Fee Management System

Comprehensive financial management for tuition fees, school charges, and payment tracking.

Overview: The Fee Management System in Craft Cart provides complete control over student billing, payment collection, and financial reporting. It supports multiple fee types, flexible payment methods, and automatic payment allocation.

Key Features

Invoicing

  • Create individual or bulk invoices
  • Customizable fee types (Tuition, Transport, Lunch, etc.)
  • Multiple fee items per invoice
  • Professional PDF invoices with school branding
  • Email invoices directly to guardians
  • Due date tracking and overdue alerts

Payment Collection

  • Point-of-Sale (POS) interface for quick payments
  • Multiple payment methods supported
  • Automatic FIFO payment allocation
  • Manual allocation override available
  • Prepayment and credit handling
  • Professional PDF receipts

Statements & Reporting

  • Individual student fee statements
  • Bulk statement generation by class/year
  • Download PDF or email statements
  • Real-time balance tracking
  • Drill-down financial reports
  • Export to CSV, Excel, PDF

Financial Tracking

  • Outstanding balance monitoring
  • Payment history with full audit trail
  • Invoice and receipt numbering
  • Prepayment credit tracking
  • Year group and class-level reports
  • Term-based financial summaries

Fee Management Workflow

Standard Process:
  1. Setup Fee Types: Configure fee types in Settings (one-time setup)
  2. Create Invoices: Generate invoices for students individually or in bulk
  3. Collect Payments: Record payments via POS or manual entry
  4. Issue Receipts: Print or email receipts to parents/guardians
  5. Generate Statements: Provide comprehensive fee statements showing all transactions
  6. Monitor Balances: Track outstanding amounts and follow up on overdue invoices

Documentation Sections

Invoices

Learn how to create individual and bulk invoices, manage fee items, and track outstanding balances.

Read More
POS Payments

Use the Point-of-Sale interface to quickly record payments and print receipts.

Read More
Statements

Generate and distribute comprehensive fee statements showing all invoices and payments.

Read More

Supported Payment Methods

Payment Method Description Best For
Cash Physical currency payment In-person payments at school office
Bank Transfer Direct bank deposit or wire transfer Large payments, international families
Cheque Paper cheque payment Corporate or government payments
Mobile Money M-Pesa, Airtel Money, etc. Mobile payment platforms
Card Debit or credit card payment Online or POS terminal payments

Payment Allocation: FIFO System

How Payment Allocation Works:

Craft Cart uses a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) system to automatically allocate payments to outstanding invoices:

  • Step 1: When a payment is recorded, the system identifies all outstanding invoices for the student
  • Step 2: Invoices are sorted by invoice date (oldest first)
  • Step 3: The payment amount is allocated to the oldest invoice first
  • Step 4: If payment exceeds the first invoice, the remainder is allocated to the next invoice
  • Step 5: If all invoices are fully paid and excess remains, it's stored as prepayment credit
  • Manual Override: You can manually adjust allocation amounts in the POS interface if needed

Example: FIFO Allocation

Scenario: Student has 3 outstanding invoices:

  • Invoice #001 (Jan 15): $500 balance
  • Invoice #002 (Feb 15): $300 balance
  • Invoice #003 (Mar 15): $400 balance

Parent pays $900

Automatic Allocation:

  • Invoice #001: $500 (fully paid)
  • Invoice #002: $300 (fully paid)
  • Invoice #003: $100 (partial payment)
  • Remaining balance on Invoice #003: $300

Prepayments & Credits

When a parent pays more than the total outstanding balance, the excess amount is stored as a prepayment credit:

  • Credit Tracking: Prepayment credit is visible on the student's profile and fee statement
  • Automatic Application: When a new invoice is created, prepayment credit is automatically deducted
  • Refunds: Credits can be refunded to parents if the student leaves the school
  • Balance Display: The student's current balance shows as negative when they have credit
Best Practice: Encourage parents to maintain a small prepayment credit to ensure invoices are always settled on time. This reduces administrative work and ensures uninterrupted student services.

Quick Start Guide

  1. Set Up Fee Types

    Navigate to Settings → Fee Types and create the fee types your school charges (e.g., Tuition, Transport, Lunch).

  2. Create Invoices

    Go to Fees → Create Invoice to bill individual students, or use Bulk Invoice to bill an entire class or year group.

  3. Record Payments

    Use Fees → POS Payment to quickly record payments as parents visit the school office.

  4. Print Receipts

    After recording a payment, the system automatically generates a professional PDF receipt to print or email.

  5. Generate Statements

    Send regular fee statements to parents via Fees → Statements to keep them informed of balances.

Invoice Management