Additional Info - Contract Meter Billing Warnings

***Begin meter is not the previous billed meter: The ending meter billed on a contract overage invoice is usually the start meter reading on the subsequent contract invoice. This message displays when the start meter reading e-automate intends to use for overage billing is not the same meter that was billed on the prior invoice as the ending meter reading.

This can happen when the last cycle ending meter reading has been invalidated and e-automate cannot use it as a beginning meter reading but has found a different meter reading within the billing meter tolerance that can be used as a start meter reading. If this is acceptable, you can right-click and select [Override warnings] for just that contract and let it bill with a different meter. If you want to correct this issue and force the beginning meter reading to be the same as the previous cycles ending meter reading, you can go to the meter reading console an enter a meter within the billing meter tolerance that is valid and is the same reading as the previous cycles ending meter reading value.

***Begin meter is more than a month before the overage from date: This warning occurs when a contract overage billing period dates have been manually modified and moved forward in time and the ending meter reading from the prior overage cycle is more than a month from the overage from date (the start of the subsequent cycle). If for example you removed overage on a service contract and did not bill overages when a service contract billed base you can manually move the billing period dates forward. The overage that was billed is still expected to be the start meter for the next manually rolled forward cycle. This message notifies you that the start meter reading is more than a month before the overage cycle start date, also called the overage from date. This warning can also occur when you billing meter tolerance is too large and e-automate cannot determine which meters should be associated with the start or end of cycle. You can accept this warning if you have manually moved the billing period forward by right-clicking on the contract and selecting Override warnings. You can also modify your billing meter tolerance.

***Begin meter is more than a month after the overage from date: This warning occurs when a contract overage billing period dates have been manually modified and moved back in time and the start meter reading is more than a month from the overage from date (the start of the subsequent cycle). If you manually moved the billing period dates backward you would get this warning. This message notifies you that the start meter reading is more than a month after the overage cycle start date, also called the overage from date. This warning can also occur when you billing meter tolerance is too large and e-automate cannot determine which meters should be associated with the start or end of cycle. You can accept this warning if you have manually moved the billing period back by right-clicking on the contract and selecting Override warnings. You can also modify your billing meter tolerance.

***Begin meter is more than a XX days from the overage from date: This warning is produced when you have billed a service contract and the prior invoice ending meter reading is multiple days from the start of the overage cycle on the next invoice billing. This can occur when users have modified the cycle or the billing dates on the overage cycle on the contracts. This warning could also be generated by having your billing meter tolerance too large.

Tip: Best practice recommendation for billing meter tolerance is a maximum of 13 days.

***Begin meter is greater than the end meter: The warning occurs when the start meter reading is larger than the ending meter reading. This would result in an abnormal overage invoice. Meters that do not comply with the e-automate rules could have been put into e-automate via e-info, Remote Tech, or a meter partner who submits electronically. This message could also be caused by having too large of a billing meter tolerance. You can solve this message by verifying the meter readings that e-automate is using for contract billing by using the meter reading console.

Tip: You can also modify you billing meter tolerance to the best practice recommendation for billing meter tolerance at a maximum of 13 days.

***Begin meter is a web-suspect reading: This message is displayed when a beginning meter reading is entered thought the e-info web interface and the meter entered has a high likelihood of being wrong based on historical meter trends for the equipment. This message is a warning to users who bill contracts to double check the validity of the meter reading. You can accept this meter and override the warning by right-clicking on the contract and selecting Override warnings or you can make meter corrections and adjustment. If you want to invalidate the meter reading, go to the meter reading console and invalidate the meter reading or the meter reading group and enter a correct beginning meter reading within the billing meter tolerance for the overage cycle you are billing.

***End meter is a web-suspect reading: This message is displayed when an ending meter reading is entered thought the e-info web interface and the meter entered has a high likelihood of being wrong based on historical meter trends for the equipment. This message is a warning to users who bill contracts to double check the validity of the meter reading. You can accept this meter and override the warning by right-clicking on the contract and selecting Override warnings or you can make meter corrections and adjustment. If you want to invalidate the meter reading, go to the meter reading console and invalidate the meter reading or the meter reading group and enter a correct ending meter reading within the billing meter tolerance for the overage cycle you are billing.

***Meter usage exceeds the average billed monthly volume of X by over Y%: This message is generated when your system administrator has enabled the option and specified your parameters. Your system parameters can be configured to warn contract billing employees when meter usage exceeds the billed monthly average by a percent as well as a fixed number of clicks. For example, you could specify that e-automate warn when you have a contract that exceeds 200% of the billed monthly average and the billed monthly average is greater than 10,000 clicks. Both criteria would need to be met for you to be warned.