Insights
Billing, collecting and chasing, from the inside
What actually happens between the meter, the truck, the paybill and the bank - and how Kenyan operators get paid for every unit, lift and invoice they deliver.
Latest · Company
Why we built BillGrid
Why BillGrid brings invoicing, water billing, waste billing and payment follow-up together, and what that means for the teams running a monthly billing cycle.
Read itWater
A month of water billing, meter to M-Pesa
Follow one scheme of 640 connections through a full month - readings in the field, the review queue, the billing run, payments landing, the statement import, reminders, a repayment plan and the water balance at the end.
Waste
Proof of collection: ending the 'you never came' dispute
How waste collectors record stop outcomes, use time, location and photos to investigate service queries, and review missed-lift rebates against agreed terms.
Waste
A month of waste billing, round by round
Four hundred premises, twenty rounds, 1,840 stops and one billing run. A walk through a full month of waste collection billing - from planning the rounds to the last overdue reminder - with every number shown.
Collections
M-Pesa STK push, pay links or paybill: which way should customers pay you?
Kenyan customers can pay you from an M-Pesa prompt, a pay link, a card, or the M-Pesa menu straight into your paybill. Each one changes who does the typing, how fast you know, and how much reconciling you do afterwards. Here is how to choose - and why most businesses should offer more than one.
Billing
Still using Excel for billing? The signs it's time to move
A spreadsheet is a perfectly good way to start billing. It becomes an expensive way to keep billing long before anyone notices. Here is how to tell which side of that line you're on - and what it is really costing you.
Waste
How to start a garbage collection business in Kenya
Licences, a truck, a dense first estate and a way to get paid for every lift. What it really takes to start collecting waste in Kenya - and the numbers that decide whether the business survives its first year.
Water
How to set water tariffs for a community scheme
How a community water scheme prepares a cost-based tariff proposal, tests example bills and checks the approval and notice process before changing rates.
Collections
Repayment plans for water and waste billing arrears
How water schemes and waste collectors agree repayment schedules, budget for ongoing bills, explain collection protection and review missed instalments.
Collections
How to reconcile M-Pesa paybill payments
A practical M-Pesa statement reconciliation routine for Kenyan businesses - review customer matches, resolve unclear references and keep receipts and balances accurate.
Water
Non-revenue water - finding the water your scheme never bills
How small Kenyan water schemes measure the gap between network input and billed consumption, investigate its causes and assess the benefit of reducing it.
Water
Why we never estimate a water meter reading
Estimating a missed reading feels like the kind thing to do - the customer gets a bill, the month closes on time. BillGrid takes a different approach for metered accounts: follow up the missing reading before issuing a usage bill.
Water
Moving your water billing off Excel without losing a month
How to prepare accounts, tariffs and meter readings, run a trial billing calculation, and reconcile balances before moving a water scheme from Excel to BillGrid.
Invoicing
How to get clients to pay invoices on time in Kenya
Clear terms, accurate invoices, convenient payment methods and consistent follow-up help Kenyan businesses manage late payment. Here is a practical routine, with reminder examples.
Water
Billing tenants for water and service charge on one statement
How landlords and estates combine submetered water with an agreed fixed service charge, review payments and keep tenant account changes clear.
Rather see it on your own numbers?
Load a month of your customers, readings or rounds and watch the bill, the M-Pesa prompt and the reconciliation happen on the real thing.