Table of Contents

Contracts

Contracts define the relationship between your customers and their supply addresses. In SkyBill, a contract is the central element that links who is billed (the customer) with what is billed (the supply address and its meter points). Without a contract, there is no billing connection between a customer and a supply address.

Each contract specifies the services provided, the applicable tariff, and the billing details for that customer. You can create contracts for property owners (landlords) and tenants, depending on how the utilities are billed. This structure helps utilities handle common scenarios such as rental properties, ownership changes, or vacant periods between tenants.

SkyBill supports two contract types: landlord and tenant. Landlord contracts apply to the property owner, while tenant contracts apply to the occupant who consumes the service. Both contract types can operate in parallel, ensuring continuous and accurate billing even when occupancy changes.

The easiest and most error-proof way to create a contract is to use the Supply Address Card page, as the process is automated via a wizard. Before you create a contract, make sure that the customer, supply address, and meter point are in place.

Caution

You can create a contract manually from the Utility Contracts list page. This approach was commonly used in the older versions of SkyBill. However, it is not recommended as it can lead to errors. Wizards on the Supply Address Card page are recommended way of creating contracts.

Landlord and tenant contracts

If the property at the supply address is owned by one person (the landlord) and occupied by another person (the tenant), you can create separate contracts for both. This way, you can bill both the landlord and the tenant separately, according to their respective contracts. You can set the landlord contract to be mandatory for each supply address. Learn more how To enforce specifying a landlord when you move in a tenant.

To create a landlord contract for a supply address

  1. Select Search (Alt+Q) Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. in the upper-right corner, enter Supply Addresses, and then choose the related link.
  2. On the Supply Address Card page, select the Ownership action, and then choose the Create Ownership action.
  3. On the Create Ownership wizard, follow the on-screen instructions until you create a new landlord contract.
  4. After creating the landlord contract, you can view and manage it by selecting the Landlord Contract No. field on the Supply Address Card page.

Create a tenant contract for a supply address

Each supply address can have only one tenant at a time. When a tenant moves out, you must update the supply address to link it to the new tenant. However, before you move in the new tenant, you must first process the move-out of the previous tenant. Otherwise, a special notification will appear, preventing you from changing the tenant.

To move out the previous tenant

  1. Select Search (Alt+Q) Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. in the upper-right corner, enter Supply Addresses, and then choose the related link.
  2. From the Supply Addresses list page, select the supply address you want to update.
  3. On the Supply Address Card page, select the Move In/Out action, and then choose Move Out.
  4. On the Change of Tenancy wizard, enter the Supply End Date and confirm by selecting Finish. This way, you are canceling the contract with the previous tenant.

To move in the new tenant

Once the supply address is vacant, you can move in the new tenant.

  1. Select the Move In/Out action on the Supply Address Card page, and then select the Move In action.
  2. On the Change of Tenancy wizard, select the Tenant Customer No. from the drop-down list.
  3. Leave the Tenant Contract No. field blank to create a new contract, or select the existing contract from the list, to add the supply address to that contract.
  4. In the Tenant Contract Template Code field, you can select a contract template to pre-fill some of the contract details. This field is optional.
  1. Select Next to proceed to the next step.
  2. In the Utility Tariff Code field, select the tariff that will be applied to this contract.
  3. Select the Supply Start Date, Contract Signing Date and choose Next to proceed to the summary.
  4. Verify the summary of the new contract, and select Finish to complete the move-in process and create the new tenant contract.

To review existing contracts

  1. Select Search (Alt+Q) Lightbulb that opens the Tell Me feature. in the upper-right corner, enter Utility Contracts, and then choose the related link.
  2. Select the contract you want to review from the Utility Contracts list.
  3. On the Lines FastTab, SkyBill displays all the meter points linked to the contract. If there are multiple tariffs applied to the meter point, you will see a separate line for each tariff.
Note

If the tariff applied to the contract has multiple lines for different services (e.g., electricity supply, distribution, and so on), SkyBill creates separate lines for each service on the contract. However, if the supply address does not have a meter point for a specific service, that service line will not be created on the contract.

  1. SkyBill automatically creates contract lines based on the tariff assigned to the contract. However, you can modify the contract lines manually if needed. For example, you can change the rates for this specific contract.
  2. SkyBill populates all the other contract details, such as billing cycle, based on the contract template assigned to the contract. You can modify these details if needed.

Security deposit

You can collect a security deposit from customers when they sign a new contract. The security deposit is an amount of money that the customer pays upfront to cover any potential unpaid bills or damages . SkyBill adds the security deposit to the first invoice. You can specify the security deposit amount on the Utility Contract page , and SkyBill will automatically include it in the first invoice generated for the contract. You can also set up the conditions for refunding the security deposit when the contract is terminated. SkyBill contains the rules regarding the security deposit calculation. You can find its current status in the Security Deposit FactBox status on the Utility Contract Card page. SkyBill includes a separate ledger for invoiced security deposits, collected security deposits, and amounts used against unpaid bills.

Totaling types
Tariffs
Design details
Meter points
Contracts

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