, touch-read and radio-read, other AMR
• Location Install History
• Enter meter change-outs as they occur without mid-cycle billing
• System interfaces with third party meter reading software
• Maintains reading history, location install history, customer history, etc
• Ability to manage meter inventory

Payment Management

• Integrated Cashiering can take payments for all your cash functions and interface to other systems
• Cashiering shows customer balance and quick link to customer transaction history (including work orders, comments, etc.)
• User-defined payment types
• Receipt printing
• Cash Drawer Opening/Closing
• Automated cash drawer balancing
• Automatic bank-draft payments via ACH (Automated Clearing House)
• Alerts such as "Bad Check" or "Scheduled for Cut-off" on payment screen for cashier information
• Accept combination payment such as half cash, half check without having to process two payments and two receipts
• Supports batch payment entry for door mail
• Support lockbox payment entry
• Supports payment import from processing machines, on-line payment services and other sources
• Allows user to manually apply payment or use utility-defined application rules (i.e. - oldest first, water charges first, etc.)
• Detailed payment report for balancing
• Interfaces with cashdrawers and will automatically kick the drawer on payment processing

Tax Management

• User-defined taxes
• Ability to have multiple taxes on one statement

Work Order Management

• Work Orders automatically generated from meter reader as well as manually created by users
• Work orders automatically created when final bill is processed
• Work Order # automatically generated
• Unlimited number of user-defined work order tasks
• Ability to assign work order to a specified user or department
• Various methods of printing production work orders; by task in route/seq order; in route/seq order only, etc
• Ability to assign service charges with a specified work order task
• Work order status tracking
• Work orders worked via handheld devices
• If handheld devices used, work orders and subsequent system work (i.e. - meter change-out) completed automatically
• Work orders maintained on customer history or user may lookup work order using work order number, work order task, order date, etc
• Completing work order automatically pull meters, close work order, enter reading into reading table, etc
• Ability to create work order from customer history screen - user does not have to minimize or leave what he/she is working on in order to create work order

Reports

• Billing Registers
• Statement Registers
• Payment Registers
• Adjustment Reports
• Aged Balance Report
• Company Balance Report
• Distribution Report
• Meter Inventory Report
• Work Order Report
• Cut Notice list
• Customer Lists
• Etc.