7 September 2026
Meter readings by QR code: how it works without a visit
Reading the water, gas or electricity meter is the most common reason a landlord has to meet the tenant. Yet the tenant can enter the reading themselves, right when they are standing at the meter.
How it works:
- In the property detail you print an A4 sheet with four QR stickers, one per meter type (electricity, gas, cold and hot water).
- You put the sticker on the meter or on the cabinet door.
- The tenant scans it with the phone camera. A form opens with the meter type preselected; they enter the reading, the date and can attach a photo of the meter as proof. No app to install.
- You get a notification and the reading is stored in the property history together with the photo.
When it is time for the utility settlement, SmartRent prefills the previous and current readings, calculates consumption with your rates, deducts the advances already paid and issues the resulting balance as a settlement with a PAY by square code. The tenant pays by scanning the code in their banking app.
What else helps:
- Reading reminder: before the end of the period the tenant gets an email with a link to the form.
- Value check: if the new reading is lower than the previous one, the form warns before saving.
- Corrections: the owner or manager can adjust a reading; every change is in the audit log.
The result: no phone calls about the water meter, no retyping numbers from a photo into a spreadsheet, and a settlement the tenant can verify themselves.
Manage rentals without spreadsheets
SmartRent issues rent schedules, tracks payments and settles utilities for you. First unit free.