Billing in Arrears - Service Periods vs. Due Date

Understanding the difference between the due date and the service periods is important when paying for any bill. This differs from place to place, and even for the services you pay for. For some goods and services, you can pay in advance and receive what you paid for after. For example, fast food restaurants generally require payment up front, and then will prepare your food for you and bring it out. On the other hand, there are times where you receive your goods and services, and then you make the payment afterwards. A sit down restaurant is a good example of this.

With utilities, you generally pay for what you use, or what has been used. The utility in question has to be measured before a bill can be calculated for it. With a normal utility provider, there might be anywhere from 2-4 weeks after services are used before the bill for those services are due. There is typically about a one month gap between billing service periods and the due date, but that can vary based on local circumstances.

For example, you use the water for services from 3/1/2021-3/31/2021. Your utility provider reads the meter on those dates, and spends the next week preparing your bill. Your bill is finalized and sent out on 4/7/2021. They allow up to 2 weeks or 10 business days for the bill to be received in the mail and for payment to be made, placing the due date anywhere between 4/21/2021 up. Sometimes state or local regulations mandate how long consumers have to pay their utility bills. Most providers or billing services choose to have a standard due date for their bills. This shows a gap between when the services are used and when they are due.

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With Conservice being a billing provider for rental properties, this gap is compounded and generally longer than if you were billed directly by a provider. Conservice due dates are generally on the 1st of every month, but may differ slightly depending upon requests of a specific property owner or state/local regulation. So, in the example above, if the bill from the provider to Conservice isn't sent until sometime between 1-3 weeks, then Conservice will wait until the next month of billing to bill it out to you.

Example: The water provider sends a bill to Conservice around the 10th of the month. Conservice receives it on the 18th. We ensure that the bill to the water provider is paid, and then work on billing residents according to the billing method outlined on your lease agreement. This process includes extensive quality checks to ensure accuracy, and can take anywhere from 1-2 weeks to complete. That puts our timeline right towards the end of the month, maybe even the beginning of the next month. Once those charges are finalized, your bills will be sent out, generally with at least 2 weeks to receive the bill and make a payment.

If the process is not restricted, then there may be 1 month in between when the utilities were used (3/1/2021-3/31/2021) until the bill is due (5/1/2021). The month of April is used to receive the bill, prepare and send your bill, and give enough time to remit payment. If the process is slowed down, then the bill may not be sent until early May 2021, due on 6/1/2021.

Many utility bills are paid for in arrears, or after the services have been used. Be sure to double check the dates that you are paying for and the date that they are due. The due date usually does not indicate when the services were used. Service period dates should always be printed on the bill.