A water utility in Kenya was running its entire billing operation on disconnected spreadsheets and paper receipts. Monthly billing took weeks, follow-ups were manual, and revenue leakage was hard to trace.
The challenge
Meter readings, balances, and payments lived in different places. Field readers delivered paper sheets to the office, data entry happened by hand, and the billing team pieced together each month's cycle from partial records. Every discrepancy meant phone calls, re-checks, and another week of delay. Outstanding balances could not be seen by zone, route, or individual account, so collection effort went wherever the loudest complaint was, not where the money was.
The solution
We replaced the process with TallyDue, a billing and customer management platform purpose-built for water utilities. It imports meter readings, generates bills, tracks payments, and sends automated reminders to customers. Field staff work from mobile, so readings are captured at the meter, and the office sees them immediately.
- Meter reading capture on mobile, with GPS verification against fraud.
- Automated bill generation and customer billing cycles.
- Payment tracking with M-Pesa references and paybill integration.
- Outstanding-balance reports by zone, route, or individual account.
- Automated SMS reminders for due and overdue bills.
The outcome
The utility now closes billing cycles in days instead of weeks and can see outstanding balances by zone, route, or individual account. Collection follow-up is targeted, revenue leakage is visible, and the monthly cycle no longer dominates the office's calendar.