Summary

The Consumption Conversion Maintenance window is used to create a user defined consumption conversion table. The conversion formulas defined in the conversion table can be used to convert the units attached to devices to another unit type when bills are generated.

When billing the consumption on a meter, there are no units of measure (gallons, cubic feet, etc.) attached to the service rate on the account. The service rate will be applied to the consumption as it was read on the meter. For example, if there were 100 units of consumption read on the meter during the billing period, then the service rate will be applied to the 100 units regardless of the type of unit the meter was reading (gallon, cubic feet, etc.). If there are meters of multiple unit types in the same billing batch, or the consumption should be converted to another unit type as the billing is being calculated, you can convert the consumption read on the devices to another unit type using the consumption conversion table (UB> Maintenance> Consumption Conversion).

When new bills are generated (UB> New Billing> Generate), there is a Convert Consumption To drop-down menu that allows you to convert the consumption read on the meters to a different unit type. The consumption will be converted to the unit type using the conversion formula set up in the conversion table (UB> Maintenance> Consumption Conversion), and the service rate will be applied to the modified consumption on the meter. For example, if the consumption was read in cubic feet and is changed to gallons, the consumption read on the meter (100) will be multiplied by the conversion amount (7.48000) and then the service rate will be applied to the modified consumption amount (748).

The consumption read on a meter will be in the unit type attached to the device type it is associated with. When a device type is created, a unit of measure is specified on the device type (UB> Maintenance> Water, Gas, Electric Device Type> Meter tab> Unit Type drop-down menu). All devices attached to that device type will inherit that unit type.

Step by Step

1     View the consumption conversions already created.

• Open the Consumption Conversion Maintenance window (UB> Maintenance> Consumption Conversion).
• The Consumption Conversion Maintenance window will display all conversions that have been set up in the database. Highlight a conversion in the left section of the window and the conversion information will display in the Maintenance section.
• Right click on the data in the window and select Export grid contents to Excel to create an MS Excel spreadsheet of the information that displays in the window. This allows you to create a report of the consumption conversion table that displays the unit type and conversion multipliers.
• Highlight a conversion and click the Delete icon   to delete a conversion. There is not validation on consumption conversion records, so you will be able to delete consumption conversions that you regularly use when generating New Billings.
• Click the Create icon   to create a new consumption conversion. This will create a new consumption conversion line item and activate the fields in the Maintenance section.

2     Create a consumption conversion.

• Enter a conversion code in the Code field.
  • The consumption conversion code can be up to eight alphanumeric characters and is used to identify a unique consumption conversion.
• Enter a description of the consumption conversion in the Description field.
  • The description field will generally contain the convert to and convert from units. For example, if the conversion converts gallons to cubic feet, the description might be Gallons to Feet.
  • The Description field can be up to 50 characters long.
• Select a device type from the Device Type drop-down menu.
  • The types of devices that can be created in the UB module will display in the drop-down menu.
  • If a unit type (feet, gallons, etc.) is attached to a device type (water, gas, electric), but the unit type is not set up on the conversion table for that device type, you will receive an error message when you try to convert the consumption on the meter. The device type selected in this drop-down menu must match the type of device where the unit type will be used. If the unit type will be used on multiple types of devices (water and gas) then the unit type must be set up for each device type.

3     Set up the conversion formula.

• When the New Billing is generated, a convert to unit is selected (UB> New Billing> Generate> Convert Consumption To field). The billing engine will convert the consumption on the devices included in the billing to the unit selected in the Convert Consumption To field using the consumption conversions in this table.
  • You must set up a conversion for each unit type you would like to convert. If there is a unit type attached to a meter in a billing cycle that is not set up on the conversion table, you will receive an error message during the Generate step (UB> New Billing> Generate). Each unit type attached to a device type should be included in a Convert From field.
• Enter the unit to convert from in the Convert From field. The convert from unit is the unit that is on the device that will be converted. The spelling of the convert from should match the spelling of the unit on the device type or the unit will not convert correctly.
  • A unit type is attached to a device type on the Device Type Maintenance window (UB> Maintenance> (water, gas, electric) Device Type> Meter tab> Unit field).
• Enter the unit to convert the units on a meter to in the Convert To field.
• The Conversion Value field is used to enter the value that will be applied to the amount on the convert from meter read units to the new convert to units.
• Click the Save icon when complete.