Role
Building utility settlements
When do you decide to close a settlement period - when you have every reading, or when the deadline passes? In most cases it is the second, and that is where the corrections come from.
Intro call
Four questions we would start with
When is the decision to close a settlement period made?
If it is at the deadline, regardless of whether the readings are complete, then some settlements rest on an estimate that comes back later as a correction.
What do you do when a meter reading and the supplier's invoice do not agree?
If you accept the invoice, because verifying it would mean work, then you spread the difference across the occupants.
Who notices first that consumption at one point has clearly risen?
If it is the occupant at the annual settlement, a fault in the installation has been running for several months.
How many times a year do you issue corrected settlements?
That number usually describes the quality of your input data better than any other question.
We take over collecting readings and calculating, you keep the judgement calls
Collecting readings, calculating charges, comparing them with suppliers' invoices and handling complaints can be taken off the desk. The judgement calls in contested matters stay with a person.
- A missing reading is visible before the period closes. - Not after, when the only way out is an estimate.
- The difference between the readings and the supplier's invoice is pointed out. - With its size and its place, so that it can be explained rather than only spread.
- A consumption anomaly reports itself. - A jump in consumption at one point is sometimes a leak, and found a quarter later it costs many times more.
Scope
What can be taken off utility settlements
Twenty example tasks. Each one has a human approval point. Below is a selection, and the scope we fit to your structure of occupants.
Readings and their sources
- A register of metering points assigned to occupants
- Collecting readings from the available sources
- Pointing out points with no reading before the period closes
- A signal when a reading is lower than the previous one (assessment: the specialist)
- A register of estimated readings with the reason
Calculating the charges
- Calculating under the tariffs and the agreements
- Settling the common areas by share
- A draft statement for the occupant (approval: the specialist)
- A signal when a charge departs from previous periods
Settling with the utility suppliers
- Comparing the sum of the readings with the supplier's invoice
- Pointing out the difference with its size and its place
- Verifying the rates against the agreement with the supplier
- A register of complaints to the supplier
Occupants' complaints
- One route for raising a complaint
- The history of readings and charges brought together with the case
- A draft reply with the calculation (approval: the specialist)
- Complaints summarised by cause
Consumption analysis
- Comparing consumption by point and period
- A signal when consumption jumps at a point
- Pointing out points whose consumption departs from similar ones
A day's work
Today
- You collect readings from several sources, some arrive after the deadline
- You estimate the missing readings, because the period has to close
- You spread the difference between the sum of readings and the supplier's invoice
- You prepare the charges by hand for every occupant
- You learn about a jump in consumption at the annual settlement
- You explain complaints by reconstructing the history of readings
With AI assistance
- Missing readings are pointed out before the period closes
- A doubtful reading reports itself for checking
- The difference against the supplier's invoice has its place and size identified
- The charges have a draft, you approve them
- A jump in consumption at a point reports itself within the period, not after a year
- At a complaint the history of readings is already assembled
- Closing the period
the settlement closes on the readings collected, not on chasing
the charges come from readings rather than from estimates
- Readings against the supplier's invoice
fewer differences spread with no explanation
the difference has its place and size identified
- Number of complaints
fewer cases caused by estimates and corrections
missing readings are caught before the close
- Detecting consumption anomalies
a leak surfaces from a jump in consumption, not from the annual settlement
a jump at a metering point is a signal
We start with complete readings, because everything else depends on them.
- Step 1
Metering points and complete readings
A register of points, collecting the readings, the gaps pointed out before the close.
- Step 2
Charges and statements for occupants
Calculation under the tariffs, a draft statement for approval.
- Step 3
Settling with the suppliers
Comparing the sum of readings with the invoice and verifying the rates.
- Step 4
Consumption analysis
Signals about jumps and about outlying points. Last, because it needs several periods of data.
Common questions
Questions that come up at the first meeting
How is this different from a property manager?
The manager is accountable for the building, the tenants and the property's result - settlements are one of many things they handle. Here the subject is solely the reconciliation of three numbers: the sum of readings, the supplier's invoice and what the occupants are charged. It is a narrow scope, but with its own mechanics of error that a wider view does not catch.
Does this cover settlements on the utility supplier's side?
No - this entry concerns settlements inside a building, between the manager and the end occupants. Work on the side of an energy or water company follows different rules: metering points, tariff groups and tariffs approved by the regulator. That is a separate role and a separate conversation.
Are fewer people enough for utility settlements?
This is rarely a full-time job for anyone - more often a duty added to other work, done once a year under deadline pressure and then unwound with corrections for six months. Taking over the readings and the calculations does not remove a post; it means the settlement stops being an event that leaves complaints behind.
Does this fall under the AI Act?
Settling utilities is not a high-risk use. Consumption data in dwellings concerns individuals, so the data protection rules apply - anomaly signals should serve to detect faults and metering errors rather than to draw conclusions about how residents live.
Still have a question that is not here? Book a call
Next step
How many corrected settlements did you issue last year?
We will show you what settling utilities looks like when a missing reading is visible before the period closes and a jump in consumption reports itself.