Schools and conservatoriums that bill students in advance and use attendance rolls for reconciliation must conduct billing procedures in order to ensure accuracy. This document outlines best practice procedure for billing in advance. Modifications to these procedures may be required to suit specific schools or conservatoriums.

Many of the scripts used in this process follow the same pattern:

  • A find is opened which can be customised.
  • The found records are displayed for review.
  • Several prompts request details for the billing.
  • The generated line items are displayed for review.
  • The generated line items may be safely deleted and the process started again.

These scripts will be described as following a ‘find, preview, review process’ throughout this document.

For more information on the concepts of billing periods and reconciliation periods along with the Number of Lessons BP and Number of Lessons RP fields, see Billing Period and Reconciliation Period.

Step 1: Conduct Reconciliation if Required

If it is the end of a reconciliation period, process lesson adjustments. For more information on this process, see Billing Tuition Lesson Adjustments.

Step 2: Update Fees and Re-Lookup

With lesson adjustments completed, the process for billing the new period can begin. First, several steps should be followed to properly prepare the data for billing:

  • In Setup Files > Fees, update tuition fees, ensemble fees, and instrument hire fees as needed. In each case, select Re-Lookup to apply updated tuition fees, ensemble fees, and instrument hire fees and reset the number of lessons BP for all tuition enrolments.
  • If this is the first billing run in the reconciliation period, go to Common Tasks > Billing > Reset No. Lessons (per reconciliation period) to reset the number of lessons RP for all tuition enrolments.
  • Manually adjust Number of Lessons BP and Number of Lessons RP for individual tuition enrolments or groups as needed.
  • Manually adjust the number of sessions for ensemble enrolments for individuals or groups as needed.

Step 3: Send Tuition Fees to Accounts 

Bill tuition enrolments in advance. For more information on this process see Billing Tuition in Advance.

Step 4: Send Scholarships/Discounts to Accounts 

The Special Funding Arrangements for any tuition enrolments can be sent to accounts using Common Tasks > Billing > Send Scholarships to Accounts File.

This script follows the find, preview, review process. During the preview, check all records are up-to-date.

Once all line items in the review are correct, close the window.

Step 5: Send Ensemble Fees to Accounts 

The ensemble fees can be sent to accounts using Common Tasks > Billing > Send Ensemble/Class Fees to the Accounts File.

This script follows the find, preview, review process.

For more information, including timing considerations, see "Billing Ensembles".

Once all line items in the review are correct, close the window.

Step 6: Send Ensemble Discounts to Accounts 

The ensemble discounts can be sent to accounts using Common Tasks > Billing >  Send Ensemble/Class Discounts to the Accounts File.

This script follows the find, preview, review process.

Once all line items in the review are correct, close the window.

Step 7: Bill for Music Book or Other 

Additional per tuition charges (such as music book charges) can be sent to accounts using Common Tasks > Billing > Bill All Tuition Enrolments for Music Diary/Other.

This script follows the find, preview, review process. If you only wish to apply the charge to a subset of tuition enrolments, make customisations to the find, or omit records at the preview. The amount and description of the charge are set via prompt after the preview.

Once all line items in the review are correct, click continue to close the script.

Step 8: Send Instrument Hire to Accounts 

Go to Common Tasks > Billing > Send Instrument Hire Fees to Accounts File.

For more information and instructions see Billing Instrument Hire.

Step 9: Send Exam Fees to Accounts 

Exam fees can be sent to accounts using Common Tasks > Billing > Send Exam Fees to the Accounts File.

This script follows the find, preview, review process.

Once all line items in the review are correct, close the window.

Exam records are marked as billed when sent to accounts, and the default find for the script excludes exams that have been sent. As a result, it is safe to run this script multiple times over a billing period. It is often best to use this script whenever exams as soon as exams are finalised.

Step 10: Send Accompanist Fees to Accounts 

Accompanist fees can be sent to accounts using Common Tasks > Billing > Send Accompanist Fees to the Accounts File.

This script follows the find, preview, review process.

Once all line items in the review are correct, close the window.

Accompanist fees are marked as billed when sent to accounts, and the default find for the script excludes exams that have been sent. As a result, it is safe to run this script multiple times over a billing period. It is often best to use this script whenever exams as soon as exams are finalised.

Step 11: Send Camp or Excursion Fees to Accounts 

Go to Common Tasks > Billing > Send Camp or Excursion Fees to the Accounts File.

For more information and instructions see Billing Camp & Excursion Fees.

Step 12: Send Miscellaneous Charges to Accounts 

Miscellaneous bulk charges can be sent to accounts using Common Tasks > Billing > Miscellaneous charges (for one or more students).

This script follows the find, preview, review process. The find is run inside the Students File, so the charge will be applied once to each found student.

Once all line items in the review are correct, close the window.

Step 13: Create Miscellaneous Charges for Individual Students 

To add a charge for a single student, navigate to the Accounts Tab in the Students File and find the student. Use the green plus icon in the Accounts Tab to add a line item for that student.

Step 14: Send Charges for Additional Paid Work to Accounts 

To send additional paid work that was entered as billable to a student to the Accounts File, select Send Student Charges to Accounts File from the Salaries Menu.

The script will preview the charges before sending them.

Step 15: Process Unbilled Amounts 

To finalise billing, run Common Tasks > Billing > Process All Unbilled Amounts.

The displayed records are all line items without a date in Date Billed. There are two options for finalising these:

  • Select one of the ‘Save/Send’ options to produce a spreadsheet for the accounts department.
  • Select Produce Invoices to create invoices to be sent to the debtors.

These options and processes are covered in more detail in the Process All Unbilled Amounts.

Step 16: Maintain Data Throughout Term 

Over the course of the billing period, proper procedure should be followed when changes to enrolments are made. This includes the following:

  • Late enrolments
  • Early terminations
  • Changes in lesson type

For more information see Billing During the Term.