Use this when... you need to set organisation rules for invoicing, payment collection, credits, cancellation charging, payment terms, tax treatment, tutor pay interaction, or finance follow-up.

Before you start... agree the policy with the business owner, finance owner, and operations lead. Billing policy affects parent trust, revenue, tutor pay, reporting, and accounting. Test changes carefully before relying on them at scale.

Use Settings to configure organisation-wide billing defaults and policy behaviour.

Billing policies may include invoice timing, due dates, payment methods, automated collection, tax settings, cancellation charging, credits, credit notes, late payment handling, failed payment follow-up, billing contact rules, and how lessons become billable.

Map how money flows through the business: lesson scheduled, attendance recorded, invoice created, parent charged, payment reconciled, credits handled, tutor pay reviewed, payout or accounting export completed. Billing settings should support that flow.

Review the live billing workflow before changing policy defaults.

Configure due dates, invoice cadence, payment method expectations, reminder behaviour, and parent payer rules. Check whether settings apply to all families or can vary by branch, service, or family.

Decide how cancellations, no-shows, refunds, credits, and credit notes should behave. Confirm the difference between editing a draft invoice, applying credit, and issuing a formal credit note.

Use realistic cases: attended lesson, cancelled lesson with notice, late cancellation, no-show, paid invoice, failed payment, partial payment, credit, and refund. Check the invoice, balance, and reports after each case.

Invoices are due on the wrong date: check due-date defaults, invoice creation date, family-specific settings, and branch settings.

Payments are not collecting automatically: check payment provider connection, parent payment method, invoice state, and automation settings.

Credits look wrong: compare session status, invoice state, credit record, and family balance.

Record major billing policy changes with owner, date, reason, and expected effect. Tell admins how to handle transitional cases so families are not treated inconsistently.

Billing policy changes should be approved by the owner or finance lead. Avoid changing policy during active invoice runs unless the change fixes an urgent problem. If a change affects existing families, decide whether to notify them and from which date the rule applies.

Test at least one normal invoice, one cancellation, one credit, one failed payment, one partial payment, and one paid invoice. Check the family balance, invoice status, payment status, reports, and any tutor pay effect after each test.

Check whether policy changes affect tax treatment, revenue recognition, export fields, QuickBooks mapping, credit note handling, or payout review. Finance settings rarely live in isolation.

If payment terms, due dates, cancellation charges, or credit handling change, update parent-facing wording. Clear policy communication prevents billing disputes and reduces support work.

Document who can approve billing exceptions, such as waived fees, goodwill credits, payment plans, or manual adjustments. Exceptions should be visible enough for finance review without encouraging inconsistent treatment.

After policy changes, compare aged debt, failed payments, credits, revenue, and parent queries. If one metric worsens, review whether the policy is unclear or whether admins need more training.

Review a sample of invoices after launch and again after the next billing run and reconciliation review process. Check whether due dates, reminders, credits, payment collection, cancellation charges, and failed payment handling follow the new policy. Correct source settings or admin training before the next invoice run.

Some families may have agreed payment plans, bursaries, discounts, sibling arrangements, or special credit handling. Before changing global billing policy, identify these exceptions and decide whether they should remain. Record exceptions clearly so future admins do not mistake them for errors or apply them to the wrong family.

After changing billing policies, test invoice creation and payment collection, review reporting output, and monitor the next billing cycle for unexpected balances or parent queries.