Fees and collections

A fee balance is the result of charges, concessions, credits and allocated receipts. It is not the last payment amount copied into a student record. Define a fee plan for the enrollment, retain the applicable policy version, and issue charges with their own due dates. This gives the bursar a clear explanation when a student asks why a balance is still outstanding.

Record a bank or payment-provider confirmation once, then allocate that receipt to the charges it settles. Partial payments leave a visible remainder; unallocated cash stays visible until a matching decision is made. A concession needs an authorized amount, reason and owner. Withdrawal adjustments should reverse or credit the original charge so the account history still explains both the initial obligation and the correction.

• Review concessions. The bursar approves policy exceptions before revised charges are issued.
• Deduplicate payments. Use the provider reference as an idempotency key when a notification is delivered again.
• Separate a receipt from settlement. A checkout redirect or unconfirmed payment message does not settle a charge.

Bring a fee schedule, concession policy, opening student balances and a bank reconciliation sample. Test a partial receipt, an overpayment, a duplicate provider event and a withdrawal after billing. Agree who can allocate cash, approve a concession and authorize a refund. Reconcile the resulting student balances to the finance ledger at the end of the pilot.

A student pays part of a tuition charge and later makes a second payment that covers the remaining tuition and an examination fee. Keep each bank confirmation as a receipt, then record which charge each allocation settles. This lets the bursar explain the account without changing the original tuition amount or treating the second payment as a new charge.

If the payment provider sends the same confirmation again, the stable provider reference should resolve to the existing receipt. If the bank confirms an amount that cannot yet be matched, keep it in the unallocated-receipts queue. It should not disappear or be assigned to the first student with a similar name.

During the pilot, ask finance to reconcile the bank total, receipt total and allocated total separately. Ask the bursar to explain the student’s remaining balance from the actual charge and allocation history. Resolve discrepancies before enabling scheduled reminders or importing the next collection file.

Collection reports should show charge due dates and payment allocation separately. Link disputed balances back to the fee-policy version and supporting documents before sending reminders.

• Application to enrollment: Move an application through a recorded admission decision into the correct academic period.
• Fee billing to reconciliation: Issue approved charges, allocate confirmed receipts and investigate the remaining balance.

Review the implementation plan and the data model before preparing your import files.