Invoice template for music lessons

What a lesson invoice must show

• The period it covers, with an opening balance if something was left unpaid from before.
• Each lesson on its own line, with date and outcome: given, missed and charged, missed with notice, cancelled by the teacher, or make-up lesson.
• Make-up lessons: earned, used, denied because the cap was reached, or expired — each with a date.
• Prepaid lessons remaining, if the family has bought a package.
• Payments received during the period, with date and method.
• Running balance after each line, and the total at the end.
• Payment reference, account number or Vipps number.
• One sentence on what the family does if a line looks wrong.

The template, in plain text

Copy this and fill it in. It works in email, in Word, and as a starting point in a spreadsheet.

STATEMENT – [teacher's name]
Family: [family name] Student: [student name]
Period: [from date] – [to date]
Payment reference: [reference]

Opening balance as of [date]: [amount]

Date What Amount Balance
[date] Lesson given [amount] [balance]
[date] Missed with notice · gave make-up lesson [amount] [balance]
[date] Cancelled by teacher · not charged [–] [balance]
[date] Payment · [Vipps/account] [-amount] [balance]
[date] Make-up lesson · used one [–] [balance]
[date] Lesson given [amount] [balance]

Amount due: [amount] Due: [date]
Make-up lessons owed: [number] (first expires [date])
Prepaid lessons remaining: [number]

Pay to [account number / Vipps], reference [reference].
Does a line look wrong? Let us know, and we'll correct it with a new, dated line.

Why a statement beats an invoice

An invoice says what's due. An account statement shows why, and it's the "why" that parents ask about. When every lesson is listed with a date and an outcome, you can both point to the same line instead of remembering it differently.

There's a practical side effect: you don't have to keep the books in two places. The invoice is just a slice of the same list you're already using to keep track of lessons.

Pitfalls in homemade templates

• A balance typed in by hand. Then the number exists in two places, and they drift apart the first time a lesson gets moved.
• "Balance carried forward" copied from the previous invoice. If the old invoice is corrected afterward, the carried-forward figure is still the old one.
• Replacement lessons that only live in your head or in a text message. Write them as lines, with a date and an expiry.
• Corrections made by editing an old row. Instead, add a new line that cancels it, with a reason given.

How Lessonbook builds it

You mark each lesson as it happens and log payments as the money comes in. The account statement above is then already filled in: every line dated, the balance calculated from the lines, and a link the family can open without logging in. It can be exported to CSV or printed as a PDF.

Lessonbook is free and requires no account.