Annual site statement

Annual site statement

When the owner mandates Climkit to manage billing and collections from the consumers of their site, Climkit draws up 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 energy metering and statement services.
• Owner : Person responsible for the site who mandates Climkit to manage the metering and billing of energy for their site. Sometimes, the owner is represented by a management company.
• Consumers : Tenants or co-owners who reside on the site and consume energy.
• Supplier : Distribution system operator (DSO) or other external provider that supplies electricity or service to the site.

What is Climkit's mandate?

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

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

How is the annual site statement established?

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

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

In the context of a self-consumption grouping (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 injected into the grid and repurchased by the distributor.

When is the annual statement established?

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

How is the owner compensated?

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

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

What does the statement look like?

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

1. Collections details: Amounts received from consumers, credit notes from suppliers, and any positive balance from the previous year's statement.
2. Disbursements details: 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 as of the date for the statement period.
4. Written-off amounts: Consumer invoices unpaid from financial years prior to this statement period and whose amount is considered lost. As owner, you are free to take recovery action directly with the consumers.

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

What do collections consist of?

1. All payments from consumers for invoices such as their electricity consumption or their use of charging stations.
2. Credit notes from suppliers in cases where the latter pay an amount in favor of the site. For example, DSOs that reimburse the injection of photovoltaic surplus into the grid.
3. Any positive balance in favor of the owner carried over from the previous year's statement.

What do disbursements consist of?

1. Invoices paid to suppliers, including those from the distribution system operator (DSO) for electricity drawn from the grid or from any third-party contractor for photovoltaic production.
2. Invoices from Climkit for all management fees (metering, billing, mailing costs, Internet connection, etc.).
3. Any negative balance charged to the owner carried over in the previous year's statement.

Where can the invoices and documents referenced in the statement be found?

All corresponding invoices and documents are available on the Climkit online platform under the Finances tab for the site.

What about unpaid invoices?

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

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

Example: The statement for the year 2022 shows a balance in favor of the owner of CHF 2500.-. However, an unpaid consumer invoice for CHF 180.- remains. Climkit pays CHF 2500.- 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 shows a balance in favor of the owner of CHF 180.-. This amount will be carried over to the 2023 statement.

Under what circumstances is an invoice considered written off?

Any invoice that remains unpaid despite the three reminders sent to the consumer and is more than one year old from the annual statement issuance date is considered written off.

The written-off invoice is mentioned in the Written-off amounts section of the annual statement. It is now up to the owner to take any recovery action with the relevant consumer to obtain the due payment.

Example: When drawing up the 2022 annual statement, a consumer invoice of CHF 62.- for the period October to December 2021 is still unpaid. This invoice is now considered lost by Climkit, which indicates it with a written-off status. The owner is then free to take action directly with the consumer to recover this amount due.

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

1. When the paid DSO invoices do not correspond to the annual statement period. For example, if a DSO bills for the period April 2021 to March 2022, this invoice is charged to the 2022 statement even though it partly corresponds to 2021. This generally happens during the first year of RCP operation or when the DSO bills periodic down payments and not actual consumption. In any case, this is offset in subsequent years.
2. When open and written-off amounts are very significant.
3. When the building entry meter installed by the DSO does not correctly measure the drawn electricity and the related invoices are incorrect. In this case, it is necessary to request a check from the DSO.