Ask any academy owner what they dislike most about the job. Chasing fees is near the top of every list. It is awkward. It takes hours. And it gets in the way of the relationship you want with parents.
Most of that work can run on its own. This guide shows how to set up renewals and reminders once, so the chasing happens without you.
1. Why fees slip
Fees rarely go unpaid because parents refuse. They slip because nobody reminded them at the right moment, or the reminder had no easy way to pay. Typical causes:
- Reminders depend on someone remembering to send them.
- Each student joined on a different date, so due dates are all over the month.
- Messages go from a coach's personal phone, and some get lost.
- Parents have to transfer money and then send a screenshot.
- Nobody can say quickly who has paid and who has not.
Fix the system and most of the chasing goes away.
2. Choose how each class renews
Academies sell fees in two main ways. Pick the right one for each class.
Plan renewals run on dates: monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, annual or a custom period. They suit regular coaching where students come on fixed days.
Session packs run on use: a student buys a number of sessions, and the pack renews when sessions run low or before it expires. They suit flexible programmes, private lessons and holiday camps.
You can use both in one academy. A cricket batch might be monthly while one-to-one swimming lessons are sold in packs.
3. Set the rules once
Good renewals come from clear rules. In Venue Manager you set them per class:
- Billing day. The day bills are raised.
- Pay-by day and grace period. When the fee is due, and how long before it counts as overdue.
- Proration. Students who join mid-period pay only for the part they use.
- Discounts and arrears. Per-student discounts, and dues carried forward from earlier periods.
Proration matters more than it looks. Without it, a student who joins on the 20th either pays for a full month or gets a special case you have to remember. With it, they pay a fair amount and fall in line with everyone else from the next cycle.
4. Manual or automatic
You can choose how much control you keep. In manual mode, bills are generated for the period and you review them before anything goes out. In automatic mode, the process runs nightly.
Start with manual for the first cycle or two. Check the bills, fix any rule that looks wrong, then switch to automatic once you trust it.
When a student is not billed, the system tells you why. A student on a free plan is skipped. A student who joined two days ago may have an amount too small to bill. A session pack may be queued behind the one still running. No silent gaps.
5. Reminders on your schedule
A single reminder is easy to miss. A short series works better. You choose when they go, for example five, three and two days before the due date, on the day, and after it.
Each reminder carries a payment link, so paying takes one tap. Once a bill is paid, that student drops out of the series. Nobody is reminded after paying, which spares you awkward apologies.
Messages name the guardian relation, so a reminder about a child reads naturally to the parent who pays.
6. Send from your own number
Reminders go out from your own WhatsApp Business number, not a shared one. Parents see your academy's name. Replies come back to you.
Connect your number first. It takes a guided Meta sign-up inside Venue Manager. Template messages must be approved by Meta before they can be sent, so set this up a few days before your first cycle. The own WhatsApp Business page covers the steps.
Receipts and invoices can also go by email from your own address. See own email.
7. Make paying easy
The easier it is to pay, the faster fees arrive. Every link pays into your own payment gateway, and paid bills are marked automatically, with receipts sent straight away.
Parents can also see their fees in the parent portal: paid and unpaid bills, with a Pay now button. It is a responsive website, so there is no app to install.
Some parents will still pay in cash or part-pay. Record partial payments against a bill, and the balance stays visible until it is cleared.
8. Watch collections, not just payments
Once renewals run themselves, your job changes from chasing to watching. Check a few things each cycle:
- What share of bills were paid by the due date.
- Which batches have the most overdue fees.
- Which students carry arrears from earlier periods.
The classes dashboard shows collections next to attendance, by batch. A batch with falling attendance and rising dues is a batch to talk to. See reports and dashboards.
9. If you already use Zoho
If your accounts run on Zoho Books or Zoho Subscriptions, Zoho can own invoices and reminders instead. Venue Manager keeps the students, classes and attendance, and your finance team keeps the tool they know.
10. Getting started
- Add your classes and fee plans, choosing plan renewals or session packs for each.
- Set the billing day, pay-by day, grace period and proration.
- Connect your payment gateway and your WhatsApp Business number.
- Choose your reminder schedule.
- Generate the first cycle in manual mode, review it and send.
Fee renewals, payment links and invoices are part of every Classes plan. Each paid plan is free for 15 days, and you can extend by 15 more days from inside the app. Compare plans on the pricing page.
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