We Set It Up.
The System Does the Work.
Sentinel sets up every community for you. After that, your team does a few clicks a month, and Sentinel does the rates, the math and the law, with every charge traced to its source. Or we run all of it for you.
We set up every community
Before your first bill, Sentinel does the setup work end to end:
- Every community's utilities, rate schedules and billing methods identified — you never research a rate
- Every meter and space set up, with each community's own rules
- Your Rent Manager connection and charge types configured
- Your first billing cycle cut over from your current process
Your month in Sentinel
Four steps. A few clicks each. Then back to Rent Manager.
- [ STEP 1 ]
Read the meters.
Your manager walks the community with the Sentinel phone app. Photograph the meter, confirm the number, next. Readings that look too high, too low or zero are flagged with the photo.
- [ STEP 2 ]
Upload your bills.
Upload each utility's master bill, and any other cost invoice, like a propane delivery. Sentinel takes it from there.
- [ STEP 3 ]
Acknowledge any rate change.
Sentinel has already found the change, checked it against the utility's published rates and applied it to your bills. You confirm you've seen it. Nothing to research, nothing to decide.
- [ STEP 4 ]
Generate. Issue. Send.
One click generates every bill, for one community or your whole portfolio. One click issues them. One click sends the charges to Rent Manager.
That's the month. Our standard is a handful of clicks per community. On Managed or Full Service, we do these steps for you.
What Sentinel does every month
Finds and checks every rate
Sentinel watches the published rates for every utility at every community — SCE, SoCalGas, PG&E, Cal Water, EMWD and more. It prices gas and electric from the utility's own published rate schedule, and water and sewer from the community's own bills or the water company's own prices, as California law allows — applying each rate and season change to exactly the days it was in force.
Prices every resident's bill
Usage, tiers and baseline, calculated the same way every time. CARE and FERA discounts and medical-baseline allowances are applied to every resident enrolled in them, every month.
Checks every bill before it goes out
Against every applicable law, regulation and utility rule, plus an audit standard of our own. You see what was found and how to fix it, the decisions that are yours stay yours, and the protections the law gives residents are kept on every bill.
Ties out to your master bill
What the utility charged the community, and what residents were billed, side by side — so nothing is over-billed and nothing the law allows you to bill is left behind.
Sends the charges into Rent Manager
For a Rent Manager community, Sentinel's itemized utility charges — with the meter readings and rate detail California requires — land on the resident's one Rent Manager statement, separately stated beside rent. Residents keep paying the way they do now.
Asks you only when it truly needs you
You see an alert only when it needs you, with the fix one click away. Everything else, Sentinel handles.
Hand off more when you want to
Managed
Your managers read the meters. Sentinel does everything else.
- Sentinel generates, issues and sends every bill
- Your residents' statements printed and mailed first-class for you
Full Service
Sentinel does it all.
- Sentinel reads every meter every month. Your staff never walks a route
- Your residents' statements printed and mailed first-class for you
- A resident line answered by Sentinel
- We stand behind every bill we issue
Optional at every tier: a resident portal with billing history, usage and the rates behind each charge.
What Makes This Different
Rates From the Source
Sentinel reads the utility's filed tariff or adopted rate schedule itself, checks every figure, and links the rate on every bill to that document — kept with its digital fingerprint, so anyone can see exactly where a charge came from.
Fixed Rules, Not Opinions
Compliance checks aren't opinions — they're fixed rules, each drawn from law tied to the provision it enforces. Every bill is checked against every rule that applies to it, and the result stays with the bill. If a charge doesn't comply, you know exactly which rule and why.
Long-Term Record
Every billing record is kept at least seven years (our policy), and corrections are added, never written over.
Questions Operators Ask
What do I have to do each month?
On Platform: upload your master bills and any cost invoices, have your managers read the meters with the Sentinel app, acknowledge any rate change Sentinel has already applied, then Generate, Issue and Send. On Managed, your managers read the meters and Sentinel does the rest. On Full Service, Sentinel does it all.
Do I have to look up or approve rates?
No. Sentinel finds every rate change, checks it against the utility's filed tariff or adopted rate schedule and applies it. You confirm you've seen the change — nothing to research, nothing to decide.
Will my residents get a second bill?
No. For a Rent Manager community, the utility charges land on the resident's one Rent Manager statement, beside rent.
Is Sentinel insured?
Yes. Sentinel carries technology errors-and-omissions and cyber insurance, $1 million per claim.
Does Sentinel take resident payments?
No. Residents keep paying through your system, the way they do now.
Let's Talk About Your Communities
Bring your communities and your current bills. We'll show you your month in Sentinel.