Annual statement of the site

Annual statement of the site

When the owner mandates Climkit to manage billing and collections from the consumers of their site, Climkit prepares an annual statement for the entire site.

This FAQ allows for a quick understanding of how it works. Here is a glossary of the main terms used:

• Site: building or group of buildings for which Climkit provides metering and energy statement services.
• Owner: responsible for the site who mandates Climkit to manage the metering and billing of energy on their site. Sometimes, the owner is represented by a property management company.
• Consumers: residents (tenant or co-owner) who reside on the site and consume energy.
• Supplier: Distribution system operator (DSO) or other external provider that provides electricity or a service to the site.

What is Climkit's mandate?

The owner mandates Climkit to manage metering, billing, and collections on their behalf from the consumers of their site.

Climkit also pays the invoices of the site's electricity suppliers (DSO and photovoltaic contractors).

How is the annual statement of the site established?

Climkit establishes an annual statement for the previous year for the entire site.

The annual statement calculates the difference between all collections gathered from consumers and the disbursements paid to suppliers.

In the context of a Self-consumption community (RCP), the difference is generally in favor of the owner and corresponds to the sale of self-consumed solar electricity to consumers as well as the surplus fed back into the grid and repurchased by the distributor.

When is the annual statement established?

Between April and June of the following year, in order to wait for the collection of consumer invoices sent in January for the last months of the year.

How is the owner remunerated?

The owner has 15 days after receipt to contest the statement. Without contestation, the amount in their favor is paid into the bank account communicated to Climkit within 30 days following the sending of the statement.

In the case of a balance in favor of Climkit, the owner has 30 days to pay the amount due using the invoice attached to the statement.

How is the statement presented?

The annual statement indicates the difference between all collections received and disbursements paid for the site during the indicated period of the statement. It is divided into four sections:

1. Details of collections: amounts received from consumers, supplier credit notes, and any positive balance from the previous year's statement.
2. Details of disbursements: invoices paid to suppliers including those from the Distribution system operator (DSO) and Climkit for management fees, and any negative balance from the previous year's statement.
3. Open amounts: consumer invoices still unpaid to date for the period of this statement.
4. Written off amounts: consumer invoices unpaid for years prior to the period of this statement and whose amount is considered lost. You are free as an owner to undertake recovery procedures directly with consumers.

Only the first two sections are taken into account in the calculation of the balance.

What do the collections consist of?

1. All invoice payments by consumers such as their electricity consumption or their use of charging stations.
2. Supplier credit notes in cases where they pay an amount in favor of the site. For example, DSOs that remunerate the fed back of the photovoltaic surplus into the grid.
3. Any positive balance in favor of the owner carried forward from the previous year's statement.

What do the disbursements consist of?

1. Invoices paid to suppliers including those from the Distribution system operator (DSO) for electricity withdrawal from the grid or from a potential third-party contractor for photovoltaic production.
2. Climkit invoices for all management fees (metering, billing, postal mailing costs, internet connection, etc.).
3. Any negative balance at the owner's expense carried forward from the previous year's statement.

Where can I find the invoices and documents referenced in the statement?

All invoices and corresponding documents are available on the Climkit online portal under the site's Finances tab.

What about unpaid invoices?

All invoices sent to consumers that have not yet been paid appear in the Open amounts section of the statement for information purposes.

When these invoices are settled, the annual statement will be updated to take these new collections into account and the positive balance in favor of the owner will be carried forward to the following year's statement. All consumer invoices and their payment status are accessible on the Climkit online portal.

Example: The statement for the year 2022 specifies a balance in favor of the owner of CHF 2,500. But there remains an unpaid invoice from a consumer for an amount of CHF 180. Climkit pays CHF 2,500 to the owner on May 25, 2023. On July 17, 2023, the consumer finally pays their invoice of CHF 180. The 2022 statement is updated and indicates a balance in favor of the owner of CHF 180. This amount will be carried forward to the 2023 statement.

In what case is an invoice considered written off?

Any unpaid invoice despite the three reminders sent to the consumer and dating more than one year before the issuance of the annual statement is considered abandoned.

The written off invoice is mentioned in the Written off amounts section of the annual statement. It is then up to the owner to undertake any recovery procedures with the consumer concerned to obtain the payment due.

Example: At the time of establishing the 2022 annual statement, a consumer invoice of CHF 62 for the period from October to December 2021 is still unpaid. This invoice is now considered lost by Climkit which indicates it with the written off status. The owner is then free to undertake procedures directly with the consumer to recover this amount due.

For what reasons can the annual statement have a balance in favor of Climkit?

1. When the paid DSO invoices do not correspond to the period of the annual statement. For example, if a DSO bills for the period from April 2021 to March 2022, this invoice is charged to the 2022 statement although it partly corresponds to the year 2021. This generally occurs during the first year of operation of the RCP or when the DSO bills periodic advance payment and not the effective consumption. In any case, this is compensated for in subsequent years.
2. When open and written off amounts are very high.
3. When the input meter of the building installed by the DSO does not correctly measure the electricity withdrawn and the relative invoices are incorrect. In this case, it is necessary to request a verification from the DSO.