Budget billing plans

Customers can use budget billing to pay the same amount on each bill for services with varying consumption levels, such as water.

The budgeted amount is typically an estimated average of the bills for a full year. For example, water usage tends to peak in the summer, resulting in high water bills for the summer months. A budget billing plan can help customers avoid these high water bills by averaging out the bills for the year, charging less than the actual amount during the summer and more than the actual amount during the winter.

Because the budgeted amount is only an estimate, it is important to keep track of the difference between the amount an account was billed under the plan and the actual amount of the charges, known as the variance. To settle the variance, an account on budget billing must be billed for this amount from time to time.

To use different budget billing plans for different bill types or accounts, you can create as many plans as you need. Each plan defines the requirements that accounts must meet to qualify for budget billing, the rules for calculating the budgeted amount, and the method for settling the variance. You can also define options for reviewing budget billing plans in Review Budget Billing.