The problem with shared meters
When several tenants share one water or electricity meter, there's no per-person reading to bill from. You have one number and several people who used it. The fix is to agree on a split rule before the first bill, in writing, so no one feels overcharged later.
Pick one split rule
- Equal shares — simplest and fine when usage is roughly even. Total ÷ number of tenants.
- By headcount — better when one room has a couple and another a single occupant. Weight by people, not doors.
- By room size or usage — for heating especially, larger or heavier-use spaces pay more.
Whatever you choose, apply the same rule every month. Mixing methods month to month is how disputes start.
Separate what's individually metered
Not everything is shared. If a room has its own electricity sub-meter, bill that tenant directly from their readings and only split the truly common services (stairwell lighting, shared water, gas heating). In FinMan you can mark each service: toggle shared meter on for the common ones and leave it off for individually metered services.
Tip: Set the shared-meter toggle per service, not per address. One address can have a shared water meter and private electricity meters at the same time.
Collecting readings without the back-and-forth
Chasing tenants for numbers every month is the tedious part. FinMan lets you invite a tenant to the address so they submit their own readings — including just sending a meter photo to the bot, which AI reads and matches to the right service and tariff. Tenants get read-only access, so they can see the bills and how the split was calculated but can't edit your tariffs.
A monthly flow that works
- Tenants send their meter photos or values through the bot.
- FinMan computes the difference from last month and calculates each metered bill.
- For shared services, apply your agreed split to the total.
- Track who paid what so nothing slips through.