Monthly Auto Billing Setup: Charge Types, Rates and a Fixed Bill Day

At the start of every month, someone on the committee sits down with a register and writes a bill for each flat. A new flat gets missed, an old flat gets billed twice, and a rate that went up three months ago is still being charged at the old amount. Monthly auto billing removes that routine: you set the rules once, and the bills appear on the same day every month.

This guide walks through setting it up in Society Keeper, one step at a time.

Why manual billing keeps going wrong

Most associations still keep their monthly subscription or service charge in a notebook or a spreadsheet. The same mistakes come up again and again:

• A newly added flat or member never makes it onto the bill list
• The same month is billed twice by accident
• After a rate change, some flats stay on the old rate
• Working out who owes what at month end takes days

Automatic billing deals with all four at once, because the software follows one set of rules every month instead of relying on someone's memory.

Step 1: Create your charge types

Start by listing everything your association collects each month. Each item becomes its own charge type, for example:

1. Service charge or monthly subscription
2. Cleaning or waste collection
3. Security guards
4. Generator or lift maintenance

Keeping them separate pays off later. Your accounting reports can then show how much came in under each head. If everything sits under one "monthly fee", you lose that breakdown.

Step 2: Set per-flat, per-house or per-member rates

Next, give each charge type a rate. In Society Keeper a rate can be per flat, per house or per member, so it matches the way your association already charges.

Say an apartment owners' association has 120 flats:

Each flat's monthly bill comes to ৳3,200. A neighbourhood welfare association can do the same thing per house or per member.

Tip: Get the committee to approve the rates in a minuted meeting before you enter them. If a member questions a charge later, you can point to the resolution.

Step 3: Choose the day monthly auto billing runs

In the "Monthly bills" section, pick the billing day, such as the 1st of every month. On that day the system creates that month's bill for every active flat or member on its own.

The key safeguard is that bills are never doubled. Once a month's bill exists, the same bill will not be created again for that month. Even if someone runs billing a second time by mistake, no member ends up owing extra.

Step 4: Add one-time charges and late fees

Some money falls outside the regular monthly bill.

One-time charges

An Eid contribution, a repainting levy or a special repair can go out as a one-time charge. You can apply it to the whole association, or only to flats in a particular area or road.

Late fees

Set a rule and the late fee is added automatically when a bill stays unpaid past the period you choose. How many days and how much should follow your constitution or the committee's decision.

Waivers and discounts

Waivers and discounts can't be finalised by one person. A second person has to approve them, which saves a lot of argument later about who let whom off.

What to check each month once it runs

Once monthly auto billing is running, your monthly work comes down to a short checklist:

• After the bill day, glance at the dues list to confirm every flat was billed
• When a flat or member is added, check that the right rate applies
• With the monthly due-reminder SMS turned on, members find out what they owe without anyone calling them
• Record each payment under "Collections" so a numbered receipt and an SMS receipt go out

A sample notice for members:

"Dear member, from this month your bill will be generated automatically on the 1st of every month and the amount will be sent to you by SMS. Every receipt will carry a QR code you can scan to verify it. — Treasurer"

Running a savings-and-loan cooperative instead? Our sister product Somity Keeper — cooperative society software handles members, savings, loans and instalments, and small savings groups can start on mobile with Somity Keeper Lite.

Getting started in Society Keeper

In Society Keeper, monthly auto billing keeps running once you've set the charge types, rates and bill day, and every bill posts straight into the accounts. If you have old dues, import them from Excel and start with a clean opening position. To see it with your own association's details, book a free demo, or browse more guides on the blog.