When the service-charge statement falls due in spring, the effort is not decided in the billing software – but by how the documents were filed over the preceding year. If you start in January searching for invoices, correcting cost categories and clarifying periods, you are paying the price for an unsorted intake.
A statement is only as good as the assignment made at intake. Four things should be settled as soon as an invoice arrives – not only once the statement is drawn up:
- Assignment to property and economic unit – automatically from your master data, not through filing discipline
- Set the cost category and apportionment key at intake, so that apportionable and non-apportionable costs are kept apart from the start
- Record the service period – it decides which billing period a document belongs to, not the invoice date
- Keep documents findable: when tenants ask to inspect the records, what counts is how quickly the original document for a line item can be found
Handle this at intake and the statement becomes calculation rather than searching – and inspecting the records turns from an appointment into a quick task.
Invoice and document processes for the property sector →Please note: this article reflects the legal position and administrative guidance as at the date stated and is no substitute for tax or legal advice.