Bill Tracking¶

MeterBase tracks utility bills for every property in your portfolio. Upload bills as PDFs for AI-powered analysis, or enter them manually. This guide covers both workflows.

Uploading Bills¶

Single Bill Upload¶

curl -X POST https://api.meterbase.io/api/bills/upload \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -F "file=@utility-bill-june-2026.pdf" \
  -F "property_id=1"

Bulk Upload¶

Upload multiple bills at once for the same property or across properties:

curl -X POST https://api.meterbase.io/api/bills/bulk-upload \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -F "files=@bill-jan.pdf" \
  -F "files=@bill-feb.pdf" \
  -F "files=@bill-mar.pdf" \
  -F "property_id=1"

AI Bill Analysis¶

When you upload a PDF, MeterBase's AI engine (powered by Anthropic Claude) extracts structured data from the bill. Here is what it captures:

Extracted Fields¶

Charge Categorization¶

MeterBase categorizes every line item into one of these types:

AI Insights¶

Beyond extraction, the AI generates contextual insights:

• Anomaly detection -- Flags bills that are significantly higher or lower than historical averages
• Cost drivers -- Identifies the largest charge components and what is driving costs
• Rate recommendations -- Suggests if a different rate schedule might be cheaper based on the usage pattern
• Seasonal patterns -- Notes seasonal trends after 3+ months of data

Example insight output:

- Total cost increased 18% month-over-month, primarily due to a 22% increase
  in demand charges. Peak demand reached 67 kW vs. 55 kW last month.
- This property's load factor is 0.42, which is below average for multifamily.
  A demand-based rate may not be optimal.
- Consider TOU-GS-1 which has no demand charge for accounts under 75 kW.

Auto-Fill Property Data¶

When you upload a bill for a new property (or one with minimal data), MeterBase can auto-fill property fields from the bill:

• Utility -- Detected from the bill header
• Rate schedule -- Extracted from the bill's rate designation
• Service address -- Parsed from the bill

Manual Bill Entry¶

If you do not have a PDF or prefer to enter data manually:

curl -X POST https://api.meterbase.io/api/bills \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "property_id": 1,
    "period_start": "2026-06-01",
    "period_end": "2026-06-30",
    "total_amount": 4827.53,
    "total_kwh": 38200,
    "peak_demand_kw": 67.5,
    "rate_schedule": "TOU-GS-2-B",
    "charges": [
      {"type": "energy", "description": "On-Peak Energy", "amount": 2145.20},
      {"type": "energy", "description": "Off-Peak Energy", "amount": 1562.33},
      {"type": "demand", "description": "Demand Charge", "amount": 820.00},
      {"type": "fixed", "description": "Customer Charge", "amount": 300.00}
    ]
  }'

Bill History and Trends¶

The property detail page includes a Bill History section that shows:

• Timeline view -- Monthly bars showing total cost over time
• Usage chart -- kWh consumption trend with seasonal overlay
• Cost breakdown -- Stacked chart showing energy vs. demand vs. fixed costs
• Table view -- Sortable list of all bills with key metrics

Key Metrics Tracked¶

Monthly Cost Tracking¶

MeterBase aggregates bill data at the portfolio level to show:

• Monthly portfolio cost -- Sum of all property bills for each month
• Year-over-year comparison -- Same-month comparison against prior year
• Budget variance -- Actual vs. budgeted cost (if budgets are configured)
• Cost per unit trend -- Portfolio average cost per unit over time

Editing and Deleting Bills¶

Edit a Bill¶

If the AI extraction missed something or you need to correct a value:

1. Open the bill from the property's Bill History
2. Click Edit
3. Modify any field
4. Click Save

Delete a Bill¶

curl -X DELETE https://api.meterbase.io/api/bills/42 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"