Utility Billing
Manages utility accounts with four service types: water (metered), sewer (flat-rate), trash (flat-rate), and stormwater (flat-rate). Meter readings can be entered manually, imported in batch, or estimated from the average of the last 3 actual readings. Tiered rate schedules calculate consumption charges per tier — for each tier in order, the system computes applicable units and multiplies by the tier rate. Bills are generated in batch per billing cycle (monthly, bimonthly, or quarterly), each bill totaling base charges plus tiered consumption across all services. Service orders handle connects, disconnects, transfers, meter changes, and meter tests through a pending → scheduled → in progress → completed workflow. Bills automatically create AR invoices, and voiding a bill voids the linked AR invoice.
Key Capabilities
- 4 service types: water (metered), sewer, trash, stormwater (flat-rate)
- Tiered consumption rate calculation with configurable tier brackets
- Estimated readings from 3-month actual average when readings are missing
- Batch bill generation per billing cycle (monthly, bimonthly, quarterly)
- Service order workflow: connect, disconnect, transfer, meter change, meter test
- Automatic AR invoice creation with void-cascade to linked AR record
Why this matters
Utility billing is the single most-used citizen-facing product in any municipality — residents pay a water bill every month whether they think about city hall or not. The combined frustration of reading a paper bill, phoning an office that's only open nine-to-five, and mailing a check is where modernization gets its clearest win. MuniNow's Utility Billing runs tiered consumption math the way rate schedules are actually written — per-tier, per-service, with Decimal.js precision — and supports the messy realities of municipal utilities: missed readings that have to be estimated from historical averages, mid-cycle connects and disconnects, transfer of a closed account's balance to a new occupant, seasonal rate adjustments, and stormwater fees calculated on impervious surface area. Quick Pay lets residents pay without creating an account; the full portal handles auto-pay, consumption history, and service orders. And every bill posts through Accounts Receivable to the General Ledger automatically — no batch reconciliation, no separate water fund that has to be reconciled to the utility billing system at month end.
See Utility Billing in action
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