Meter reading day
At the start of each quarter someone from the building team walks round with a clipboard, reads the electricity sub-meters in each unit, and sometimes the water meters. The readings go into a spreadsheet at head office, where someone subtracts last quarter's figures, multiplies by the rate and adds standing charges. A tenant disputes their bill because the reading looks high, and nobody can show whether it was misread.
In the meantime the landlord's own supply contract has changed rate twice, and one meter was replaced mid-quarter.
Why recharging utilities is error-prone
The calculation is not complicated, but every input is fragile. Readings are handwritten. Meter serial numbers change when meters are replaced. Rates come from supplier bills in a different format each time. Some tenants have their own supply and nobody updated the schedule when they switched.
- Readings are taken by hand, with no photo to check later.
- Meter replacements reset readings and are not recorded.
- Rates are copied from supplier bills that change.
- Common area consumption is estimated rather than measured.
- Tenants cannot see how their charge was calculated.
What it costs to do it by hand
Misreads lead to over and undercharges, and disputes that are hard to settle without evidence. The gap between what the landlord pays suppliers and what it recovers from tenants is not visible until the year end. Staff time goes on reading meters and rebuilding the spreadsheet. And tenants increasingly want to see their consumption for their own sustainability reporting, which the landlord cannot easily provide.
The recharge process we build
- Where meters can be read remotely, readings are collected automatically through the meter provider's data feed.
- Where they cannot, the building team uses a mobile form that asks for the reading and a photo of the meter, and records the time and who took it.
- Each reading is checked against the unit's history, and unusual jumps or drops are held for a person to look at before billing.
- Meter replacements are recorded with the closing and opening readings, so consumption carries across.
- Rates are taken from the supplier bills, extracted with AI and checked by a person, and applied under the recharge method your leases and advisers set.
- Invoices show the readings, the consumption, the rate and the photos where available, and are posted to your accounts system.
- A reconciliation compares what you paid suppliers with what you recovered, by building, so gaps show up each period.
| Step | Clipboard and spreadsheet | Recharge process |
|---|---|---|
| Reading | Written on paper | Remote feed or photo-backed form |
| Checking | None until a tenant complains | Checked against history before billing |
| Meter change | Often missed | Recorded with closing and opening reads |
| Tenant query | Hard to answer | Photo and working on the invoice |
| Recovery gap | Seen at year end | Seen each period |
What changes for the building team
Reading day is quicker, and a reading with a photo is hard to dispute. Head office stops rebuilding the spreadsheet. Tenants receive invoices that show their working, and can be given their consumption history for their own reporting. You can see where recovery is falling short and why.
The building manager walks the same route with a phone instead of a clipboard. If a reading looks wrong, the form asks them to check it again there and then, while they are standing in front of the meter, rather than a head office accountant querying it three weeks later. Meters that could not be reached, because a tenant's store room was locked, are listed so they are read before the invoices are run, not estimated without anyone knowing.
Signs you need this
- Sub-meters are read by hand onto paper.
- Tenants dispute utility recharges and you lack evidence.
- You do not know how much of your utility cost you recover.
- Meter replacements have caused billing errors.
- Tenants ask for consumption data you cannot easily give.