Fee structures, instalments and concessions
Write each class's fees for the year once, with term-wise or monthly plans, and every student gets the right dues. Sibling, staff-child and scholarship concessions, waivers and advance credit sit on the same fee ledger.
PLANSFrom Growth
The problem it solves
- The fee chart lives in a spreadsheet, and the dues in the register never match it.
- Students who joined in 2024 pay a different fee from those who joined this year, and the office keeps track by memory.
- Concessions are agreed in the principal's office and written in a file, so the cashier does not know about them.
- Every April the whole fee chart is typed again with the new rates.
How it works
- Your fee manager writes a fee structure: the year, the classes, and one line per fee head with the yearly amount. For example Tuition Fee 60,000 and Activity Fee 3,000.
- On the same structure you add payment plans, such as Full Year with 5% off, Term-wise and Monthly. Generate Instalments splits each fee into instalments with due dates.
- You press Approve. Every student of those classes goes on the default plan and gets the year's dues at once, one per head and instalment.
- A student who joins later, changes class or changes category gets the right structure by itself. A daily check also catches promoted students.
- Concessions are given per student: sibling, staff child, scholarship, merit, need-based, management or other. Once approved, they reduce new dues and the unpaid part of open dues.
- Next year, Copy to Another Year makes the new structure with an increase percent, the dates moved on and the instalments made again.
Everything it does
Who a structure is for
- Academic year and one or more classes
- Joined In: only students who joined in these years, so older students can keep an older fee
- Admission Status: New and Existing, New Students or Existing Students
- Student Categories, such as Day Scholar or Management Quota; a student can be in more than one
- When several structures fit a student, the most specific one wins; two equally specific ones are refused at approval
Fees and joining charges
- One line per fee head with the yearly amount; the form shows Yearly Fees and Joining Charges
- At Joining lines (admission fee, joining fee, caution deposit) are charged once, in full, only to students who join that year
- A student who already paid a joining charge never gets it again, also after a change of class
- Transport, hostel, exam, activity and trip fees reach the same ledger from their own parts
Payment plans
- Kinds: Full Year, Semester-wise, Half-yearly, Term-wise (3), Quarterly (4), Monthly, or Custom instalments you write
- Discount % per plan, for example for paying the year at once; only on heads that allow concessions
- One plan is the default; parents may choose their plan on the portal or app until Plan Choice Closes
- Each instalment has a Block Date: its due date plus Block After (days)
- Change Plan on a student's fee plan re-plans only the unpaid instalments still to come, with the reason kept
Checks at approval
- A structure needs fees, at least one plan and instalments that add up to the yearly amount per head
- Back to Draft only while no student is on it; otherwise copy it, correct the copy and close the old one
- Update Fee Plans on a list of students puts them on the right structure at once
- Fee structures and concessions can come in from a spreadsheet during set-up
Concessions
- Concession types: Percent or Amount per Year, on chosen heads or on every head that allows concessions
- Each concession has a reason, the academic years it covers and supporting documents, such as an income certificate
- The plan discount is applied first, then the concessions; together they never exceed the due
- Given So Far shows on which dues a concession was used and for how much
- End stops a concession for dues raised from then on; a concession is never deleted, only rejected or ended
- A staff-child concession stops by itself for dues after the staff member's leaving date
- Suggest Concessions finds siblings (same father or mother; the first to join pays in full) and prepares them for approval
- Staff children are found when a parent's mobile, phone or email matches a staff member
Scholarships, waivers and credit
- A concession Paid by a Sponsor cuts the family's due and gives the sponsor its own due for that part
- Waive lets a family off a due or part of it, with a required reason; only fee managers can waive
- Money paid beyond the dues is kept as the student's Fee Credit, used for later dues or refunded
Who uses it
Accountant or fee office head (fee Manager)Writes structures and plans, approves them, gives and approves concessions, waives dues.
Principal or trustApproves fee structures and concessions as a level of the approval chain, if you add one.
AdministratorSets the student categories and gives people the Cashier or Manager role.
ParentSees the plan and the concessions, and chooses a payment plan while the school allows it.
Where you use it
- Web: Fees > Fees Setup (Fee Structures, Students' Fee Plans, Concessions, Suggest Concessions) and Fees > Configuration (Concession Types, Student Categories)
- Web: the Fees tab on each student, with Fees Due, Fee Credit, Sponsor Dues, the plans and the concessions
- Parent portal: the payment plan of the year, the choice of plan, and approved concessions
- The Campus app: Fees > Plan and trips shows the same (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Not in the Campus app for staff: structures and concessions are written and approved on the web
What you control
Settings
- Block After (days) on each structure: 30 to start with
- Plan Choice Closes on each structure: empty, so parents do not choose
- Default plan: the one you tick, or the first plan if none is ticked
- Concession Allowed on each fee head: on to start with; switch it off for deposits and fines
- Concession types and their values, heads and funding: yours to make
Approvals
- Fee structure: fee managers by default; pressing Approve sends a structure through the chain if you add levels
- Fee concession: every concession waits for approval by fee managers by default. An Only For chain with Approved at Once lets a type take effect when saved
- The parent or student a concession is about never decides it
Notifications
- New Fee Dues: to the father, mother and guardian when a year's dues are raised or a plan changes; one message per child
- New Fee Dues goes by push, WhatsApp, SMS, email and in-app
- Each parent can switch off a channel, such as SMS, for themselves; the event itself cannot be switched off, and in-app notices always arrive
Questions
Can older students keep the fee they joined with?
Yes. Fill in Joined In on each structure. A student who joined in 2024 gets the 2024 structure, and this year's new students get the new one, in the same class.Do we have to type the fee chart again every year?
No. Open last year's structure, press Copy to Another Year, choose the classes and type an increase percent, such as 8. Check the draft and approve it.How do sibling concessions get found?
Suggest Concessions looks for students of the school with the same father or mother. The child who joined first pays in full; each younger one gets a suggested concession for you to approve.Can a concession be given without anyone approving it?
Only if you set it so. By default every concession waits for a fee manager. You can add levels such as the principal, or make one type approved at once.What happens to fees already paid when a family changes plan?
Nothing changes on what was paid. Only the unpaid instalments still to come are planned again on the new plan, and the change is written in the plan's history.Can a scholarship body pay part of a child's fee?
Yes. Give a concession Paid by a Sponsor. The family is asked only for its share, and the sponsor gets its own dues that the cashier collects with Collect from a Sponsor.Related features
FEESFee counter and receiptsYour cashier picks a student, ticks the dues and takes cash, cheque, UPI, card or a bank transfer. The receipt prints with a QR code that anyone can scan to check it, and a bounced cheque opens the dues again.FEESFees paid online by parentsParents see every due, receipt and the statement on the portal and the Campus app, and pay through your school's gateway. One payment can cover all their children at your school, and the receipts are made at once.FEESDeposits, refunds, late fees and blocks for overdue feesHold caution deposits and give them back when a child leaves, with unpaid fees cleared first. Late fees are added each night by your slabs. The transfer certificate, library borrowing and hall tickets can wait while fees are long overdue.FEESCashier closing, fee reports and Tally exportEach cashier closes the day against the system's figures, and every receipt is posted to the accounts. Collection, demand, defaulters, concession and deposit reports show where the fees stand, and receipts, cancellations and refunds go to Tally Prime.ACROSS SMARTMY SCHOOLApproval chainsHomework, circulars, leave, certificates, fee structures, concessions, refunds and revaluations go to the right people in the right order. You set the chains up without code. Every decision is kept with who made it, when and why.ADMISSIONS AND STUDENT RECORDSSet-up from spreadsheetsBring your school in from Excel: staff, classes, sections, subjects, students with parents, the timetable, this year's attendance, fees, marks and library. The whole workbook is checked first, and nothing is saved until every row is clean.
See your own school year run in it.
Tell us how many students you have, which classes you run and how you collect fees today. We will show you SmartMy School set up that way.