RUBS Utility billing for landlords
Stop the monthly spreadsheet. Upload one water, sewer, trash, gas or electric bill. MeterEase splits it by square footage, occupants, bedrooms or a blend, then emails each tenant their share with the source bill attached. You approve every send, unless you turn on auto-send for a property. The month’s bill-back is done in minutes, not a weekend evening.
Tenants pay you the way they already pay rent. MeterEase never touches tenant money.
A card is required to start. You are charged when the trial ends unless you cancel first, and you can cancel anytime in the billing portal.
Upload the bill PDF. MeterEase reads the vendor, period and total, applies your method, and does the math for every unit.
Each tenant gets their own share, the line “How your share was calculated,” and the source bill attached.
Pick a vacancy rule once. Prorate mid-month move-ins and move-outs on Growth and Portfolio.
How it works
Upload, check, send. Nothing reaches a tenant until you approve it, unless you turn on auto-send for a property.
Drop in the water, sewer, trash, gas, electric, CAM or insurance bill as a PDF, or type it in. Confirm the vendor, period and total.
Choose square footage, occupants, bedrooms, percent or a hybrid. See every input and every unit’s total before anything goes out.
Each tenant gets their share with the source bill attached. Then export a CSV for your rent app, or push to DoorLoop.
In the product
Illustrative demos, not app screenshots. The Cedar Gate property and suites are fictional.
Cedar Gate · Square footage
Fair shares
| Suite | Sq ft | Share | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 110 | 720 | $54.12 | Ready |
| 210 | 880 | $66.15 | Ready |
| 120 | 800 | $60.13 | Owner |
Approve before send
Suite 210 · September water
Tenant share
$66.15
How your share was calculated
880 ÷ 2,400 sq ft × $180.40
Master water bill attached
Waiting for your approval
Cedar Gate · September
Month checklist
See an email generated from the app template with fictional data.
Sample email · not a real tenant
To: Suite 210, Cedar GateSeptember water
Your water share for September
Your share of the master water bill for September 1–30 is $66.15.
How your share was calculated
880 ÷ 2,400 sq ft × $180.40
Master water bill attached
You pay your landlord the way you already pay rent. MeterEase does not collect this amount.
Who built this
Founder · Estate planning attorney, Williams Starbuck (Las Vegas)
I'm Drew Starbuck, an estate planning attorney. Many of my clients own rental properties, and I kept hearing the same complaint: every month they had to split the utility bills across tenants by hand, double-check the math and hope nobody pushed back. The software they tried wanted them to pay for a whole property-management suite just to do it. So I built MeterEase to do that one job well, so landlords get that time back.
Enter the bill and your units. The free RUBS calculator shows every tenant’s share to the cent. No account and no card.
Questions
Send a question about MeterEase. This form does not start a trial and does not collect lease documents, utility bills, or tenant records. Privacy Policy.
MeterEase policies: Privacy Policy · Terms of Service. Questions: [email protected].
Compare
How the usual ways of billing back utilities stack up when you bill them yourself.
MeterEase stays on screen. Swipe sideways for the other columns.
| Feature | MeterEase | Spreadsheet | Basic bill-split app | Outsourced billing company |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | You upload the bill and approve the send. MeterEase does the rest. | You build the sheet, enter the bill and write every email. | You enter the total and the shares. The app does the arithmetic. | The company runs billing for the property. |
| Split methods | Percent, square footage, bedrooms, occupants and hybrid blends. | Whatever formula you maintain. | Often a single percent split. | Whatever the service agreement names. |
| Reads the bill PDF | Yes. You check the vendor, period and total before you confirm. | No. You type it. | Varies. Many ask you to type the total. | They collect the bill for you. |
| CAM and insurance | Yes, on Growth and Portfolio. | If you build the columns. | Rarely. | Sometimes, depending on the quote. |
| Proration and vacancies | Vacancy rule on every plan. Mid-month proration on Growth and Portfolio. | If you write the formulas. | Often not supported. | Handled inside their process. |
| Tenant email with source bill | Every email, after your send checklist or opt-in auto-send. | You write and attach each one. | Varies. | Part of their program. |
| Rent-app export | CSV with paste notes, QuickBooks CSV, or DoorLoop push. | You retype each amount. | Uncommon. | Through their own system. |
| Price | $14 to $69 a month. Portfolio adds $1.50 per unit over 50. | Free, plus your time every month. | Usually a low monthly fee. | Quoted per property. |
| Best for | Landlords and property owners who bill utilities themselves. | Landlords who enjoy formulas. | Simple even splits. | Large apartment communities. |
The other columns describe how these approaches typically work. They are not reviews of specific companies. Named comparisons: MeterEase vs Utility Ranger ·MeterEase vs Livable.
Pricing
Start with Growth free for 7 days, then pick the plan that fits your portfolio. Full pricing and trial terms.
One property, up to 4 units
$14$7/month
Founding landlord: 50% off for life
$14/month
Sign upMost landlords
Up to about 20 units and 5 properties
$34$17/month
Founding landlord: 50% off for life
$34/month
Sign upMore than 20 units or 5 properties
$69$34.50/month
Founding landlord: 50% off for life
$69/month
Includes up to 50 units, then $1.50/unit a month
Sign upA card is required to start. You are charged when the trial ends unless you cancel first, and you can cancel anytime in the billing portal.
FAQ
RUBS (ratio utility billing system) divides one master utility bill among the units in a building using a formula, such as square footage, occupants or bedrooms, instead of a meter in each unit. MeterEase runs that formula each month and emails every tenant their share. Read the full RUBS guide.
Pick a method your lease allows, divide each unit’s factor by the building total, and multiply by the bill. A 720 sq ft unit in a 2,400 sq ft building pays 30%. Try it with your own numbers in the free calculator. Open the RUBS calculator.
Electric, water, gas, trash and sewer on every plan. Growth and Portfolio also split CAM and insurance.
You choose. A vacant unit can stay in the split so the owner covers its share, or be left out. Vacant units never get an email.
No. Tenants pay you the way they already pay rent. MeterEase sends the shares and gives you a CSV for your rent app, or pushes the charges to DoorLoop.
It depends on your lease, your state and city, and the utility tariff. MeterEase does the math and offers optional checklists for Arizona, Texas and Oregon bill formats. Those checklists are not a compliance review. It is not legal advice. What to check before you bill.
Your plan starts automatically after 7 days. Cancel before then and you pay nothing. After that, cancel anytime and keep access through the end of the paid month.
Growth is free for 7 days. A card is required to start. You are charged when the trial ends unless you cancel first, and you can cancel anytime in the billing portal. Cancel before the trial ends and you pay nothing.