Benefits in KomMeter

Receipts state a benefit in very different ways: a discount on the whole consumption, half price on a norm, free cubic metres, one beneficiary among the registered residents, a compensation paid as a sum. This page shows where each of these cases goes in the app and how the app then works out the money.

The one rule to remember: once the benefit is filled in, open the month and compare its “Benefit” line with the receipt. If the sums match, everything is recorded correctly.

The app's interface is in Ukrainian and Russian; the names of screens and fields below are translated.

1. Two places for a benefit: which to choose

A benefit is set in one of two places, depending on what it is measured in.

	In the tariff of a resource	In “More → Benefits”
Measured in	Units of consumption: kWh, m³, residents	Money: a percentage of the amount or a fixed sum
Applies to	One meter or service (on a multi-tariff meter — each zone, in a seasonal tariff — each season)	Several ticked meters and services at once
Tariff thresholds	Taken into account: the benefit is calculated together with the price scale	Not involved: the benefit is taken from the amount already calculated
Share and period	No	Yes: a share (one beneficiary among the residents) and “valid from… to…”
Typical cases	50% on a norm of 37.5 kWh; 50 m³ free; the first 100 kWh at 0.90; 50% off all water	50% for one of three residents on a meter; a monthly compensation

For one resource, choose one of the two. If the same benefit is entered both in the tariff and in the Benefits section, the two discounts add up and the amount due comes out lower than on the receipt.

2. Step 1. Switch benefits on for the address

More → Addresses → the address → “Benefits” section → turn on “Account for benefits”.

This switches on:

the “Benefit” block in the tariffs of the meters and services of this address;
the “More → Benefits” tile;
benefit lines in the month, in print and in messages.

While the switch is off, the benefit fields are nowhere to be seen and take no part in the calculation. Turning it on changes nothing by itself: until a benefit is filled in, the amounts stay the same.

The switch belongs to each address: a flat may keep benefits while a garage does not.

3. A benefit in the tariff

More → Meters (or Services) → the resource → “Tariffing” section → “Tariff”. At the bottom of the tariff window there is a collapsible “Benefit” block.

A service has the block when it is calculated by a tariff: by a norm, floor area, number of residents and so on. A service with a fixed or variable sum has no tariff — use the Benefits section for it.

Fields

Field	What to enter
Benefit applies to	Fixed volume — a benefit on a set quantity: a norm, a limit, a number of beneficiaries. Whole consumption — a benefit on everything consumed in the month; no volume is needed.
Benefit volume	How many units a month go under the benefit — in the same units as the consumption: kWh, m³ or residents. While the volume is empty, the other benefit fields have no effect.
Benefit rate	Usually leave it empty. Empty means the price from the tariff. Fill it in only if the receipt gives the benefit a price of its own, such as “the first 100 kWh at 0.90”.
Discount, % (in the Benefit block)	How much cheaper under the benefit: 50 is half price, 100 is free. The discount is taken off the benefit rate or, if that is empty, off the tariff price.
How to count the benefit	Inside the scale or Apart from the scale. Matters only when the tariff has thresholds — see section 4. For a benefit on the whole consumption the choice is hidden: both give the same money.

If both Benefit rate and Discount are empty, the benefit reduces nothing: the benefit units cost as much as ordinary ones. The app warns about this with a red line under the discount.

Do not mix up the two “Discount, %” fields. One sits next to the tariff rate and simply lowers the price: the amount due comes out right, but there is no separate “Benefit” line, so there is nothing to check against the receipt. The other is inside the Benefit block. If the receipt names a benefit, fill in the Benefit block.

How it is calculated

Benefit price = (the benefit rate or, if it is empty, the tariff price of the same units) × (1 − discount / 100).
A fixed volume never covers more than was consumed: with a volume of 100 and a consumption of 60, 60 units go under the benefit.
Everything above the benefit volume is charged at the ordinary tariff.
The size of the benefit is the difference between the amount without the benefit and the amount with it. So “amount due” and “benefit” always add up to the full tariff price.
The amount of the resource comes first, then the benefit, then VAT: the tax is charged on the reduced amount.
A benefit does not change the consumption or the tariff — it reduces money, not kilowatts.

4. Benefits and tariff thresholds

A threshold is the point after which a different price begins. A benefit is not a threshold: a threshold is the same for everyone, while a benefit volume is granted to you and may be smaller than the first threshold.

When a tariff has thresholds, suppliers count a benefit in one of two ways, and the sums part as soon as consumption crosses a threshold.

Inside the scale — thresholds are counted from the whole consumption; the first units get cheaper.
Apart from the scale — the benefit volume is taken out, and the rest goes through the scale from the start.

Example. 200 kWh in a month. Tariff: 1.68 up to 150 kWh and 2.64 above, applied progressively. Benefit: 100 kWh at 0.90. Without the benefit: 150 × 1.68 + 50 × 2.64 = 384.00.

Option	How it is counted	Amount due	Benefit
Inside the scale	Thresholds from all 200 kWh. The first 100 kWh would cost 168.00 and under the benefit cost 90.00: 384.00 − 168.00 + 90.00	306.00	78.00
Apart from the scale	The 100 benefit kWh — 90.00. The other 100 kWh go through the scale from the start and never reach the 150 threshold: 100 × 1.68 = 168.00	258.00	126.00

With a banded tariff (the whole consumption is priced at the band it falls into), “inside the scale” prices the first units at that same price of the whole consumption.

Not sure which option is yours? Under the choice the app shows both sums on your own figures. Take the one that matches the receipt. The “Benefit, thresholds and ranges” button in the same block opens this same walkthrough.

If the tariff has no thresholds, both options give the same money — pick either.

5. The “More → Benefits” section

This is a benefit in money: it has a name, may cover several resources at once, and can have a share and a period. The tile appears once benefits are switched on for the address. More → Benefits → “Add benefit”.

Fields

Field	What to enter
Name	As on the receipt or the certificate, such as “Labour veteran”. The benefit appears in the month under this name.
Kind of benefit	Percentage of the amount — a discount as a percentage of what the ticked resources were charged. Fixed sum — the same sum every month.
Percentage, % or Sum	The size of the benefit. 50% is half of what was charged. A sum is subtracted every month, but never more than was charged.
Share, %	What part of the benefit falls on this address. 100 is all of it. If the beneficiary is one of three registered residents, enter 33: a 50% benefit then gives a 16.5% discount. The share applies to a fixed sum as well.
Resources	Tick the meters and services whose amount the benefit is taken from. At least one is required.
Valid from / to	Optional. If the benefit is granted for a period, give the first and the last month — after it the app stops counting the benefit by itself.
Account for this benefit	Turn it off to pause the benefit without deleting it.

How it is calculated

As the last step of the month's calculation, once the amounts of the resources are known (including benefits from tariffs).
Benefits are applied one at a time, in the order of the list: a second benefit on the same resource reduces what the first one left — like two discounts on one receipt.
The money of a benefit is spread over the ticked resources in proportion to what each was charged.
A benefit never gives more than the ticked resources were charged.
A resource with no record in the month gets no benefit.

Example. Water (400.00) and electricity (600.00) are ticked. The benefit is a percentage of the amount, 50%, share 33%. The discount is 50 × 33 / 100 = 16.5% of 1000.00 = 165.00: 66.00 comes off water and 99.00 off electricity.

6. Examples: receipt line → what to enter

The same examples are in the app: the “How to fill in a benefit — examples” link in the Benefit block of a tariff, under the address's benefits switch, and the “?” icon in the Benefits section. Leave the fields marked “empty” blank.

A discount on the whole consumption

For example, 50% off water.

Benefit applies to: Whole consumption
Benefit rate: empty
Discount, %: 50

10 m³ at 40.00: amount due 200.00, benefit 200.00.

A discount on a norm or a limit

For example, 50% on 37.5 kWh, or on gas up to 244 m³.

Benefit applies to: Fixed volume
Benefit volume: 37.5
Benefit rate: empty
Discount, %: 50

Everything above the volume is at the ordinary tariff. 120 kWh at 4.32: 518.40 without the benefit, benefit 37.5 × 4.32 × 50% = 81.00, amount due 437.40.

A free volume

For example, 50 m³ free of charge.

Benefit applies to: Fixed volume
Benefit volume: 50
Benefit rate: empty
Discount, %: 100

Free is a 100% discount, not a zero rate.

A benefit price of its own

For example, the first 100 kWh at 0.90.

Benefit applies to: Fixed volume
Benefit volume: 100
Benefit rate: 0.90
Discount, %: empty

If the tariff has thresholds, also choose “How to count the benefit”.

One beneficiary among the residents, a service by residents

For example, waste collection, one beneficiary out of two. For such a service the volume is people.

Benefit applies to: Fixed volume
Benefit volume: 1
Benefit rate: empty
Discount, %: 50

The benefit volume is the number of beneficiaries. 2 residents at 50.00: amount due 75.00, benefit 25.00.

One beneficiary among the residents, a meter

A meter does not know who consumed how much, so this needs the “More → Benefits” section, not the tariff.

Kind of benefit: Percentage of the amount
Percentage, %: 50
Share, %: 33
Resources: tick the meter

A share of 33 means one beneficiary out of three. The benefit shows in the month as a line of its own.

A compensation paid as a sum

The same sum every month.

Where: More → Benefits
Kind of benefit: Fixed sum
Sum: the sum on the receipt
Resources: what it is granted on

If the compensation is for a period, fill in “Valid from / to”.

A benefit with no line of its own on the receipt

The supplier simply prints a reduced price, with no “Benefit” line.

Where: Tariff rate
Discount, % (next to the rate): the discount
Benefit block: empty

Or enter the reduced rate straight away. The amount due comes out right, but there is no “Benefit” line.

7. Where the benefit shows and how to check it

A record of the month — a “Benefit” line with a minus sign above the amount (a benefit from the tariff), and lines named after the benefits from the Benefits section.
The month's total — a “Benefits” line with everything taken off in the month, next to the tax lines.
Print — a “Benefits” line under the table. The amounts in the table are already reduced.
Messages and letters — tags for all benefits together and for benefits line by line. A benefit from the Benefits section goes under its own name, a benefit from a tariff under the name of its resource.
The journal, home screen, bills and analytics all show amounts after benefits, so the totals agree by themselves.

Check both the amount due and the “Benefit” line against the receipt. If the amount due matches but the benefit does not, the discount has most likely been entered in the “Discount, %” field next to the rate rather than in the Benefit block.

8. Months that already exist

Every month remembers its tariff, benefit included, as it was when the month was created, and the benefits applied from the Benefits section are written into the month itself. So editing or deleting a benefit does not rewrite past months — the history stays as it was paid.

The latest month, while no payment has been recorded against it, is updated at once: switching benefits on or off for the address, and adding, editing or deleting a benefit in the Benefits section, recalculate it.
A past month with a benefit in the tariff: More → Tariffs → the resource → “Tariff history” → the month. Changing the tariff of a month recalculates its amounts at once.

Changed in version 1.8.1: an empty “Benefit rate” now means the tariff price, not zero. Before, a “50% discount” without a rate silently made the volume free. Old tariffs where the volume was free (no rate and no discount) stay free. The amounts of months already calculated do not change until the month is recalculated.

9. A benefit in a formula

If a service is calculated by a formula of your own, the benefit can be written right into it.

min(a, b) takes the smaller value, max(a, b) the larger.
The benefit tag of a resource returns the size of its benefit for the month. It appears in the insert list only on an address with benefits switched on.
A formula variable has an “Ask every month” switch — handy when the benefit volume changes from month to month.

The first 100 kWh at 0.90, the rest at 1.68 (the tags are written in Ukrainian or Russian in the app):

min({Light : consumption}, 100) * 0.90 + max({Light : consumption} - 100, 0) * 1.68

max(…, 0) keeps the second term from going negative when consumption is low.

10. Common mistakes

The benefit reduces nothing. Both the benefit rate and the discount are empty — enter a discount (50, 100) or a price of its own. Or the benefit volume is empty with “Fixed volume” selected.
No “Benefit” line although the amount is right. The discount is in the “Discount, %” field next to the tariff rate. Move it into the Benefit block.
The amount due is lower than on the receipt. The benefit is set both in the tariff and in the Benefits section — keep one.
A benefit volume made free with a zero rate. An empty rate is the tariff price. Free is a discount of 100.
The sums differ only in months of high consumption. The wrong “How to count the benefit” option is selected — compare both sums under the choice with the receipt.
One beneficiary among several, but the benefit is in the meter's tariff. A meter does not split consumption between people — use the Benefits section with a share.
The benefit fields are not visible. “Account for benefits” is not switched on for the address.
A past month did not change after the benefit was edited. That is by design — see section 8.

Still have a question, or is your case not here? Write to apps@foleks.com and include the line from your receipt.