Overview
"Billing in advance" really means billing students based on the expected number of lessons for the term (or other period). This is usually done in advance of the lessons taking place. It's distinct from billing based on the number of lessons given, as per the Attendance records, which is referred to as "Billing in Arrears" and can obviously only be done in arrears.
Billing in advance is done once, as a batch, and is usually run in the lead up to or at the start of the billing period.
The Process
Go to Common Tasks > Billing > Send Tuition Fees to Accounts File.
Find the Records
The script starts by asking whether to include Pending enrolments. Enrolments are shown as "Pending" if they lack either a Teacher or a Lesson Type. If you choose to include these in your search, you can still omit individual enrolments from the list before creating billing lines.
The script will enter Find mode and set up one request for "Current" enrolments and one for "Assigned" enrolments. If you selected to include pending enrolments the script will also set up one request for "Pending" enrolments. You can edit these find requests before continuing if needed.
Review the Records
When you perform the find, the found set of enrolments will be displayed.
Review the records for errors or inaccuracies before continuing the script.
We recommend you sort the records by various columns and run your eye down the columns looking for anomalies. Some suggested fields to sort by and issues to look for include:
Student Name: Check for blanks, indicating that the student has left the school but their enrolment record remains current
Termination Date: Check for students who are terminating before or during the coming term and should therefore be billed a reduced amount or not billed at all.
Fee: Check that all records show your current fee levels
No. Lessons: Check that all those who show a reduced number are correct
Last Date Sent: There may be a need to check for enrolments that have already been billed, or for those that were missed in a recent billing run.
Note that the records you are looking at here are your Tuition Enrolment records. If you change something here, it will change the Tuition Enrolment record.
Create the Billing Lines
When you have reviewed the records, select Send to Accounts to send the found set of records to the student accounts file. Follow the prompts to complete term, semester and year data. Billing line items will then be created for the found set of enrolments.
Review these records again for errors.
The records you are looking at now are in the Student Accounts file. Changes you make here will not change the Enrolment record, but will change the billing line for this one billing run.