Direct answer
Most service charge problems are not about the amount. The budget gets agreed, the figure per unit gets approved, and then the billing itself goes wrong: invoices go out late, a vacant flat gets billed, a tenant who left in March still owes the April levy on paper, and nobody can say who has paid without opening three versions of the same spreadsheet. This guide is about the mechanics of recurring billing: how to set a schedule that raises every charge on time, on the right units, without someone rebuilding the list each quarter.
Why recurring billing breaks on a spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is a good place to agree a service charge budget. It is a poor place to run the billing that follows. Billing is a schedule, and a schedule needs something to act on it. A spreadsheet waits for a person to remember.
The failure is rarely dramatic. It is a quarter where the invoices go out two weeks late because the estate manager was on leave. It is a new tenant who never gets added to the list. It is a unit that went vacant in January and is still being chased in June. Each mistake is small, but each one costs a phone call, an apology and a little trust.
Whether you call it service charge, estate dues, a security levy or a waste levy, the mechanics are the same. A fixed amount, on a fixed set of units, every period, until someone decides otherwise. That is exactly the kind of work that should run on its own.
Step 1: Choose the frequency
Start with how often the money is actually spent, not how often it would be convenient to collect. Security guards and cleaners are paid monthly. Generator servicing and diesel often run on a monthly or quarterly cycle. Insurance and major maintenance reserves tend to be annual.
Then weigh that against what residents can manage. A large annual bill is easy to administer and hard to pay. A small monthly bill is easy to pay and generates twelve sets of reminders a year. Many estates settle on quarterly as the middle ground.
| Frequency | Best suited to | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | Security, cleaning, diesel, staff wages | More invoices, more reminders, more follow-up |
| Quarterly | General service charge in most estates | A shortfall in the third month if collection is slow |
| Half-yearly | Buildings with stable costs and reliable payers | Two large bills a year can strain residents |
| Annually | Insurance, reserve funds, tenants on annual rent | One missed payment leaves a whole year unfunded |
Step 2: Raise the invoice before the due date
An invoice that arrives on the due date is already late from the resident's point of view. People need time to plan for a bill, particularly a quarterly or annual one. Decide how many days before the due date each charge should be raised, and keep that lead time the same every period.
Fourteen days is a common choice for quarterly charges. Annual charges often deserve thirty. Monthly charges can work with seven. The exact number matters less than consistency: residents learn when to expect the invoice, and the estate office stops fielding calls asking whether this quarter's bill is coming.
Set a first due date and, where the levy is for a fixed project, an end date. A special levy for a new borehole should stop when the borehole is paid for, not carry on because nobody remembered to switch it off.
Step 3: Decide who should not be billed
The fastest way to lose residents' confidence is to bill people who should not be billed. Agree the rules once, write them down, and apply them every period.
- Vacant units: decide whether the landlord pays the levy while a unit is empty, and bill the landlord directly if so, rather than leaving a charge sitting against nobody
- Departing tenants: once a tenant has served notice, stop raising new periodic charges against their tenancy and settle what is already owed
- Archived or demolished units: remove them from the schedule entirely
- Units already charged for the period: never raise a second charge for the same period because someone ran the billing twice
- Exempt units: a caretaker's flat or a management office may be excluded by agreement
Step 4: Handle mid-year move-ins and part periods
A tenant who moves in halfway through a quarter should not pay for the whole quarter, unless the agreement says otherwise. The cleanest approach is to raise a single one-off charge for the part period when they move in, worked out by days or months as your estate rules specify, and then add their unit to the recurring schedule from the next full period.
Write the part-period rule into the estate rules or the tenancy agreement so it is not decided case by case. Whatever method you choose, show the calculation on the invoice. A resident who can see how the figure was reached rarely disputes it.
Step 5: Remind, then track who has paid
A reminder shortly before the due date and a polite overdue notice shortly after cover most late payers. Most people who miss a service charge payment have simply forgotten. A second or third reminder in the same week starts to feel like harassment and is better replaced by a phone call.
Tracking matters as much as invoicing. Every payment should be recorded against the specific charge it settles, with a receipt issued at the time. Where the Tenancy Law of Lagos State 2011 applies, tenants are entitled to a written account of how service charge has been applied at least every six months, so a clean record of what was billed and collected is something you will need anyway.
| When | What happens | Who acts |
|---|---|---|
| 14 days before due | Charge raised on every eligible unit, invoice emailed | System, on schedule |
| A few days before due | Reminder email to residents who have not paid | System, on schedule |
| Due date | Payments recorded, receipts issued as each one lands | Estate office |
| Shortly after due | Overdue notice to residents still owing | System, on schedule |
| Two weeks after due | Personal call to remaining unpaid units | Estate manager |
| End of quarter | Collection summary to the committee | Estate manager |
How Ledge helps
On the Starter plan and above, Ledge lets you set a recurring charge schedule per property: a name such as Service charge or Security levy, the amount, the frequency (monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annually), the first due date, an optional end date, and how many days before the due date each charge is raised. You pick the units it applies to. Ledge then raises the charge on each unit automatically every period and can email each tenant an invoice.
It skips units that are vacant, units where the tenant has served notice, archived units, and units already charged for that period, so the rules in Step 3 are applied without anyone checking the list. A schedule can be paused, resumed or ended. For one-off levies and part-period charges, bulk charge lets you raise a charge across many tenants at once, also on Starter and above.
Each tenant gets one reminder email before a charge is due and one overdue notice after. When a payment is recorded as paid, Ledge issues a numbered PDF receipt and emails it to the tenant, and tenants can see what they owe and what they have paid in the tenant portal. Ledge does not prorate part periods for you: you raise that first charge yourself. This is billing record-keeping, not legal advice on what your estate rules allow.
A one-page setup checklist
Before you switch on any recurring schedule, get these agreed and written down. It takes an afternoon and saves a year of arguments.
- The levy name, amount and frequency, approved by the committee or the landlord
- The first due date and, for project levies, the end date
- The lead time: how many days before the due date the charge is raised
- The list of units it applies to, and the rule for vacant units
- The part-period rule for mid-year move-ins
- Who records payments and how quickly receipts go out
- When the committee receives a collection summary
Frequently asked questions
How far ahead should a service charge invoice be sent?
Long enough for residents to plan. Fourteen days before the due date is a common choice for quarterly charges, thirty for annual charges and seven for monthly ones. Keep the lead time the same every period so residents know when to expect it.
Should a vacant unit be billed service charge?
That depends on your estate rules or management agreement. In many estates the landlord remains liable while a unit is empty. If so, bill the landlord directly rather than leaving a charge against a tenancy that no longer exists.
How do I bill a tenant who moves in halfway through a quarter?
Raise a one-off charge for the part period when they move in, calculated by the method your estate rules or tenancy agreement specify, and add their unit to the recurring schedule from the next full period. Show the calculation on the invoice.
Can I automate rent invoices in Nigeria as well as service charge?
Yes. The same scheduling logic applies to any fixed recurring amount. In Ledge, rent is set on the lease yearly, quarterly or monthly, and recurring charges handle service charge, estate dues and other levies alongside it.
Next step
Put your service charge on a schedule
Set the amount, frequency and units once. Ledge raises each charge on time, skips vacant and departing units, sends the reminders and issues a receipt for every payment.