A smart way to reduce utility costs in affordable housing & PHA

By Mike Sederholm on May 1, 2025 in Energy

Looking to reduce utility costs? Unexpected costs can have a big impact on property managers, especially in the affordable housing and PHA industries, where budgets are tight and often rely on grant funding. Late fees on utility payments, for example, are expenses that might seem small and irritating at first but can quickly add up if managers don’t take steps to correct their invoice payment process.

If your PHA or affordable housing organization ever experiences late fees or utility shutoffs due to unpaid invoices, there’s a Yardi solution that might be a great fit.

To learn more about Yardi Utility Invoice Processing (UIP), a key component of Yardi Energy Solutions, read this interview with Joe Consolo, industry principal for Yardi.

Reduce utility costs

Interviewer: How can PHAs and affordable housing providers reduce utility costs with Yardi Utility Invoice Processing (UIP)?

Joe Consolo: With UIP, our affordable housing and PHA clients can eliminate the need to pay another late fee or go through the experience of having a utility shut off for nonpayment. There are five basic components of UIP:

Tracking invoices and ensuring no invoice gets missed
Reviewing invoices for accuracy
Posting invoices to the general ledger in Yardi Voyager
Making payments electronically
Tracking payments and work with vendors to fix misplaced payments

Many, if not most, housing properties managed by PHAs and affordable housing providers do not bill utilities back to residents. That means they are on the hook to review invoices for accuracy, make timely payments and keep track of ESG data.

We have found it’s often (and usually) more cost effective to automate and outsource utility invoice processing, considering the extensive late fees that can add up when in-house accounting departments miss payment deadlines.

Manage staff turnover

Interviewer: How does staff turnover coincide with the risk of late utility payments?

Joe: PHA and affordable housing are experiencing challenges in hiring and retaining professional staff, including accountants. Turnover, as well as the onboarding time for new hires, can cause certain invoices such as those for utilities to fall behind and induce late fees.

UIP keeps the process on a continuum. As invoices come in, our team processes them, checks for accuracy, posts to the general ledger and makes payments, on time.

Benefits of UIP

Interviewer: What are the main benefits of UIP?

Joe: The most prominent way affordable housing providers and PHAs benefit is from the speed and accuracy of the UIP solution. Yardi receives utility invoices as close to the issue date as possible and uses a missing bill tracking system to ensure the presence of every expected bill. Also, Yardi maximizes electronic payments to minimize the impact of misapplied payments on late fees. Taking that risk off of our clients’ minds not only saves them money but also time spent double-checking that their utility bills are paid and up to date.

What sets us apart

Interviewer: What sets UIP apart from other services?

Joe: UIP is similar to the full-service version of Yardi PayScan but with a few smart additions. Not only do we digitize client utility invoices and post them for payment, we also track down missing invoices to ensure that they get paid on time.

Our team works with utility companies to make sure payments are made to the right accounts. Our clients can have dozens to hundreds of properties. Making sure payments get applied to the right account is a game changer in terms of preventing late fees. That’s part of the service we provide and work our clients can take off their team’s daily schedule.

Help with reporting

Interviewer: How does UIP help clients with reporting?

Joe: Our team digitizes utility invoices down to the line-item detail, including costs and consumption data. Affordable housing providers and PHAs get all the coding in their general ledger, including utility vendors, properties, contracts and more. The beauty is that there’s no need for our clients to review this data on a daily basis. UIP guarantees the invoices we process are free and clear to be paid, and we make the payments electronically.

Help with ESG

Interviewer: How about ESG data?

Joe: Many property managers, including PHAs and affordable housing providers, need to record usage for resources such as energy and water as part of their ongoing compliance mandates. UIP tracks consumption on a property-by-property basis, making it easy to produce reports as needed. Additionally, we can perform full Energy Star reporting in jurisdictions that require benchmark documentation.

Manage mixed portfolios

Interviewer: What about properties that include some mix of market-rate, affordable and/or PHA units?

Joe: UIP is a service designed to bill back tenants for utility usage. Each unit’s utility charges are calculated and directly posted to the resident ledger. Utility charges can be paid using the RentCafe mobile app.

Request more info

Interviewer: How can a PHA or affordable housing provider learn more?

Joe: My team is always available to help you reduce utility costs. We even have cost calculators to demonstrate the savings that UIP can deliver. Just give us a call at (800) 866-1144. More information is also available on our website.