A Kenyan rent bill is rarely just rent. Rentor lets you add service charge, garbage, security, water and more to each tenancy's monthly invoice — plus one-off penalties and VAT for commercial tenants.

Opening the billing editor

On the Tenants page, click the tenant to open them, then choose Billing & charges under Money. (It's there for any tenancy that hasn't ended.) Charges bill monthly alongside rent — set them at move-in or adjust any time.

Adding charges

Click + Add charge for each line. Every charge has:

• A type — Service charge, Garbage collection, Security, Water bill, Electricity bill, Internet, Parking, Penalty (one-off), or Other… (name it yourself, e.g. "Borehole levy").
• A label the tenant sees on their invoice (a sensible default fills in; edit it freely).
• An amount in KES.
• A once checkbox — tick it to bill only on this month's invoice, after which the charge drops off automatically.

Penalties

Choose Penalty (one-off) for a late-payment penalty or a damage charge. Penalties are one-off by nature, so the once box ticks itself — the penalty lands on the current month's invoice and disappears after that.

The rent due day

Every tenancy has a Rent due day — the day of the month rent falls due, anywhere from the 1st to the 28th. Pick it in the same editor. It drives the due date on the tenant's invoice and when a balance starts counting as arrears.

VAT for commercial tenancies

Renting out a shop or office? Tick "Charge VAT (16%) — commercial tenancy". Rentor adds 16% on the invoice subtotal (rent plus all charges) as its own line. If the unit's type is Commercial and VAT is off, the editor reminds you that VAT usually applies — but the choice stays yours. Residential tenancies normally leave this off.

The live invoice preview

As you edit, the Monthly invoice preview at the bottom shows exactly what the tenant will owe: rent, each charge by name, the VAT line if enabled, and the Total due monthly. What you see here is what appears on their invoice — itemised, so there are no surprises on their side either.

What happens when you save

Click Save billing setup. Two rules keep the books honest:

• This month's invoice is re-issued with the new breakdown. If the tenant already paid part of it, what they paid is respected — only the balance changes.
• Past months are frozen. An invoice that was already billed keeps its original breakdown forever. Editing charges never quietly rewrites history.

Where utilities fit

You can add a flat "Water bill" charge here — but if you bill from your own meters at a price per unit, use the Meter readings tab of Bills & meters instead (Utility billing & meter readings). Metered readings land on the same rent invoice automatically, with the meter photo as proof.

The tenant sees every line of this on their side — see Rent ledger & invoices.

On the phone app: open the tenant from the Tenants tab and tap Billing & charges. The Monthly charges sheet has the same charge types, a Just this month switch in place of the once box, Charge VAT, the Rent due day and a preview of this month's invoice; Save charges re-issues this month's bill exactly as the web does.