Accounts
An account is analogous to an account at a bank:
• A person or business with no financial dealings with a bank will have no account (but the bank may choose to keep demographic information about the person as part of their marketing efforts). The exact analogy exists in this system.
• Individuals with financial dealings with a bank will have one or more accounts. The number of accounts is up to the customer. The exact analogy exists in this system.
A simple way to determine the number of accounts a customer will have is to ask "how many bills do they want each period?" because a customer receives one bill for each account. For example:
• A residential customer who also owns a small business may choose to receive two bills each month; one for the residence, the other for the business. This way, the charges for their business would be segregated from their personal charges. This customer would have two accounts.
• A conglomerate that owns several factories may want their transportation gas charges to appear on a single bill rather than have a separate bill for each factory. This customer would have a single account.