LessonbookPrepaid lesson packages without the mess
Lesson packages are popular with teachers and parents alike: the family pays for ten lessons up front, and the teacher does not have to invoice every week. In reviews on Capterra, teachers ask for "using credits to sign up for lessons (if prepaid)" and for "limiting student bookings to the balance on their account". That shows how easy it is to lose track once lessons, cancellations and make-up lessons are mixed in.
A package is two ledgers
When a family buys ten lessons for 4 200 kr, two things happen. The money becomes a charge, paid in one or more instalments. And the family has ten lessons to draw on. Lessons are used up at a different pace than the money is paid, so they are counted separately, but on the same list. Then you can see both "owes 2 100 kr" and "4 lessons left" without working it out yourself.
What takes a lesson from the package
• Lesson given: taken. • Missed without notice: taken, the slot was held. • Missed with notice: taken, but it may earn a make-up credit under your rules. • Cancelled by the teacher: not taken. • Make-up lesson: not taken when it uses an earned make-up credit. If there is none, it is an extra lesson and is taken. Put these rules in your agreement, so there is no doubt when the package is running out.
When the package is used up
Let the number of lessons left go below zero instead of stopping the ledger. "−2 lessons left" is a clear sign that a new package is due, and those two lessons come out of the new package once it is recorded. That way no lesson disappears between two packages.
A new package in the middle of the month
Record the new package on the date it was agreed, not on the first of the next month. Then both the running balance and the lessons left are right on every date, and the statement shows exactly when the package was topped up.
In Lessonbook
Choose the "Lesson package" plan with the number of lessons and the price. Record the package as a charge with its number of lessons, and payments as they arrive. Each marked lesson shows +/− in the lessons column, and the summary shows prepaid lessons left and the balance in kroner side by side.
Frequently asked questions
Should a missed lesson be taken from the package?
It is common to take lessons the student does not turn up for, because the slot was held. Whether a lesson missed with notice earns a make-up credit depends on the rules you have agreed.
What if the family pays for the package in instalments?
Record the package once as a charge, and each instalment as a separate payment. The lessons are available from the moment the package is recorded, while the balance in kroner goes down with each payment.
Can packages expire?
You can agree that, but write it down in advance. In Lessonbook it is make-up credits that have an expiry date, while prepaid lessons stay until they are used.