Q: My school doesn't have OpenApply/ ManageBac - can my school still use the Tuition Fee Billing module?
A: SchoolsBuddy is only offering the Tuition Fee Billing module to schools using other Faria products currently. This is because the integrated data from ManageBac and OpenApply drives the effectiveness of this module. Without these data integrations, users would find it cumbersome to manually sort and filter the students to be billed.
Q: How often are ManageBac and OpenApply synced to SchoolsBuddy?
A: ManageBac is synced to SchoolsBuddy at around 1-3am on nightly basis in your timezone; OpenApply is synced to SchoolsBuddy at 4:00 UTC EMEA region and 18:00 UTC Asia region (2AM CST) on a nightly basis. Additional data syncs can be requested from the Support team if needed, however please note that it may be difficult to action requests quickly in busy times.
Q: Are the billing items and amounts for each student entered in OpenApply synced into SchoolsBuddy?
A: No, SchoolsBuddy only imports the student's year group and billing contact details from OpenApply. Billing items and the amounts payable for each student need to be manually added to their invoices directly within SchoolsBuddy.
Q: Can I change the Invoice Template / emails that get sent to Payers?
A: Yes, see this article for help making changes to PDF Invoice templates. For email templates, please check these under Reception > Reports > Email Templates Report and submit a request for update to the Support Team.
Q: Can I accept tuition fee payments through SchoolsBuddy ?
A: No, the Micro Billing module and the Tuition Fee Billing module are separate functionalities. The Micro Billing module is designed specifically for collecting activity fees, while the Tuition Fee Billing module allows for invoice creation and manual payment recording but does not process tuition payments.
Q: How do I know if all parents have submitted their billing information in OpenApply?
A: You can run a report of the data stored in your OpenApply Billing form from the Import/Export features in the Settings page. This will show you which students/parents to follow up with .
Q: What should I do if I haven't got all the billing contacts for students yet?
A: We recommend setting a deadline for parents to submit their billing information at least a day before you plan to do your tuition fee billing. However, if you are missing data in OpenApply you can still prepare a batch of students to invoice and either delay sending the invoices until all data is available, or remove those students that are missing data and re-batch them for invoicing at a later date.
Q: Can I discount fees for a group of students?
A: Yes, you can enter a reduction in the Fee charged before posting the invoice. Alternatively if a fee has already been invoiced, you can raise a credit note to adjust it down.
Q: I sent an invoice to the wrong contact, can I resend it to somebody else?
A: Yes, there is a feature to resend invoices to parent or corporate contacts, or to manually enter a new email address to send the invoice to. See Tuition Fee Billing: Managing Invoices
Q: Is there a way to chase all outstanding payments?
A: Yes, just filter the Invoice dashboard to show everything with the status "Unpaid (overdue)" or "Partial Paid (overdue)" and you will be able to select all the accounts and send a reminder email. You can see the reminder email template under Reception > Reports > Email Templates Report. Submit a request for update to the Support Team if you would like to change the standard wording.