Holding a KPLC statement, a county water bill or a garbage invoice for one unit and want it on that tenant's rent? The Tenant bills tab of Bills & meters is the door. You pick the unit, say what the bill is for, key the amount, attach a photo (or PDF) of the bill, and it lands on the tenant's current rent bill: one invoice, one M-Pesa payment, with the bill attached so they can see exactly what they're paying for.

Bills & meters is one page in your sidebar (under Money for a landlord, Management for an agency) with two tabs: Meter readings for water and electricity you bill from your own meters, and Tenant bills for a bill you're holding. Open the Tenant bills tab for this job. Quicker still: open any tenant on Tenants and tap Add a bill, which opens that tab with the unit already picked and the form open. Record reading sits right beside it for a metered unit. On the phone app it's More → Money → Tenant Bills.

Adding a bill

1. On the Tenant bills tab, click Add a bill and pick the unit (the tenant's name is shown beside it).
2. Choose what the bill is for: water, electricity, garbage, service charge, security, internet, parking, a penalty, or other.
3. Key the amount and the month the bill is for. A July water bill added in September still goes on this month's rent, the open invoice, and is labelled with the month it covers.
4. Attach the bill. Take a photo of it or pick the PDF. This is required: a figure with no paper behind it is exactly the dispute this exists to prevent, and the tenant sees the attachment. You can attach up to three files, the bill and a meter photo, say.
5. Optionally name the line the way you want it to read on the invoice (it defaults to "Water bill" and so on) and add a note: a KPLC account number, "shared meter split three ways".
6. Click Add to rent bill. The tenant's invoice is re-issued with the new line and they're told by email and in the app.

Made a mistake? Remove from rent bill takes it off again and re-issues the invoice, as long as the month is still open. Past invoices are never rewritten.

When a caretaker adds the bill

Your caretaker can add tenant bills too, from their own account: the bill they were handed, with the amount and a photo of it. Theirs don't go straight onto the rent: they wait in Waiting for your approval at the top of the Tenant bills tab, and Rentor sends you a nudge. Check the amount against the evidence, then Approve each one or Approve all. Decline anything that's wrong. The billing is always yours; the caretaker never sees rent, the ledger or tenant names.

Which door is which

• Tenant bills tab: a bill you're holding for one unit, with the paper. One-off, this month.
• Meter readings tab, on the same page (Utility billing & meter readings): you sub-meter water or electricity and charge a price per unit; you key each unit's meter reading and Rentor does the arithmetic. A reading can be saved before you've set a price; it's priced the moment you save one, and nothing reaches a rent bill without a price.
• Billing & charges on the tenant's card (Recurring charges & VAT): a fixed amount that bills every month (service charge, garbage collection at KES 300 a month).

All three land the same way: a line on the tenant's rent invoice, paid through the same rails, in the same receipts, reports and arrears.