Usage History

In WBAR, you use the View/Edit customer screen to look up usage history. The form has four sections. To open the form, click on Customers, View/Edit in the main menu or click on the Customers speedbar button.

When you update meter readings in WBAR, the meter reading data is recorded into the customer data record and also in the usage history file. By clicking on the Usage tab of the View/Edit customer form, the accounts usage is displayed.

The last 12 months of usage are displayed in the left column. The most recently updated meter reading data is recorded under Meter Readings along with the high and low usage of the account. Click the Browse Usage button if you want to display the meter readings from the usage history file. Click on the Print Usage button if you want to view or print a report of the meter readings from the usage history file.  Click on Print Screen if you want to send the screen to your printer.

Setting Readings

There are times when you may need to set a previous, current, or usage value into the customer record in order to adjust the audit trail of the meter. For instance, physically replacing a meter can result in the previous meter reading being different than the reading from the meter that was replaced. You can use these fields to set the previous, current, and usage values to anything you want, even if the previous and current values do not equal the usage amount.

For example, if the previous reading of the meter is 224500 and you replace the meter with one that has a reading of 415700, you can enter the 415700 in the current field and enter the amount used in the usage field.  You will want to make sure that you account for the gallons used before the meter was replaced and include any gallons used since the meter was replaced. The thing to remember is that WBAR will always bill the account based on the value it sees in the Usage field, regardless of the values you insert into the previous and current fields. Dates do not affect the reading values but are rolled forward each month.

When you enter meter readings through the keyboard or import them from a hand held, WBAR calculates the gallons for you. WBAR places the meter reading values and dates into the Customer record when the readings are updated. If you change the values in the Customer record after you have updated the meter readings, the values you enter will be used instead when new charges are calculated. The calculation of new charges does not require previous and current reading information, only a usage amount. The previous and current fields will appear on the bill exactly as they appear in the customer record.