Generate invoices and collect payments

Once fee structures exist, invoicing turns them into real charges families can see and pay in the portal. This guide covers generating invoices, collecting money through both routes, approving evidence, and issuing receipts.

Step 1 — Generate invoices

1. Open Finance & Billing.
2. Choose to generate invoices.
3. Select the session, term, and class you are billing.
4. Review the students who will be invoiced and confirm the list matches your expectation.
5. Generate. Invoices are created and become visible to those students and their guardians in the portal.
6. Spot-check a few invoices to confirm the amounts and line items are right.

Bill one class first and check it end to end before generating for the whole school. It is a small delay that prevents a large clean-up.

Step 2 — Families pay

Families settle invoices from Fees & Payments in the portal, in one of two ways:

• Online checkout — where your school has enabled it, payment is recorded against the invoice automatically.
• Uploaded evidence — for bank transfers and cash, families submit details and an attachment for your office to review.

Payment gateway options are set up under School Management, which is what makes the online option appear for families.

Step 3 — Approve uploaded payments

1. Open Payment approvals in Finance.
2. Review each pending submission, checking the amount, date, and reference against your own records.
3. Open the attached evidence and confirm it is legible and genuine.
4. Approve to record the payment against the invoice, or reject it with a clear reason.
5. Work through approvals on a regular schedule — families cannot see their invoice cleared until you do.

Step 4 — Receipts and follow-up

• Receipts can be issued and downloaded once a payment is recorded, and families can download their own from the portal.
• Financial reports show outstanding balances and collection rates, so you can see where you stand at a glance.
• Use the outstanding list to prioritise follow-up rather than chasing every family equally.

What you’ll see

• Invoices listed with their status — outstanding, part paid, overdue, or paid.
• A queue of payments awaiting approval.
• Collection totals updating as payments are recorded.
• Families seeing their updated balance in the portal as soon as a payment is approved.

Tips

• Announce invoicing. A newsletter explaining what has been billed and how to pay reduces enquiries dramatically.
• Approve evidence promptly. Delay here is the most common cause of “I already paid” complaints.
• Ask families to include a reference so transfers can be matched quickly.
• Reconcile regularly against your bank records rather than only at term end.
• Keep rejection reasons clear so families know exactly what to resubmit.

Common issues

A student was invoiced twice

Usually the class was generated twice, or the student appears on two rosters. Correct the roster and cancel the duplicate invoice.

A student was not invoiced

Check they are on the class roster for the session and that a fee structure exists for their class and term.

Families cannot pay online

Confirm your payment gateway settings are configured under School Management so checkout appears.

A parent says they paid but the invoice is outstanding

Check the approvals queue for their evidence, and confirm they paid against the right child.

The invoice amount is wrong

Correct the fee structure for future invoices, then adjust the affected invoices — editing a structure does not change invoices already raised.

What’s next

Review your financial reports for outstanding balances, then plan your next term’s fee structures before invoicing again.