Enter or request meter readings
A metered transaction cannot be billed accurately until every required meter on every attached asset has a reading for the end of the usage period. This guide covers getting those readings in.
Before you start, open the transaction and read its Readings progress. It reports separately by source — for example 2 of 2 meters read (manual) — so you can tell whether the device is expected to report for itself or whether someone has to ask.
Enter readings you already have
On the transaction, use Enter Readings. Enter the end reading for each meter and save.
BMS calculates the volume as the difference from the start reading, which is the previous period's end reading. If a reading is lower than the start, the meter has been reset or replaced — do not force it through; see A meter has been replaced below.
Ask the customer for readings
Use Send meter request on the transaction. This emails the contact on the account with a form to return their counts.
To request readings for a whole group at once, go to Billing → Billings, select the Open tab and your billing group, then use Manage Meters → Send Meter Requests. Do this early in the month; a request sent two days before the run will not come back in time.
Requests already sent are shown on the billing period as Readings requested, with the date. If that date is recent, chase rather than resend.
Import readings in bulk
For a large fleet, readings can be loaded from a file instead of keyed in. Go to Billing → Assets → Import Meter Readings and supply:
| Field | What it takes |
|---|---|
| Import Type | Manual CSV for a standard file upload |
| File | The CSV of readings |
| Source Reference | An optional label identifying this batch — worth filling in, it is how you find the import again |
| Column Mapping | Map your columns to Serial No, Black Meter, Colour Meter and Sourced At (the date the reading was taken) |
Then Process Import. Each row is validated and applied to the matching asset.
Sourced At is the reading date, not the import date. A file loaded a week late still dates its readings correctly if this column is mapped.
A single asset can also be entered away from its transaction, at Billing → Assets → Enter Meters, by searching for the serial. BMS validates against the previous reading and flags anomalies — a reading lower than the last one is queried before it saves.
Apply readings that have already been collected
Where devices report automatically, readings arrive on the asset without being attached to a transaction. To pull the latest ones onto the transactions in your filtered list, use Manage Meters → Apply Latest Readings on the Billings screen.
This is the first thing to try when readings progress shows meters unread on a fleet you know is reporting — the readings are usually present, just not yet applied.
To find what is still outstanding across the group, use Reports → Unread Transaction Meters on the Billings screen.
When the readings will not arrive
If a transaction has to be billed without complete readings, you have two options:
- Generate late readings. Use Manage Meters → Generate Late Readings on the Billings screen. BMS fills the missing meters with the fallback that matches each contract's own terms — an estimate from the contract's rolling averages, the contracted minimum, or zero usage. Which one it picks depends on whether the contract carries a minimum and whether it reconciles; see How contract billing works for the reasoning.
- Hold the transaction. Use Hold Transaction to take the period out of this month's run entirely, and bill it next month once the readings are in. This is the right choice when the amounts are large enough that an estimate would have to be corrected.
Whichever you choose, record it. An estimated month looks identical to a measured one on the invoice, and the person who fields the customer's query in six weeks will not otherwise know.
A meter has been replaced
If a device has been swapped or its counter reset, the new reading will be lower than the start reading and the volume will come out negative or absurd.
Do not correct this by entering an adjusted figure. Go to the asset and reset its meter usage, so the meter's baseline matches the physical device. The transaction can then be read normally, and the asset's history stays true — which matters, because that history is what the contract's averages and profitability are calculated from.
Readings are complete but no usage is billed
Check the contract's Meters tab. A meter must be mapped to a charge before its counts are billed. A meter that is read but mapped to nothing produces no line at all, which is easy to create when an asset is swapped mid-contract and the replacement's meters are not mapped.