Editing RMR Without Affecting Attrition Tracking

Overview

There are simple yet efficient ways to edit your RMR (Recurring Monthly Revenue) without incorrectly attributing changes to attrition. Proper editing ensures accurate tracking of upgrades, rate increases, and true customer cancellations.

The Right Way to Edit Recurring Charges

When making edits to existing RMR codes, rates, or cycles, you can often adjust the recurring charges directly instead of stopping and adding new charges.

Example: Service Upgrade

Scenario: A customer upgrades from standard Monitoring to Cellular Monitoring.

Wrong Method (Don't Do This):

• Add a stop date to the old charge
• Insert a new charge for the upgraded service
• Problem: This incorrectly shows as lost RMR (attrition) plus new RMR

Correct Method (Do This):

1. Open the existing recurring charge
2. Edit the charge directly:
   • Change the service code (e.g., from "Monitoring" to "Cellular Monitoring")
   • Update the rate if necessary
   • Adjust the cycle if needed
3. Do NOT add a stop date
4. Save the changes

Why This Matters

Accurate Attrition Tracking

When you edit directly without adding a stop date:

• Your RMR properly tracks that an upgrade/rate increase occurred
• The system does NOT record this as stopped RMR and new RMR
• Attrition reports accurately reflect true customer cancellations
• Historical data shows increases and decreases in ongoing RMR

Better Business Intelligence

Accurate RMR tracking allows you to:

• Distinguish between lost customers and upgraded customers
• Track true attrition rates
• Monitor revenue growth from existing customers
• Analyze the success of upgrade programs

Historical Data Recording

Important: Increases and decreases are recorded as historical data when you edit directly. This provides a complete audit trail of how customer relationships and revenue have evolved over time.

Handling Pro-Rated Charges for Upgrades

If you need to add a pro-rated charge for a new service when making an upgrade:

Recommended Method

1. Add a recurring charge called "UPGRADE" (or similar)
2. Set it to run 1 time only:
   • Start date: Current billing period
   • Stop date: Same month as start date
3. Enter the pro-rated amount
4. This one-time charge handles the partial month billing without affecting RMR tracking

Benefits of This Approach

• The pro-rate is clearly identified as a one-time charge
• RMR tracking remains accurate
• Easy to identify upgrade charges in reports
• Clean separation between ongoing RMR and one-time adjustments

Common Scenarios

Rate Increase

What to Do:

• Edit the existing recurring charge
• Update the rate field
• No stop date needed

Service Code Change

What to Do:

• Edit the existing recurring charge
• Change the service code
• Update rate if applicable
• No stop date needed

Billing Cycle Change

What to Do:

• Edit the existing recurring charge
• Change the cycle (monthly, quarterly, annual, etc.)
• No stop date needed

When to Actually Stop a Charge

You should add a stop date and create a new charge when:

• The customer is truly canceling the service
• The change represents a completely different service (not an upgrade)
• You need to maintain separate historical records for specific business reasons

Key Takeaways

✅ Do: Edit recurring charges directly for upgrades and rate changes

✅ Do: Keep increases and decreases as historical data

✅ Do: Use one-time "UPGRADE" charges for pro-rated amounts

❌ Don't: Add stop dates for upgrades or rate changes

❌ Don't: Create new charges when editing existing services

❌ Don't: Confuse upgrades with attrition

Need Help?

Still have questions? Contact Cornerstone Holding Co. 847-405-9517 or email us customer.success@alarmbills.com