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How to understand your AT&T bill and prorated charges and credits
Info at a glance
- What is a prorated charge?
- How do I avoid prorated charges?
- How do I pay my AT&T bill?
- What is an example of a prorated charge?
- How to calculate a prorated charge on my AT&T bill?
- How to calculate prorated charges?
- What causes prorated charges on an AT&T bill?
- Why is proration better for customers?
- Why does my AT&T bill keep changing?
What is a prorated charge?
When you use a service that’s billed monthly, you’ll sometimes see prorated fees on your bill. If this has you scratching your head, you’re not alone. Prorated charges can often be surprising. Proration, a prorated monthly charge, or a partial-month charge all mean the same thing. A prorated charge is designed to charge customers accurately for the services they actually used that month. Basically, if you use something for less time than you’re scheduled to use it for, it’s fair to expect that you’ll only be charged for the time used.
What is an example of a prorated charge?
Here are two basic examples to illustrate how proration works. Imagine you’ve signed up for a monthly gym membership, and you decide to cancel it after 15 days. Prorated billing ensures you’re only charged for the days you’ve actively used the gym and not charged for the entire month. This approach ensures fairness for you as a customer as well as accuracy in billing for the actual usage of the service.
Another popular example is rent. Landlords typically charge by the month, but tenants don't always move in on the first of the month. As a result, your landlord might prorate the rent, charging you only for the number of days you lived in that apartment that month.
What causes prorated charges on an AT&T bill?
If you update your plan or add-ons in the middle of a bill period, you'll see partial month charges or credits on your next bill. Common account updates include plan or feature changes, adding or canceling a line, adding or removing insurance, and other changes that add or remove something from your AT&T account.
A prorated bill only covers the portion of time a customer actually used the AT&T service or feature during a billing cycle. Billing cycles consists of 30 days, regardless of the actual month. So, let’s say, for example, on Day 1 of your AT&T service, you use your initial choice of ‘Plan A’, but after 15 days, you change your mind and decide to switch to ‘Plan B’—a more expensive plan. In this case, you’ll get charged for the time you used ‘Plan A’ during the first 15 days, plus the 15 days you used the more expensive ‘Plan B’. This way, you can be assured you’ve paid for the services you used accurately.
Key points to keep in mind:
- Adding or removing a feature (like phone insurance) or service (like a wireless plan) in the middle of your bill period will trigger a prorated fee. You’ll see both a credit and a charge.
- Because you get billed one month ahead, you’ll receive partial credit for the days the old plan was no longer active.
- You’ll also see a partial charge for the days your new plan will be active that month.
- Because you get billed one month ahead, both the credits and charges will appear on your next month’s bill as your previous month’s charges. We only charge you for the active days a plan or feature was active on your account.
- It’s important to understand that when you receive your bill, you’ll see charges for the partial month usage of the previous month, plus your entire month ahead since you always get charged for the next month’s service.
Remember: If you change or add a service in the middle of your AT&T bill cycle, you’ll only be charged for the time you use that service. As a result, on your next month’s bill, you’ll see two charges: the prorated fee, plus the monthly fee for the next full month of the service fee you added or changed.
Why is proration better for customers?
Proration sounds complicated. Why even have prorated charges? Well, if companies didn’t offer partial month charges, you could only make changes at the end of each month—even if you no longer wanted that service or feature earlier. But, with prorated charges, instead of waiting for the next billing cycle, you can start, cancel, or change your subscription plan any time you want and only get billed for the service you used and the days you used it. This way, customers don’t have to wait until the next billing date to make changes to their plan. As you can see, it’s a fair way to ensure you’re charged accurately for the portion of the services you used (and don’t get overcharged for services you won’t use).
How do I avoid prorated charges?
The simplest way to avoid partial month charges in the future is by planning your account changes to start on the first day of your next billing period. Of course, if you want to make changes to your account, you can do so at any time, but be aware that next month’s bill may be different than your standard bill. By the following month, your following bill will smooth out (unless you make additional changes to your account).
How to calculate a prorated charge on my AT&T bill?
If you want to understand the math behind prorated charges, it’s easy to calculate it yourself. There are 30 days in each billing cycle (regardless of the days in an actual calendar month). If you make changes to your plan after your billing cycle starts, you’ll only pay the prorated or “partial” amount instead of the full amount.
If your plan costs $100 a month, but you only use it for 15 days within a specific month, your prorated fee is $50 for those 15 days.
Here’s how the math works:
$100/30 days = $3.33 per day
$3.33 x 15 days = $50 for fifteen days of service (plus any applicable taxes)
How to calculate prorated charges ?
- Find the total cost: Figure out the total cost for the service or product for a full billing period. AT&T bill periods are 30 days.
- Determine your usage period: Count the exact days you used the service.
- Calculate the prorated amount: To get the prorated amount, divide the total cost by the number of days in the billing period to find the daily rate. Then, multiply this daily rate by the number of days you used the service.
That's it! You can use this basic formula to prorate any monthly amounts so you can better understand your bill and estimate your upcoming charges.
Learn more about partial-month charges and credits in this helpful support article
Why does my AT&T bill keep changing?
If you made changes to your account in the middle of your billing cycle, prorated or partial-month charges are likely why your AT&T bill keeps changing or is different than expected. Read this helpful support article to learn the most common reasons your phone bill might be higher than you expected
How do I pay my AT&T bill?
Paying your AT&T Wireless bill is easy. You can pay your AT&T Wireless and other AT&T bills online without even signing in. And, did you know you can even lower your monthly AT&T Wireless bill by paying each month with AutoPay? Consider signing up for AutoPay and find out if you qualify for AutoPay deals and discounts.
If you want to better understand your AT&T bill, watch the video. And if we can help explain anything further, please contact us via chat, phone, or even swing by your local AT&T store.
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