Paymentus payments posted
Each weekday morning, accepted payments from the Paymentus file are checked against accounts and posted.
Finance & paymentsConnector
Utility billing (CIS) integration
for water and sewer
Utility billing, or customer information systems (CIS), run water, sewer and trash billing for city utilities. Common systems include Tyler Incode (now sold as ERP Pro), CentralSquare and NorthStar. Most of them exchange daily files with payment vendors, AMI and the bank.
Pre-built connector
Utility billing (CIS)
- Tier
- Pre-built connector
- Category
- Finance & payments
- Sign-in
- API token (Bearer)
- Paging
- page number
- Sandbox
- Yes: practice with made-up data
- Status
- Built from the vendor's public documentation; confirmed with your account during setup
§ Overview
What connecting Utility billing does.
This connector is a common shape for utility billing, not one vendor's exact API. Each resource is matched to the city's system with a Map step or custom paths, or handled through file layouts. It is confirmed against the city's system during setup.
- Accounts and premises: Read changed accounts with balance and past due; read premises and services.
- Meters and meter reads: Read and update meters; read and create meter reads with read codes.
- Service orders: Read, create and update turn-on, turn-off, re-read and leak check orders.
- Bills and payments: Read bills; read and create payments with source, batch and GL account.
- Daily totals: Read payments, adjustments and billed totals per day for balancing.
What SentraBridge can do with Utility billing (CIS)
| resource | read | write | changes only | fields |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accounts | list, read one | update | yes | Account number, Customer, Status, Premise, Billing cycle, Balance… |
| Premises | list, read one | — | — | Premise ID, Service address, Parcel, Read route, Services (water, sewer, trash) |
| Meters | list, read one | update | — | Meter number, Radio (MIU) ID, Premise, Size, Type, Dials… |
| Service orders | list, read one | create, update | yes | Order number, Account, Type (turn on, turn off, re-read, leak check), Status, Scheduled, Completed… |
| Bills | list, read one | — | yes | Bill ID, Account, Bill date, Due, Amount, Use… |
| Payments | list, read one | create | yes | Receipt number, Account, Amount, Paid on, Method, Source (Paymentus, InvoiceCloud, lockbox…)… |
| Meter reads | list | create | — | Read ID, Meter, Account, Read date, Reading, Unit… |
| Daily totals (for balancing) | list | — | — | Date, Payments, Payments total, Adjustments total, Billed total, GL batch |
§ Use cases
What cities connect Utility billing for.
AMI reads with a zero-read check
Neptune 360 reads are loaded each morning; zero, skipped and error reads go to the meter team.
Daily balance with the ledger
Each day's payment total is compared with the cash receipts entry in Munis, and mismatches go to finance.
Service orders to crews
Turn-on, turn-off and leak check orders are sent to Sentra Scheduler or the work order system.
Shutoff notices
Customers on routes with a planned shutoff get a text from the account's phone number.
§ Examples
Flows that use Utility billing (CIS).
SFTP server → Utility billing (CIS)
Daily payment file from Paymentus posts to utility billing
Every weekday morning, reads Paymentus's payment file from the SFTP folder, keeps accepted payments, checks each account exists in utility billing,…
Utility billing (CIS) → Tyler Enterprise ERP (Munis)Utility billing vs general ledger daily balance check
Every morning, compares each day's payment total in utility billing with the cash receipts journal entry in Munis. Days that don't match, or have no…
§ How it works
How to connect Utility billing
- 01Get accessAsk the billing vendor whether the city has API access (a key or OAuth client).
- 02Add the connectionIf not, get the payment import and meter read import file layouts.
- 03Preview real recordsSet up SFTP folders for files in and out.
- 04Turn it onMatch each resource to your system with a Map step or custom paths.
§ Often connected with
Utility billing and the rest of city hall.
Systems cities commonly connect with Utility billing, each with its own connector page.
Sentra Scheduler§ FAQ
Utility billing integration questions
Does Tyler Incode or NorthStar have an API?
We haven't found a public API reference for either. Most cities exchange daily files instead: payment files in, meter reads in, and bill print, GL and positive pay files out. SentraBridge reads and writes those files.
How do online payments get into utility billing?
Read the payment vendor's daily file, keep accepted payments, check each account exists, and post them or write the billing system's import file.
Is this connector verified for our billing system?
It is a common shape, tested on a sandbox. During setup it is matched and confirmed against your billing system's API or file layouts.
Connect Utility billing (CIS) to the rest.
We'll set up a workspace with your systems in a sandbox and build your first flow with you.