How do surcharges work when billing from meter data?

A surcharge (markup) lets you add a management fee or margin on top of the base energy cost when billing tenants from actual meter data. This covers your administrative costs, grid fees, or contractual markups.

How the surcharge is calculated

The surcharge is a percentage applied to the base rate (spot price for electricity, or unit price for other meter types):

• FinalRate = BaseRate × (1 + surchargePercent ÷ 100)
• TotalCost = AllocatedConsumption × FinalRate

Example with 15% surcharge

• Spot price: 0.80 NOK/kWh
• Surcharge: 15%
• Final rate: 0.80 × 1.15 = 0.92 NOK/kWh
• Tenant consumption: 2,500 kWh
• Tenant cost: 2,500 × 0.92 = 2,300.00 NOK

Where to set the surcharge

1. In the billing template designer: Go to Tenant Billing → Templates → edit or create a template. In the line item settings, you can set surchargePercent for each line. Quick-select buttons are available for common rates: 10%, 15%, 20%.

2. Per billing source: The surcharge can be set differently per billing source type (meter_data, fixed_monthly, uploaded_invoices). This lets you apply different markups to metered consumption vs. fixed charges.

What the tenant sees

The surcharge can be displayed in two ways depending on your template's surcharge_mode:

• Separate line: Shows the base cost and the surcharge as distinct line items (transparent)
• Distributed: Blends the surcharge into the unit price (the tenant sees a higher per-kWh rate but no separate fee line)

Tip: Review your lease agreements to determine the appropriate surcharge. In Norway, many commercial leases allow 5–15% administrative markup on energy costs passed through to tenants.

Where to configure: Tenant Billing → Templates → select template → line item settings → Surcharge.