Rounding up & invoices

Greetings friends,

I hope you all had a great weekend and looking forward to the Christmas festivities ahead.

Okay, so I have a few things to put out there and looking for perspectives. I don't want to have to create several threads regarding each topic, so i'll just put in the one.

Thank you for your time and responses in advance.

1. i have always rounded up rent. Never had an issue up until last week where one of my commercial tenants had an issue with 13cents. Does anyone else round up? As far as I knew rounding up to the nearest 10 was acceptable, is this not? It's pretty common practice as far as I have been taught to round up to avoid any inconsistencies in payment. I would love some feedback regarding this.

2. Invoices - Do you provide proof of invoice to your tenants? As in for example, a bill has come in for the landlord and requires tenant contribution, do you always provide the bill to them? i have always done so but for the first time last week I did not and I was questioned as to where the actual bill was. Does this actually need to be provided? Are there any legalities behind having to provide it?

Anyway, thank you so much.

 

Ola,

1. no - my thoughts are invoice amount is for a specific amount, and payment in most cases these days is by direct credit, so there is no reason someone should not pay the exact amount. I particular hate when a tenant rounds up in a water bill and I now have to keep that in trust until the next water bill because the bill was for 'x' and they've paid 'x+y' etc, the money doesn't just disappear and if I was to increase the bill amount to account for the extra cents they've paid, guaranteed they'd sook and it would come back to bite you nor is it justified to charge of course, and unless they've gifted you that extra few cents, you're not entitled to it.

2. no - perfect example is water billing, I generate my own invoice based off actual meter reads proofed with date & time stamped photos at various points to ascertain the usage, multiplied against the applicable rates published on the utility providers website with current charges. The amount of tenants who expect and demand to see the utility service providers bill to the owner, even though only half of that is applicable and the periods' don't line up, which is why I don't use it, is staggering. Also the fact in the Act they're not required to be presented or shown to the tenant and I've taken more than a few to task over the matter when they said they wouldn't pay. If you're talking about commercial leases they're more private contracts as opposed to residential tenancy agreements which have statuatory protections in place. I would refer back to your contract and what bounds it.

 

Thank you so much for your insightful feedback. So regarding commercial, do you believe it would be found in the commercial lease as a stipulation? Do you mind if i ask, which part of the Act that refers too? i have a commercial tenant demanded the council rates and I want to say No - but don't even know how to back it up. I have always just sent them out alongside an invoice but wanted to change that.

 

Why wouldn't you send the actual bill? I don't get the point of hiding that.

In some states and contexts, its a legal requirement under the legislation if you want them to pay for it.

 

Thank you - I appreciate that.

 

(Act for residential tenancies). I don’t know much about commercial leases, but a good starting point would be first reading through yours to see if there is anything stipulated. As thatbum said, if there’s nothing to hide/sensitive on the inv, why not send through along with your own inv? In a lot of cases it’s an argument stopper

 

Now, are we talking Retail Tenancies Act or Real Property Act?

RTA is quite specific. Commercial leases fall under the RPA IIRC but would have to go searching for the relevant references.

I generally provide a copy of the invoice to ensure payment is correct and cannot be queried. Are you also charging GST on the invoice (if you are registered) or losing 1/11 to the ATO or is the tenant paying directly to the authority?

On larger properties, a full reconciliation of the outgoings is provided to the tenant including the Audit certificate (no copies of individual invoices are provided).

 

please dont tell me your tenants go to the bank with a bag of coins to pay their rent!

 

Invoice amount is the invoice amount, no rounding required.

Legal requirement to show copy of the bill here, assume its the same everywhere

 

@sparklestorm - Rounding is either up or down, 2 cents either way on the total of the expenses not individually adjusted. You'll be rich at $0.02/month.

 

1. No way. You charge the exact amount. You could round up or down for a cash payment, and i'd be suggesting if you always round up, that is a little unfair.

2. In SA, for residential tenancies, if a tenant requests a copy of the original SA WATER bill, it must be provided within 30 days of the request. I have had a quick read of the commercial leases NSW and bugger if i can find it. HOWEVER it makes the most common of sense, even if the original council rates invoice was not provided to the tenant, when you passed on the costs, that if they request the original, you surely would be obligated to provide them. Otherwise, if i got a council rates bill for $1000 and i charged the tenant $2000 i would be profitting, you are only meant to pass on the agreed to costs (you are not meant to profit from passing on a council rates cost). The only way to verify this is the case, would be to provide the original bill.