LessonbookInvoicing for music teachers and private tutors
"Invoicing is hard to get your head around if you are not mathematically minded," writes a private tutor in a review on Capterra. The maths is not the hard part. The hard part is that lessons, cancellations, packages and payments happen on different days and have to be remembered in the right order. With a fixed method, it becomes routine.
1. Choose one payment model per family
• Per lesson: the easiest to understand, but the most to record, and every cancellation becomes a question. • Per term: predictable income, but it needs clear rules for cancelled lessons and holidays. • Lesson package: the family pays in advance for a number of lessons, and you record how many are left. Different families can have different models, as long as each family has only one.
2. Mark every lesson the same week
Settle on five outcomes and use them every time: given, missed and charged, missed with notice, cancelled by the teacher, and make-up lesson. Mark lessons as you go, ideally the same day. Three weeks later nobody remembers whether Emma was ill on the 9th or the 16th.
3. Record payments when the money actually arrives
Record each payment on the date it arrived by Vipps or bank transfer, against the right family, with the reference they used. A fixed payment reference per family makes it easy to see who has paid, even when a grandparent pays.
4. Send a statement, not just an invoice
An invoice says what is owed. A statement also shows why: every lesson, every cancellation, every make-up lesson and every payment, with a running balance. Parents who can see the lines themselves ask fewer questions, and when they do ask, you can both point at the same line.
5. A five-minute check every month
Check that every lesson in the month is marked, that every payment is recorded, and that the balance on the last line for each family matches what you believe they owe. Correct mistakes with a new line and a reason, never by changing an old figure.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a payment system to invoice students?
No. Many private tutors are paid by Vipps or bank transfer and record the payments themselves. What matters is that each payment is recorded against the right family and date.
How do I avoid charging the same lesson twice?
Let the balance be calculated from one list of lessons and payments, instead of keeping it in several spreadsheets or invoices. Then each lesson exists in only one place.
What does Lessonbook cost?
Lessonbook has one monthly price, however many students you teach, and you can try it without an account.