In HirePOS, you can manage items billed based on meter usage, such as vehicles or equipment that require tracking for service or billing after specific usage milestones. Whether the distance travelled or hours operated, metered items can be configured to record usage and charge customers accordingly. This guide will walk you through configuring and managing metered items in HirePOS.

Meter readings can be recorded in several places in the system:

• On the Invoice screen when dispatching and returning an item. Metered items added to an Invoice will show the Meter From and Meter To fields.
  Meter Usage = Meter To minus Meter From.

• When entering a Maintenance Record (Maintenance > Maintenance Records).

• When completing an Inspection checklist (Maintenance > Inspection Checklists).

• When performing a specific Meter Reading via Maintenance > Meter Readings.

  • You can use this method if you want to add in the metered hours for an item without having to book in a service/job. As long as "Metered" checkbox is ticked for an item, it will appear in the drop-down on that screen.

• Automatically daily if you have integrated with a compatible GPS Tracking service

In situations where a meter is replaced and reset back to zero, the Next Service reading needs to be flagged in a new Maintenance Record for the item. This can be done using the New Meter (Replace Faulty) option from the Options menu.
See the New Meter (Replace Faulty) guide for more info.

To view the current meter value, and all historical readings for a given item, navigate to Maintenance > Meter Readings from the main menu. You can select your item, see its current status and historical readings, and record a new 'current' reading here.

If you have integrated with a compatible GPS service, you can also retrieve the current live metere reading at the click of a button.

To designate an item as a Metered Item, follow these steps:

1. Go to Setup > Items and select the item

2. Click on the Configuration section below.

3. Check the Metered checkbox.

4. Save your changes.

When the item is marked on-hire in the invoice screen, you will be prompted to enter the Metered From value. Upon return, you will also need to fill in the Metered To.

Configuring charges based on meter readings involves creating a new Selling Unit and specifying the charge per meter unit. Here's how:

1. Create a new Selling Unit and navigate to the Metered tab.

2. Check the Meter unit checkbox.

3. Edit the metered item, go to the Rates/Prices tab, add the new metered unit, and set the charge per meter unit.

When adding a metered item to an invoice, you will be prompted to fill in the Metered To upon return. To enable HirePOS to automatically calculate the charge unit, follow these steps:

1. Click on the Meter readings option above the item lines.

2. Verify the Meter From and Meter To values.

3. Use the Copy meter usage to dropdown to select the metered item for charge calculation.

4. Save changes to apply the automatic calculation based on your Selling Unit settings.

Excess charges based on meter readings can be configured for scenarios like charging per kilometre after a certain threshold. Here's an article with more info: https://docs.hirepos.com/en/articles/2326913

An incorrect meter reading, particularly one that is much higher than the actual reading, can affect the item's current meter value, maintenance reminders, service intervals, and future meter reading pre-fills.

HirePOS uses the highest recorded meter reading for an item as its current reading, rather than simply using the most recently entered reading.

For example, if an item has readings of 100, 200, 300 and 400 hours, but the 200-hour reading was accidentally entered as 2,000, HirePOS will continue to treat 2,000 as the highest reading. Entering a new correct reading of 400 will not override the incorrect 2,000 reading.

To correct this, you need to find and edit or remove the original incorrect meter reading.

1. Go to Maintenance > Meter Readings.

2. Select the affected item.

3. The meter reading history shows readings recorded against the item from invoices, maintenance records, inspections, direct meter readings and other supported sources.

4. Click the Meter Reading column heading to sort the readings.

5. If necessary, click the heading again until the highest meter reading is at the top.

6. Check the highest readings for an incorrect or unusually high value.

The record will show where the meter reading came from and its Ref # or other identifying information. This helps you locate the original record that needs to be corrected.

How you correct the reading depends on where it was originally recorded:

• Meter Reading: Edit or delete the incorrect reading directly from Maintenance > Meter Readings.

• Invoice: Use the Ref # to locate and open the invoice. You can use Sales/Hire > Find Sales/Hire or the global search in the top menu. Unlock the invoice if required, then correct the meter reading and save the invoice.

• Maintenance Record: Open the referenced maintenance record, correct or remove the incorrect meter reading, then save the record.

• Inspection or another record: Use the displayed reference information to locate the original record, then correct the meter reading at its source.

Correcting the original record is important. Simply adding a new, lower meter reading will not correct the item's current reading while the incorrect higher value remains in its history.

After correcting the original record:

1. Return to Maintenance > Meter Readings.

2. Select the item again.

3. Sort the Meter Reading column so the highest reading appears first.

4. Confirm that the incorrect value is gone and that the highest remaining reading represents the item's actual meter reading.

Once corrected, HirePOS will use the appropriate highest meter reading for functions such as maintenance reminders, service calculations and future meter reading pre-fills.