Setting up registration fees, tuition, and payment plans

Most schools want the same billing shape: a registration fee paid the moment a family signs up, tuition that can be spread over the year, and material fees collected up front with no exceptions. This guide builds exactly that. It takes about 15 minutes.

How the pieces fit

Two settings do all the work:

Where a fee lives decides when it's charged. Fees on the term are charged when a student registers; fees on a class or program are charged when they enroll in it.
Due decides how it's collected. Set a fee to Immediately at checkout and it's paid up front, like a deposit; leave it Deferred to payment plan and it can ride a plan. Two more options: On a specific date bills a fee on its own bill due that day — handy for a mid-term charge — and With the first installment collects it on the plan's first payment date. See Managing Fees.

Step 1: Create your fee types

Go to Billing → Fees and click New fee for each type:
- Registration Fee — check Due upfront by default.
- Tuition — leave the checkbox off.
- Material Fee — check Due upfront by default.
Give each a Default amount — you can override it wherever the fee is used.

Deep dive: Managing Fees

Step 2: Put the registration fee on the term

Go to Enrollment → Terms and open your term.
Find Fees & Discounts and click Add.
Choose Registration Fee as the Fee, confirm the amount, and set Due to Immediately at checkout.
Click Add fee.

Now every student is charged the registration fee when they register for the term — and it's collected at checkout.

Step 3: Put tuition and materials on each class

Open the class (Enrollment → Classes), find Fees & Discounts on its Details tab, and click Add.
Add Tuition with the class's price — leave Due on Deferred to payment plan so it can go on a plan.
Add Material Fee with Due set to Immediately at checkout.
Repeat for each class. If you sell bundles, add the fees to the program instead — its Include class-level fees setting controls whether bundled classes' own fees are also charged.

Step 4: Add a payment plan to the term

Plans belong to the term and cover everything the student enrolls in for it — class and program tuition included — so this is the only place you set them up.

On the term, open the Payment Plans tab under Billing and click Add.
Name it the way families should read it at checkout, like "4 Monthly Payments".
Optionally add an Interest rate — interest on installment plans may be regulated, and requirements vary by state, so verify with your state's rules or counsel before charging it. Then click Add date for each installment date.
Click Create. Add a second plan (say, "2 Payments") if you want to offer choices — families always keep the option to pay in full.

Deep dive: Payment Plans

What a family sees at checkout

Their order shows a Payment option dropdown: Pay in full plus your plans. If they pick a plan, the registration and material fees are charged right away as a deposit, and tuition is split across your installment dates on a bill created automatically. With auto-pay, each installment is charged on its date — no chasing.

When you enroll a student yourself from the Admin panel, the Payment plan field on the enrollment form does the same job, and the bill is issued straight away. To check the charges before the family sees them, choose Manage → Hold on the bill and click Publish when you are ready. See Enrolling a Student.

Check your work

After your first enrollment, open Billing → Invoices and click the student's bill. The deposit should read as paid and the tuition scheduled across the plan's Payment dates. If you held the bill back, publish it first — nothing counts as owed until you do. If anything looks off, the fix is in Fees & Discounts on the term or class — but note that fee changes only affect future enrollments.