For property managers

Utility advance payments: overpayments, underpayments and settlement when tenants change

Your tenants pay fixed monthly advances for water, electricity, gas and heating — Brokik invoices them automatically every month. When the provider or building manager sends you the settlement, you enter the amount. Brokik knows the advances it already invoiced and shows the overpayment or underpayment for each apartment separately.

You can create a manager account without a VAT ID.

Does the end of the year look like this?

Settling advances in spreadsheets works with five apartments. With fifty, it turns into weeks of tedious work.

Dozens of spreadsheets

Every apartment has its own sheet with advances, settlement amounts and differences. One broken formula and the whole settlement has to be redone.

Retyping numbers from provider documents

The settlement document from the water company, energy supplier or building manager lists the amount per apartment — for fifty apartments, that is fifty documents to open, read and retype by hand.

Calculating differences by hand

Advances versus the amount from the settlement — for every medium and every tenant separately. With 50 apartments, that is days of work.
Settlement report

Advances versus the settlement amount — in black and white

For the period you choose, Brokik compares the sum of advances you invoiced with the amount from the provider's or building manager's settlement. The result is a concrete overpayment or underpayment amount.
12 Garden Street, apt 4Period: 01 Jan – 31 Dec 2025
UtilityAdvancesAmount from settlementDifference
Water€336€353−€17
Electricity€420€396+€24
Gas€228€239−€11
Heating€552€580−€28
Total€1,536€1,568−€32

Underpayment: €32

You charge the underpayment as an extra line on the tenant's next invoice with one click. You see the overpayment in the report and settle it with the tenant separately.
Managing 50 apartments? Each one has its own advances, its own settlement amount and its own report.

How it works in Brokik

From fixed advances to a settled difference — five steps, screen by screen.
  1. Set the advances for an apartment

    For each property you define fixed monthly advances separately for water, electricity, gas and heating — exactly as in the lease.
  2. Brokik invoices the advances every month

    Every monthly tenant invoice carries the rent and the fixed advances — Brokik issues it automatically, with no work on your side.
  3. Enter the amount from the settlement

    When the provider or building manager sends the settlement document, you enter the total amount for the period — per utility or as one combined figure. That is the only figure Brokik needs for the settlement.
  4. Brokik shows the difference instantly

    Brokik already knows the advances it invoiced, compares them with the amount you entered, and calculates the overpayment or underpayment per utility immediately. It also suggests a new monthly advance for the next period.
  5. You charge the underpayment with one click

    One click adds the underpayment as an extra item on the tenant's next invoice. An overpayment is shown in the report for you to settle separately.
Who sees what

Utility settlement when a tenant changes — step by step, from both sides

The same process from two places: the owner's or manager's screen and the tenant's screen. Every screenshot comes from the live Brokik app.
Owner or managerTenant
  1. Fixed advance and unit price

    Start of the tenancy
    Owner or manager: In the utility settings you turn on the fixed advance and control readings, and enter the price per kWh, m³ or GJ.
    Tenant: You pay the same advance every month — the invoice still shows rent and the utility advance, just like before.
  2. Meter reading with a photo — every month

    Every month
    Owner or manager: You see the tenant's reading together with the photo and approve it with one click. The advance on the invoice stays the same.
    Tenant: When a reading request comes in, you enter the meter value and add a photo — straight from your phone.
  3. Provisional settlement — during the tenancy or on move-out day

    Move-out
    Owner or manager: Brokik calculates usage from the readings at your price, subtracts the invoiced advances and shows the underpayment or overpayment — without waiting for the bill.
    Tenant: At the handover you get a protocol with meter readings to sign — the settlement is based on these readings.
  4. Supplier's bill split between tenants

    When the bill arrives
    Owner or manager: You enter the amount and usage from the bill. Brokik splits it between the previous tenant, the vacancy and the new tenant by the readings from the protocols.
    Nothing to doIf the bill leaves a difference against the provisional settlement, the owner settles it with you separately.
  5. Underpayment or overpayment — on the invoice or in the deposit settlement

    Closing
    Owner or manager: In the final settlement you see the result from the readings, the amount already added to an invoice, and what remains in the deposit balance.
    Nothing to doYou receive the underpayment as one invoice line or in the deposit settlement — no calculations of your own.
Brokik's provisional settlement is calculated from the readings and the unit price the owner sets. The supplier's official settlement remains final — when it arrives, Brokik splits it between tenants and shows the difference.
Bill split between tenants

One bill, two tenants and a vacancy in between

The supplier's bill covers the whole billing period, but the tenant changed in the meantime. Brokik splits the amount by the readings from the handover protocols — everyone pays for their own usage at the bill rate, and usage without a reading stays with the owner.
Electricity — bill for the billing period1 Jan – 31 Aug · €1,000 for 800 kWh · €1.25/kWh from the bill
WhoPeriodUsageAmount
Tenant A1 Jan – 31 Mar · 90 days300 kWh€375.00
Vacancy1 Apr – 30 Jun · 91 days25 kWh€31.25
Tenant B1 Jul – 31 Aug · 62 days300 kWh€375.00
Usage without a reading (common areas)175 kWh€218.75
Bill total€1,000.00
The vacancy and the usage without a reading stay with the owner. Brokik sets each tenant's share against their provisional settlement and shows the difference.

Everything an advance settlement needs

From the rates in the lease to the line on the invoice — without leaving Brokik.

Advances per utility

Water, electricity, gas and heating each have their own fixed monthly rate — exactly as written in your leases. Brokik invoices them automatically every month.

The bill amount is enough — readings are optional

You enter the amount from the provider's or building manager's settlement — per utility or combined. You turn on control readings only for the utilities you want to settle provisionally when tenants change.

A report for any period

Settle a year, a half-year or the period up to a move-out — you choose the report's date range yourself.

Underpayment straight to the invoice

You charge the difference as a single line on the next invoice with one click — no separate documents, no amounts to track by hand.

The whole portfolio in one panel

You settle each apartment separately, but see them all in one place — no switching between spreadsheets.

Suggested new advance

Once you enter the settlement amount, Brokik suggests the new monthly advance for the next period — the amount divided by the number of months.

See also

Settling advances is one part of a manager's daily work in Brokik.

Frequently asked questions

How settling advances works in Brokik.
No. The provider or building manager meters the usage — you only enter the amount from their settlement document, per utility or combined. You turn on control readings separately, only when you want a provisional settlement when tenants change.
You charge the calculated underpayment as an extra item on the tenant's next invoice with one click. The amount from the report goes straight onto the invoice.
Brokik calculates the overpayment and shows it in the settlement report. You settle it with the tenant separately — the amount is ready in the report.
Yes. Each property has its own advances, settlement amounts and reports, and you see the whole portfolio in one panel — every apartment is settled separately.
No. You can create a manager account in Brokik without a VAT ID — an email address is enough.
Then you settle the difference separately with the former tenant. Brokik splits the bill by the readings from the handover protocols and shows the former tenant's share at the bill rate next to their provisional settlement, so you know the exact difference right away. The deposit doesn't have to wait for a document the supplier only sends months later.
From the handover protocol. On the day the keys are returned, you and the tenant read the meters together and attach photos as proof — that reading becomes the basis of the provisional settlement, regardless of which day of the month the move-out happens.

Close your advance settlement without spreadsheets

Create a manager account and run your first overpayment and underpayment settlement in Brokik.