how to read your invoice and understand the charges

Understanding your invoice

All new accounts require upfront payment of all applicable charges for your order to be processed.

Your ‘billing anniversary’ date is the day you sign up with MATE. This will be your anniversary date for the life of your account and cannot be changed.

Once established, MATE accounts are billed in advance and have 14-day payment terms.

Your first invoice will be issued on this date and will include the service(s) you have signed up for, even if they are not yet active. Once your services are active, we’ll automatically apply a credit for the inactive days between your billing anniversary date and the connection date. This credit will appear on your next invoice. 

Your invoice will provide the following information: 

Page 1

1. Accounts billing name & address. 
2. Your MATE code or account number (you can reference this number when you call our support team).
3. Here you will find your: 
   • Tax invoice number
   • Invoice issue date – that aligns with your billing period
   • Due date – the due amount will be automatically debited on this date
4. Your last 3 invoices due totals (if applicable)
5. Opening balance – indicates the payment for the prior invoice
   Payments – payment processed for the previous invoice
   Credit – any credits, including any promotional credits, applied to the account.
   This invoice – total balance for the current invoice.
6. ‘Total due’ is the total amount owing, which will be debited on the due date.

For a brand new MATE account, the invoice will display $0 owing and state ‘NO PAYMENT IS REQUIRED’ if the upfront payment has successfully been processed.

Page 2

This page will provide a detailed overview of the services on your account, including information such as the mobile service number or NBN identifier, the associated plan for each service, and the billing period for any applicable charges or credits. 

The sample invoice below shows the following:

1. 1. This example includes an applicable NBN promotion on the account. The promotional credit is listed as a separate item, shown here as a $30 credit, which covers the same period as the the NBN service. (Item 3)
   2. Items for account; this will reflect processed payment.
      • Your first invoice will display the upfront payment you made.
      • Future invoices are issued in advance on your billing anniversary, with payment due 14 days later. Payments received for the previous invoice will be displayed here.
   3. Items for a No Worries bundled nbn plan, with a $80 charge covering the period from January 2nd to February 2nd.
   4. Items for a 32GB mobile plan, with a $35 charge covering the period from January 2nd to February 2nd.

Billing adjustments and changes to your account

When changes are made to your account, such as relocating an NBN service, adding or disconnecting a service, or changing your plan, we adjust your billing to align charges or credits with your billing anniversary date. Here’s how it works: 

1. Credits
   • Any applicable credits (e.g, for plan downgrades or service cancellations) are applied to your account immediately.
   • If payment has not yet been debited (i.e, before your invoice due date), these credits will reduce the current amount owing.
2. Charges
   • Any applicable charges (e.g, for adding a service or upgrading your plan) will be included on your following invoice. So, your invoice may seem higher than your standard monthly fees.
3. Adjustments after an invoice is generated
   • If a change is made after your invoice has been generated, the corresponding adjustments (credits or charges) will be displayed on your next invoice.

Please note: As these adjustments are made to align perfectly with your billing anniversary, your invoice may appear slightly confusing. However, all changes are transparently reflected on your account. If you have any questions, our support team is here to help. 

Adding or removing services

Adding Services

When you add a service to an existing account, an upfront charge for a full month is applied to process the order. Once the service becomes active, credit will be applied for the inactive days, calculated from the billing anniversary to the activation date.  

The example below shows a 15GB mobile plan that has been added to an account with an anniversary date of the 12th of each month: 

1. Here you can see the mobile plan has been added on December 14th with an upfront charge of $25, covering the period from December 12th to January 12th.
2. The first lines show a credit of $1.64 has been applied for the inactive days from December 12th to 14th. The second line indicates the standard $25 charge for the current billing period of this invoice, covering January 12th to February 12th.

Cancelling Services

If a service is cancelled from an account during your billing period, a credit will be applied for the unused days from the disconnection date to your next billing anniversary date. The following example below shows an NBN service that has been cancelled with a billing anniversary of the 9th of each month: 

1. The item line references the NBN service identifier, and this service was cancelled on January 7th, and a credit of $4.00 is automatically applied for unused days from the 7th to the billing anniversary date of January 9th for this invoice. 

Relocation and fibre upgrade

When relocating your NBN service to a new address or opting for a FTTP upgrade (where eligible), a new order is required. This will appear on your invoice as a separate service and line item with an upfront charge. 

Once the new connection is activated, a credit adjustment will be applied for the days the service was inactive in your billing period. After your old connection is disconnected, you will receive a credit adjustment for the unused days in your billing period. 

Note: If you’re moving address, please notify us of disconnection date for your old connection if you haven’t organised this. If you’ve opted in for a fibre upgrade, the old connection will automatically close once you are online with the FTTP (Fibre to the Premise) connection.  

The example below shows how your invoice may appear when relocating or upgrading to FTTP. The account in question has a billing anniversary date of the 27th of each month: 

1. The following item refers to the promo attached to the new NBN service, where the first line shows a full month’s credit covering the period of November 27th to December 27th. The second line shows the service became active and an adjustment is made for the inactive period from November 27th to December 6th. The last line is the promo credit covering the period December 27th to January 27th.
2. This item represents the new service connection and includes two $70 charges covering the periods from November 27th to December 27th and December 27th to January 27th. As the service was added after the last invoice was issued, a credit of $20.71 is applied for the inactive days from November 27th to December 6th.

Plan Changes

Upgrading or downgrading your service plan is a lot more straightforward. The changes will appear on the next invoice after the plan change has completed. The new invoice will reflect your updated plan and the applied adjustment from the date the change activated to the billing anniversary date. 

 The example below shows an invoice for a mobile service that upgraded to a 50GB mobile plan: 

1. The mobile service was upgraded on December 21st, resulting in an additional $5.32 charge applied on the invoice to cover the difference for the period from December 21st to billing anniversary January 1st.

The next example below shows an account that had downgraded from a $100 NBN plan to a $80 NBN plan on December 16th and has a billing anniversary date of the 10th of each month: 

1. Payment of previous invoice ($100), which was automatically reduced by the $16.13 credit and payment of $83.87 was processed.
2. A credit adjustment of $16.13 has been applied for the pro-rated difference between December 16th and January 10th, reflecting the price change from the $100 plan to the $80 plan.
3. The updated plan now reflects on the invoice with a new ongoing charge of $80.

We’re here to help! If you have any questions about your MATE invoice, our support team will be here to provide a helping hand. You can contact our support team at 13 14 13 or via live chat on our website.