Rent and billing
Opening a billing year
How Allotmin works out what everybody owes, and why it only does it once.
Opening a billing year is the moment Allotmin works out what everybody owes. It looks at who holds which plot today, takes a copy of the fees on those plots, and writes each member an invoice for the year.
Go to Billing → Open year.
Before you do it
Get these right first, because the year takes a copy of them:
- every plot has the right fee on it
- every member is on the right plot
- anybody who has left has had their tenancy ended
The first year is different
The first year you open is where you tell Allotmin when your year starts — the day and month. That is a real decision: every year after this one follows straight on from the last, so the date is fixed from then on and Settings will show it as read-only.
You also set when rent is due. On the first year that is a number of days after the start; after that it is a proper date picker, because the start date is already known.
If you get the start date wrong, there is a way back — Billing → Reset billing history wipes your years and invoices and nothing else. It asks you to type RESET, and it offers you a spreadsheet of what you are about to delete first. But it is much easier to get right the first time.
What the year takes a copy of
Once opened, a year is frozen. Change a plot fee next month and last year's invoice does not move — it still says what you charged at the time, which is what makes your records worth keeping.
The exception is the year you are currently in. If you put a member on a plot in March, they get added to the open year and billed for it. If you correct a plot fee, the current year's invoices for that plot are refreshed. Earlier years never change.
What goes on the invoice
- the rent for each plot they hold
- any additional charges that repeat yearly are added automatically
- any concessions they qualify for come off
Before you commit, the open-year screen shows you the charges that are about to be applied, with their amounts, and lets you change them there and then — which is the natural moment to put this year's water levy up.
More on rent and billing
Recording who has paid
Marking an invoice paid, taking a part payment, and seeing who still owes you.
Charging for things other than rent
Water levies, membership subs, a bag of manure — extra lines on the same invoice.
Giving members a discount
Concessions — an over-60s rate, a hardship reduction, money off for a group.
Chasing unpaid rent automatically
Let Allotmin send the reminder emails so you do not have to keep a list.
Letting members check their own balance
A private web page per member showing what they hold, what they owe and what they have paid.
Did this not answer it? Ask us — we answer these ourselves.