Duet's Billing system is designed to be a "set it and forget it" sort of thing. Because what music teacher wants to spend time sending out invoices and making sure she got paid? Taking some time now to understand how Duet creates statements, keeps track of what you're owed and what you've collected will save you lots of time in the long run.
Here are a few principles to keep in mind while using Duet's Billing system.
You do not need to "create" invoices. Duet works off of a system of dynamically updated statements, meaning that Duet will automatically and consistently be keeping track of what you are owed by each family. How does it do this? It either 1.) notes the subscription amount (i.e. recurring monthly tuition) and subscription renewal date in your student's profile or 2.) notes how many lessons are scheduled for a student if they are billed per lesson.
Each family has its own balance sheet, or a ledger of how much that family owes at any given point. The balance is calculated from the last time the family was at a zero balance, or, in other word, the last time they were all paid up. (To get to a family's balance sheet, click on Billing and then click on a specific family's name.)
The family's balance will automatically update if: 1. The renewal date for the subscription has arrived (i.e. the subscription renews on the 1st of the month and it is now September 1st). Or 2. Lesson have happened and have been marked as Attended in the calendar.
To see a family's up to date Statement at any time, click View Statement next to the family's name.
This will pull up a module that will allow you to change the date range of the Statement. If you wish to have the Statement include any subscriptions that have renewed or lessons that have happened in the past, leave the date on today's date.
When you click View, you will see the statement that is up to date for today's date.
The dynamic statement will include any subscriptions that have renewed, or any lessons that have happened in the past and have been marked as Attended.
Any payments that the family has made since the balance was last zero will also be reflected. The Total Due is the outstanding balance minus the recent payments.
You can send the statement at any point by clicking Send Statement at the top. The statement will arrive as a dynamic text link to the Primary Contact's phone. if you have digital payments set up, the parent can pay via credit card directly through the statement. If you do not have digital payments set up, the parent can pay you whatever other way you prefer.
Look out for future articles about how to set up digital payments, schedule statements, collect credit card payments, and more!
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