Know what you're paying. Before you pay it.
Billing Assist turns your municipal bill into useful account intelligence ā charges, usage, meter readings, trends, thresholds, alerts and potential anomalies, all in one place.
The intelligence behind Billing Assist.
Upload one municipal bill. BillSenseā¢ does the complicated part ā extracting, structuring, checking, comparing and tracking your billing information so you can see what deserves attention. The underlying BillSenseā¢ technology is patent pending.
Balances, current charges, arrears, VAT, service accounts and account movement.
Water and electricity readings, consumption, actual vs estimated data and user-submitted readings.
Potential anomalies, unusual movement, validation warnings and items that may need review.
Every uploaded month builds a clearer account history, making future changes easier to spot.
Your bill doesn't exist in isolation.
When your property has a water or electricity interruption, Billing Assist can record the event, track how long the service was unavailable and connect that interruption to your historic usage and the next municipal bill you upload.
Smart Interruption Adjustments are estimates intended to help review variable consumption and billing patterns. They are not guaranteed municipal refunds, credits or tariff determinations, and fixed or availability charges may still apply.
When the next municipal bill is uploaded, BillSenseā¢ can review the billed usage against this interruption and your normal account pattern.
A lot more than a bill upload.
Billing Assist gives you an ongoing toolkit for understanding and managing one municipal account.
Service interruption intelligence
Log water or power interruptions, track duration and let BillSenseā¢ factor the event into future bill reviews.
BillSenseā¢ analysis
Upload municipal bills and turn them into structured account intelligence.
Monthly trends
Track charges, balances, water and electricity movement month after month.
Meter uploads & tracking
Upload meter readings/photos and compare your own readings with the bill.
Spend thresholds
Set targets like ākeep electricity under R2,000ā and monitor progress using historic data.
Usage-to-cost tracking
Use meter data to estimate how much you have spent on water or electricity so far.
WhatsApp alerts
Bill upload reminders, payment reminders and useful account notifications.
Email notifications
Monthly amount-due summaries, usage warnings and account reminders.
Dispute assistance
Generate a billing query or dispute draft using the data already stored in your account.
Support tickets
Create billing support tickets directly against your Billing Assist account.
Monthly newsletter
Practical billing information, product updates and municipal-account guidance.
One month of Billing Assist. Or...
Start with the technology. Upgrade when you want more human support.
Technology-first municipal billing intelligence for one account.
Everything in Billing Assist, plus a stronger human support layer.
Built for businesses, property portfolios and organisations.
Your next municipal bill could make more sense.
Give BillSenseā¢ your bill. Let the system do the complicated part.
Billing Assist FAQ
What is BillSenseā¢?
BillSenseā¢ is the technology layer behind Billing Assist. It extracts and structures municipal billing information, tracks account history, checks readings and charges, compares monthly movement and surfaces potential anomalies or items that may deserve attention. BillSenseā¢ is positioned as patent-pending technology.
What exactly does Billing Assist check?
Depending on what is available on your statement, Billing Assist can work with balances, current charges, arrears, VAT, water and electricity usage, meter readings, rates, refuse, sewerage, service-account information, historic movement and possible estimated readings.
Can Billing Assist tell me whether my bill is wrong?
Billing Assist can flag potential anomalies, estimates, unusual changes and items that may need review. It does not make a legally binding determination that a municipal bill is incorrect. You should always compare the output with the original statement and confirm disputed information with your municipality.
What is Service Interruption Intelligence?
It connects recorded water or electricity interruptions at your Billing Assist property with the duration of the event, your historic usage and the next municipal bill. BillSenseā¢ can calculate an estimated Smart Interruption Adjustment to help you review whether billed consumption looks consistent with what happened at the property. It is an analytical estimate, not a guaranteed municipal credit or refund.
Can I track my water and electricity usage?
Yes. Billing Assist can track usage from your uploaded bills and can also accept meter readings or meter photos so you can compare your own readings with municipal billing information.
Can I set a monthly spending threshold?
Yes. The system is designed to use your historic account information and user-defined targets so you can monitor goals such as keeping electricity spend below a set amount for the month.
What happens if my meter reading is estimated?
Billing Assist can highlight estimated or not-read meter information where it is detected. You can then capture your own reading, upload a meter photo and use the information as part of your billing review or query.
Can Billing Assist help me create a dispute?
Yes. Billing Assist can use the account data already stored to help generate a billing query or dispute draft. It does not guarantee that a municipality will accept or resolve the dispute, and it does not replace legal or professional advice.
Does Billing Assist submit the dispute to the municipality for me?
The standard Billing Assist plan helps you prepare and organise the information. It does not promise that CityMenderSA will act as your legal representative or guarantee a municipal outcome.
What WhatsApp and email notifications can I receive?
Notifications can include bill-upload reminders, payment reminders, amount-due information, usage warnings and other useful account reminders as the notification service expands.
How many bills can I upload?
The launch plan is designed around one municipal account, with an initial starter history and ongoing monthly bill uploads. Upload allowances may be managed in the platform to keep analysis practical and sustainable.
Is my billing information private?
Billing Assist treats linked municipal billing information as confidential account data. The service may use secure cloud storage, OCR, AI and approved processing services to provide its functionality.
Does CityMenderSA store my card details?
No. Subscription payments are processed through Paystack. CityMenderSA does not need to store your card details in order to run Billing Assist.
Is there a contract?
No. Billing Assist is month-to-month. There is no long-term contract.
Can I cancel at any time?
Yes. Billing Assist is a month-to-month subscription and can be cancelled subject to the applicable payment and refund terms.
Can I use Billing Assist on my phone?
Yes. Billing Assist is designed for the web and the CityMenderSA app using the same account infrastructure, so your billing profile can travel with you.